Avshalom Nature Reserve | |
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Soreq/Sorek Cave, Avshalom Cave, Stalactites Cave | |
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Location | On the western slopes of the Judean Hills, south of Nahal Soreq and approximately 2 kilometers east of Bet Shemesh. |
Nearest city | Bet Shemesh |
Governing body | Israel Nature and Parks Authority |
Avshalom Cave (Hebrew: מערת אבשלום, romanized: Me'arat Avshalom), known in academic literature as Soreq Cave (Hebrew: מערת שׂורק, romanized: Me'arat Soreq; Arabic: مغارة سوريك, romanized: Mghar Suriq) and popularly as Stalactites Cave (Hebrew: מערת הנטיפים, romanized: Me'arat HaNetifim), is a 5,000 m2 cave on the western side of Mt. Ye'ela, in the Judean hills in Israel, unique for its dense concentration of stalactites and other cave formations. It is a popular show cave.
The cave has been the focus of paleoclimate research, which allowed reconstruction of the region's semi-arid climate for the past 185,000 years.[1] According to the American geologist James Aronson, the Soreq Cave Nature Reserve is the Rosetta Stone of climate history in the Eastern Mediterranean.[2]