Category Archives: Church History

Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. (Joshua 4:19-20 NAU)

A spectacular underground quarry has recently been discovered in the Jordan Valley north of Jericho, which archaeologists believe may have marked a biblical site sacred to ancient Christians.

The large cave was discovered by Prof. Adam Zertal and a team from the University of Haifa which has been conducting a survey of the region since 1978. “When we reached the entrance to the cave, two Bedouin approached us and warned us not to go in, because it was cursed and inhabited by wolves and hyenas,” Zertal said yesterday from the site.

They entered anyway, discovering a ceiling supported by 22 gigantic columns on which various symbols were carved, including 31 crosses, a possible wheel of the Zodiac and a Roman legionary symbol. The columns also had niches for the placement of oil lamps and holes that apparently served as hitching posts.

Jordan Valley cave. Photo courtesy of University of Haifa.

The Ha’aretz article continues,

Zertal says their working theory is that the site is Galgala, biblical Gilgal, mentioned on the sixth-century Madaba mosaic map. The cave, buried 10 meters underground, is about 100 meters long, 40 meters wide and 4 meters high, is the largest artificial cave so far discovered in Israel.

Potsherds found in the cave and the carvings on the columns led Zertal to date the first quarrying of the cave to around the beginning of the Common Era. It was used mainly as a quarry for 400 to 500 years, “but other finds give the impression it was used for other purposes, perhaps a monastery or even a hiding place,” Zertal said.

Zertal said scholars wondered why people would dig a quarry underground considering the effort needed just to pull the stones out of the ground.

A possible answer may be in the famous Madaba Map of ancient Palestine, found in Jordan. In it, a place named Galgala is marked and an accompanying Greek word meaning “12 stones.” The map also depicts a church near the site. Archaeologists say they have found two ancient churches near the cave.

According to Zertal, scholars had always assumed that “12 stones” referred to the biblical story of the 12 stones the Israelites set up at Gilgal after they crossed the Jordan. However, the discovery of the quarried cave may mean the reference was to a quarry established where the Byzantines identified Gilgal. Zertal explains that in antiquity sanctuaries were built out of stones from sacred places.

If the Byzantines identified the site as biblical Gilgal, it would have been considered sacred and quarrying would have remained underground to preserve it.

Here is a photo of a portion of the Madaba Map that I made last year.

Madaba Map showing Gilgal, Jericho, Jordan River. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

This portion of the map shows the northern end of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. You will notice fish turning around when they reach the Dead Sea. I think everyone can make out the city of palm trees, IERIXW (Jericho, Deuteronomy 34:3). To the north of Jericho, and a little east toward the river, is the site of Gilgal.

The inscription reads “Galgala, also the twelve stones.” Below the inscription is a small church with its entrance hidden by a long structure with 12 white spots on it (two rows of six). The Madaba map is dated to about A.D. 560 to 565. You may read more about the Madaba Mosaic Map here.

HT: Joseph I. Lauer

UPDATE: A short video showing the cave and featuring Dr. Zertal is available from BBC here.