This page was translated from Hebrew and has not been reviewed yet. The Hebrew page is the reference. עברית

Ein Yorke'am Cave, the Negev

Location: Nahal Hatira Cave
Elevation: 260 m above sea level

Description of the cave:

Ein Yorke'am Cave is a small cave consisting of a single room opening in the south bank of Nahal Hatira at the level of the streambed. The cave has a wide, prominent opening, through which light enters all its parts.

The cave developed in limestone of Turonian age (Shivta Formation) and, according to its general shape, and despite its great proximity to the streambed, it can be assumed that it formed by dissolution processes that acted below the water table, and not as a result of erosion or mechanical abrasion.

Next to the cave, to the west, there is a narrow crack with smoothed walls, 0.5 m wide and about 10 m long. The crack has two openings on the two sides of a large rock block, so that one can pass through the crack from one side of the rock to the other.

Notes:

Access to the cave opening is possible on foot along a marked trail running on the south bank of Nahal Hatira and descending to the channel. After the trail reaches the channel, one can ascend the stream up to the cave opening.

* No bats were observed in the cave.

Written by: Boaz Langford