A team of Israeli and American researchers is using cutting-edge technology to explore and document an obscure and inaccessible but increasingly significant archaeological site in central Israel.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Utah Valley University (UVU) are expected to roll out in August a one-of-a-kind multimedia guide integrating 3D imaging and virtual reality to bring the ancient city of Beit Lehi, touted as “the lost city of ancient Israel,” to life. The digital guide to the site is slated to be launched next month.

Beit Lehi, also known as Beit Loya, lies 37 kilometers (23 miles) southwest of Jerusalem in the rolling limestone foothills of the Judean Mountains not far from the UNESCO World Heritage site at Beit Guvrin. A closed military zone encompasses the entirety of the archaeological site, severely limiting civilian access and preventing development.

The site, which extends over a few hilltops, was occupied intermittently from the Iron Age down through the Mamluk period — nearly 2,200 years — before being abandoned around 1400 A.D. The surface bears the remains of a medieval mosque and village and an earlier Byzantine church, but below are a series of underground chambers carved out of the soft limestone. These include a massive columbarium (dovecote) with over 1,000 niches for birds, making it possibly one of the largest in the world, as well as stables, quarries with gigantic support pillars and escape tunnels, all dating from the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. to the 2nd century A.D.