Bible Archeology Discoveries

Name:

The 'Jesus is Here' Cave at Beit Lehi
Discovered: Beit Loya (Lehi), Israel
From: (c. A.D. 200)
Current Home: Khirbet Beit Lei

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Khirbet Beit Lei (also spelled Beit Lehi or Beth Loya) is an archaeological tell in the Judean lowlands of Israel. It is found about 5 kilometers southeast of Tel Lachish and ten miles west-northwest of Hebron. Some Church members are convinced that the place must have in ancient times been known as Lehi.

The site had been settled from the Hellenistic period, and contains many hewn subterranean installations, including olive presses, water cisterns, quarries, a stable and hideaways. What may have been one of the hiding places was a cave guarded by an ancient fig tree still standing today. It was originally a Hellenistic water cistern hewn from the soft kirton limestone. Its entrance, which faces east, may indicate a sacred place, and it is accessed using a narrow flight of stairs that curved along the line of the wall.

At the end of the Hellenistic period, the cistern was filled with earth, but during the Byzantine period it was transformed into a small dwelling. This is evidenced mainly by the huge, slightly misspelled Greek inscription seen on one wall, measuring between 6 and 13.5 inches high and 85 inches long, reading “Jesus (is-was) here” Underneath the inscription is a chi-rho christogram comprising the superimposed first two letters of “Christ” chi (X) and rho (P).

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A ship is also etched into the wall above the inscription. A person, believed to be Jesus, is stand-ing in its far left and is raising his hand in a manner known from Christian iconography.

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Notable Finds

Much of what is described in Bible text is lost to history, requiring readers to assume the historicity of the scriptures.

However, many of the places and events described in the Old and New Testaments are periodically corroborated by archeological finds.

Some finds simply help us to better understand things from the ancient world. However, others provide important evidence as to the truth of scripture regarding things about which there had previously been skepticism.

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