The Cave of Letters is a refuge cave in Nahal Hever in the Judean Desert where letters and fragments of papyri from the Roman Empire period were found. Some are related to the Bar Kokhba revolt, including letters of correspondence between Bar-Kokhba and his subordinates. Another notable bundle of papyri, known as the Babatha cache, comprises legal documents of Babatha, a female landowner of the same period.
Cave of Letters.
Roman army camp above the cave
A scroll found in the cave, part of the Babatha archive
Image of a fragment of one of the biblical manuscripts found in the Cave of Letters
The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert is a desert in the West Bank and Israel that lies east of the Judaean Mountains, so east of Jerusalem, and descends to the Dead Sea. Under the name El-Bariyah, it has been nominated to the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites in the State of Palestine, particularly for its monastic ruins.
Judaean Desert
The Judaean Desert lies just east of Jerusalem. The Old City appears in the foreground, and the desert in the background.
Nabi Musa - Sunset in June 2022
The Monastery of Mar Saba, near Bethlehem