Ayalon Cave

Cave near Ramla, Israel

The Ayalon Cave (, Arabic/Aramaic, Shiha شيحا) is a large limestone cave near Ramla, Israel, with a worldwide unique ecosystem. As photosynthesis is not possible inside the completely dark cave, the food chain that developed inside is solely based on bacteria capable of chemosynthesis: the bacteria are consuming the anorganic matter available in the groundwater, and then themselves become the organic food source for the rest of the food chain. As of 2021, Ayalon Cave was one of less than 10 such subterranean ecosystems known in the world, with each of them being distinctly different from the rest. Eight new invertebrate species were discovered there in April 2006 four seawater and freshwater crustaceans along with four terrestial animals, one of them a species of blind scorpion – with many more expected to be discovered.

According to historian Roy Marom, the existence of significant caves on the site was known to the ancients. In the 16th century, the site is recorded as Mazraʽat šīḥah /Mazraʽat šīḥa/ [54], “the farm of the pit, cavity, ditch”, from Aramaic šyḥ’, exemplifiying and motivated by the fact that the site has dozens of caves and underground caverns. In the 19th century, the site was known as muġur šīḥa ("Shiha Caves"). The cave was rediscovered in 2006 when a small opening was discerned in the quarry. The cave, deep, extends including its branches, which makes it the third largest limestone cave in Israel.

According to Professor Amos Frumkin of the Hebrew University, the cave is unique in that a thick layer of limestone left it impermeable to any water coming from the surface. It has been studied for its complex food web, which survived for millions of years without light or organic food coming in from the surface, being based solely on a type of bacterium which feeds on sulfur which serves as the only organic matter available for the next higher level of organisms to feed on. The cave has offered an ecological refuge for species whose relatives living at the surface have been wiped out by climatic changes and catastrophic events over millions of years, and offers a unique sample for the study of long term ecological changes in the area.