Tlalim Cave
- Grid ref.
- 13015/04257
- Location
- Northern Negev
- Elevation
- 487 m above sea level
Description of the cave:
Tlalim Cave is a small cave that developed by hypogenic dissolution processes, in limestone of Turonian age, and was exposed on the crest of a watershed line, on the northern bank of Nahal Heiman. The total length of the cave reaches 27 m and its total depth 10.5 m.
The cave has a small opening (0.3X0.4 m) of rounded shape gaping at the bottom of a shallow depression. The cave opening was discovered by Amnon Livne, who wrote about the place in his book "Ramat Negev – A Landscape Survey and Hiking Routes", Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, 1993.
The cave opening gapes at the top of a vertical space about 6 m deep. In the space of the pit, as in the other parts of the cave, there are marks of rounded dissolution in the form of wide niches or narrow, rounded passages extending in various directions. At its bottom the pit connects to a pair of rounded spaces that developed side by side on a general north – south axis. In the walls of the spaces, in their northern part, there are dry cave deposits that look like a rounded form of cave corals. The floor of the spaces slopes south and is mostly covered with rocks that collapsed from the ceiling of the space or fell from the cave opening. In the area near the cave opening, IDF debris and animal bones are also scattered. South of the pair of spaces there is a wide room, measuring 2X4 m, in whose ceiling a high dissolution dome gapes. From this room the cave continues in two directions: on the eastern side of the center of the room there is a very narrow passage extending east, from which a cold gust of wind emerges. On the southern side of the room there is a narrow, low opening leading to a horizontal passage that after about 8 m becomes too low to pass.
Access:
- The cave opening can be reached from the gate of Kibbutz Tlalim by off-road vehicle or on foot.
- The descent into the cave requires the help of a rope, without the need for rappelling gear.
- No bats were observed in the cave, but a little guano was found.
Equipment:
- A 10 m rope for descending into the cave.
Written by: Boaz Langford
