Image Details

Israel Antiquities Authority/Howard Smithline

Picturesque Peqi’in—with its streets winding along the slopes of Mt. Meron, Israel’s tallest mountain—is redolent of many Mediterranean villages. Marked by an arrow in the photo, the burial cave is located just west of the village, adjacent to an olive grove. During the construction of a road in the spring of 1995, the roof of the cave collapsed, revealing the rich furnishings of the tomb below and prompting the authors’ excavation.