The cave, hewn on the southwestern slope of Har
Havaquq, east of Highway 65 and the
tomb of Havaquq (Figs. 1, 2), was first documented in a survey conducted in 2009 prior to the expansion of Highway 65 (
Cinamon 2013: Site 12). The cave was damaged in recent years by work that was undertaken to widen the road. During the Roman and Byzantine periods, there was a large settlement at nearby
Horbat
Huqoq, and rock-hewn and natural burial caves, cist graves and quarries were documented in the areas to the east, the south and mainly to the north of the ruin, including the slopes of Har
Havaquq (
Tepper, Der‘in and Tepper 2000:72). In recent years, extensive excavations were conducted in the center of the settlement at
Horbat
Huqoq, exposing the remains of a synagogue (
Magness et al. 2016). In 2011, burial caves, cist graves, a ritual bath (
miqve), quarries and rock-cuttings were discovered in a large-scale excavation carried out along the northwestern fringes of
Horbat
Huqoq (
Dalali-Amos 2014; Fig. 1: A-6359).