Israel Crispins C. Crispian · CC BY-SA 4.0
The descent
The entrance, at -16 m.
The real relief above Cave of Letters, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.
The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.
-16m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
23°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
284m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
23 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 23 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 39 °C at the entrance, 16 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from April to October. The wettest months are from January to February: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 19°8°Jan
- 21°9°Feb
- 25°12°Mar
- 29°15°Apr
- 34°19°May
- 38°22°Jun
- 39°24°Jul
- 39°24°Aug
- 36°23°Sep
- 32°20°Oct
- 26°15°Nov
- 21°10°Dec
Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.
Cave
Cave of Letters is a cave in Israel. The entrance is at -16 m. It has an underground river.
Getting there.
- Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
- ‘Arab ar Rashāydahnearest town · 19 km in a straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.6 km from the entrance
- Queen Alia International Airport (AMM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 70 km in a straight lineCar hire at AMM airport (Amman)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The water
The the river runs highest from January to February.
The the river carries about 0.41 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from January to February. It is lowest from April to November.
- 1.1 m³/sJan
- 1.2 m³/sFeb
- 0.7 m³/sMar
- 0.3 m³/sApr
- 0.1 m³/sMay
- 0.0 m³/sJun
- 0.0 m³/sJul
- 0.0 m³/sAug
- 0.0 m³/sSep
- 0.0 m³/sOct
- 0.2 m³/sNov
- 0.6 m³/sDec
From about 0.03 m³/s in the lowest month to 1.2 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 170 km².
The Nahal Hever from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From above.
The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.
N
1.5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the entrance.
- 2other cave entrances within 3 kmמערת האיגרות, מערת האימה
- 8viewpoints within 3 kmראש מעלה איסיים and 7 more
- 12marked hiking routes within 3 km
- 4named waterfalls within 4 kmמפל חולד, מפל חבר, המפל הנסתר and 1 more
- 5campsites within 8 kmחניון לילה משמר עליון, חניון לילה רמת חבר, חניון לילה נחל משמר and 2 more
- 4hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmאכסניית אנ״א עין גדי, בית ספר שדה עין גדי, מלון עין גדי and 1 more
- springs within 2 km
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- car parks within 2 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- ‘Arab ar Rashāydah19 km in a straight line
- Khallat al Mayyah19 km in a straight line
- Banī Na‘īm19 km in a straight line
- Al Karmil20 km in a straight line
- Khallat Şāliḩ22 km in a straight line
- Suseya22 km in a straight line
- Al Buq‘ah22 km in a straight line
- Al Ḩīlah23 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Cave of Letters.
The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.
Riveryas1 rivers at the entrance
Peakyas17 mountains within 10 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather outside, at the entrance.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 19 | 21 | 25 | 29 | 34 | 38 | 39 | 39 | 36 | 32 | 26 | 21 |
| Afternoon | 19 | 21 | 25 | 29 | 34 | 38 | 39 | 39 | 36 | 32 | 26 | 21 |
| Night | 8 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 46 | 42 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 33 |
| Rainy days | 8 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Sun hours/day | 6.2 | 6.9 | 8.7 | 10.1 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 13.2 | 12.2 | 10.9 | 9.1 | 7.5 | 6.4 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 19 | 19 | 8 | 46 | 6.2 |
| Feb | 21 | 21 | 9 | 42 | 6.9 |
| Mar | 25 | 25 | 12 | 23 | 8.7 |
| Apr | 29 | 29 | 15 | 10 | 10.1 |
| May | 34 | 34 | 19 | 5 | 11.8 |
| Jun | 38 | 38 | 22 | 0 | 13.5 |
| Jul | 39 | 39 | 24 | 0 | 13.2 |
| Aug | 39 | 39 | 24 | 1 | 12.2 |
| Sep | 36 | 36 | 23 | 1 | 10.9 |
| Oct | 32 | 32 | 20 | 6 | 9.1 |
| Nov | 26 | 26 | 15 | 20 | 7.5 |
| Dec | 21 | 21 | 10 | 33 | 6.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (-16 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 163% | 86% | 274% | 106% | — | — | — | — | — | 5% | 145% | 87% |
| 2021 | 84% | 106% | 41% | 3% | — | — | — | — | — | 5% | 32% | 68% |
| 2022 | 129% | 54% | 96% | 0% | — | — | — | — | — | 65% | 117% | 51% |
| 2023 | 56% | 141% | 118% | 246% | — | — | — | — | — | 50% | 112% | 110% |
| 2024 | 103% | 47% | 44% | 43% | — | — | — | — | — | 0% | 17% | 57% |
| 2025 | 17% | 99% | 111% | 11% | — | — | — | — | — | 0% | 108% | 187% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Cave of Letters
Israel
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- -16 mEntrance altitude
- 23 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q997543) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
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Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
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Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
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Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit 
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit