Israel, Beit Guvrin (Eleutheropolis) – Collumbarium cave 3rd century B.C. (00:01:09)

A columbarium is an installation to raise doves. The word comes from the Latin colomba, which means dovecote.
The walls of this cave feature high-quality design and are carefully carved with over 2,000 niches.
The raising of doves was very common in the Judean lowlands during the Hellenistic period. Doves were
apparently used intensively – their meat and eggs as food and their droppings as fertilizer. Doves were also sacrificed
in rituals. After the raising of doves as a prosperous industry ceased in the 3rd century BCE, other purposes were found
for this cave, like many others at Maresha. In Maresha alone, some 85 combarium caves have been discovered, with tens
of thousands of niches.