David Harris

A place of prayer. Spiritual matters were a prime concern of the Christian hermits, and they converted several of the Silwan caves into chapels. Shown here is an apse along the rear wall of tomb 22. Three well-carved arched lintels decorate the ceiling in front of the apse. A Greek inscription below the large cross mentions Isaiah, leading to the popular notion that the cave was the burial place of the prophet. Scholars, however, are divided over how to read the inscription.