Over 40 years ago, Bedouin shepherds prowling a Judean wilderness cave came upon some of the famous documents now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Although several archaeologists following in the Bedouins’ footsteps have made spectacular finds in other caves near the Dead Sea, no one until recently had excavated these caves systematically. In “Hideouts in the Judean Wilderness,” Joseph Patrich describes his six-year exploration of more than 40 cliffside caves. Demonstrating that these caves harbored political and religious refugees for hundreds of years, beginning in the first century A.D., Patrich displays a wealth of evidence—including dramatic new inscriptions and human remains; expertly carved doors, cisterns and entrance shafts; and a juglet containing 2,000-year-old oil.