The cave was plundered in the 19th century by Louis Félicien de Saulcy and another French archaeologist.

This infuriated the local Jewish community, who turned to public figures like Moses Montefiore who acted to get the Turkish government to cancel their license to excavate.

The bones were collected by local Jews, and buried in a grave next to the nearby Tomb of Simeon the Just.

[2] Artifacts from within the cave, including burial vaults and stones with Hebrew writing on them, are now displayed in the Louvre.

After the plundering, a Jewish woman purchased the site in order to preserve it due to its holiness.