> Given their abundance, it is remarkable that there is no hint of their existence in the records of the Christian kingdoms of the time. In combination with the impractical layout of the tunnels this has engendered the suspicion that the tunnels were used for a non-Christian cult that developed in the 10th century and later disappeared. In that case the slip passages might be a ritual element to slip off diseases and guilts (rebirth).<p>Forgive me, because I know little about how these types of things are determined, but I'm curious how anthropologists/archaeologists/etc. arrive at these types of conclusions. Is there evidence of a cult that existed around that time that thought this way, or is this just an educated guess based upon society at the time?
The Jews built hiding tunnels ahead of the 132 CE Bar Kochba rebellion against the Romans.<p>They are all around my home village.<p><a href="https://carleton.ca/studyisrael/2014/sophie-crump-crawling-history-bar-kokhba-caves/" rel="nofollow">https://carleton.ca/studyisrael/2014/sophie-crump-crawling-h...</a><p>The historian Cassius Dio wrote "[The Jews] did not dare try conclusions with the Romans in the open field, but they occupied the advantageous positions in the country and strengthened them with mines and walls, in order that they might have places of refuge whenever they should be hard pressed, and might meet togethere unobserved under ground; and they pierced these subterranean passages from above at intervals to let in air and light".
Here's a 3D schematic of what an Erdstall would look like:<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151217104816/http://erdstall.de/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/modell.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://web.archive.org/web/20151217104816/http://erdstall.d...</a><p>orange: entrance<p>yellow: shaft used during construction, later filled up