Khirbet el-Ein
Hebrew: חורבת אל עין | |
 Columbarium at Khirbet el-Ein | |
  Shown within Israel | |
| Location | Shephelah, Israel  |
|---|---|
| Region | Shephelah |
| Coordinates | 31°37′30.9″N 34°54′48.7″E / 31.625250°N 34.913528°E |
| Type | settlement |
| Area | 33 dunam |
| Height | 320 |
| History | |
| Periods | Hellenistic, Roman period, Second Temple period, Muslim |
| Cultures | Second Temple Judaism, Roman |
| Associated with | Jews, Romans |
| Events | First Jewish-Roman War, Bar Kokhba Revolt |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Boaz Zissu |
| Condition | Ruins |
Khirbet el-Ein is an archaeological site located in the high Judean Shephelah, northeast of Beit Guvrin.[1] The site includes two separate concentrations of ancient remains separated by a slope devoid of archaeological remains: "Lower Khirbet el-Ein" and "Upper Khirbet el-Ein." The ruins are located adjacent to the Roman road Beit Guvrin–Jerusalem and next to a dried-up spring.[1][2]
The area of the "Lower Khirbet el-Ein" site is about 30 dunams, and it extends over wide terraces in the lower part of a slope overlooking Nahal Goded.[1] The "Upper Khirbet el-Ein" site extends to the south over about 2–3 dunams in a higher topographical location. The ruins are located adjacent to the Roman road Beit Guvrin–Jerusalem, not far from the Beit Guvrin junction, a junction of five Roman roads.[2] The Roman road network was identified by sections of paved roads with various installations, including milestone stones on which distances from the Roman city of Eleutheropolis were recorded as the head of the road.[2][3] The second milestone on the road from Beit Guvrin to Jerusalem is located at the foot of Lower Khirbet el-Ein.[1][2][3]
At the foot of the site in the dry stream there was once a spring of fresh water, as suggested by the site's name – Khirbet el-Ein = Ruin of the Spring. The spring likely indicates a wetter climatic period. During the Roman and Byzantine periods, the spring water was collected in a large pool and channeled via an aqueduct to the city of Beit Guvrin. The pool, aqueduct, and hewn tunnel were exposed during the excavations at the site. The spring dried up, and a well was dug to the groundwater level in the center of the channel - Be'er Resek.[1]
Excavation history[edit]
The underground cavities at Khirbet el-Ein were first surveyed in 1899–1900 by Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister, alongside excavations he conducted with his partner Frederick Jones Bliss at Tel Goded.[4][1] Macalister documented caves and underground systems used for various purposes, but due to the pioneering nature of his research, he could not accurately determine the use of the caves.[1] Since then, no excavation has been conducted at the site, except for a looting excavation of a burial cave in the mid-1990s.[1]
Archaeological findings[edit]
The site is dated to the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Early Islamic periods, but the buildings that stood at both sites are no longer visible on the surface or in the sections of the looting excavations conducted at the site. However, the preservation of the rock-cut underground cavities at both areas of Khirbet el-Ein is quite good.[1] Architectural and typological analysis of all the artificial spaces scattered at these sites allows a partial reconstruction of the settlement picture at both sites throughout the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Early Islamic periods, with a few pottery shards from these periods found scattered on the surface.[1] The underground cavities include bell caves, columbaria, mikvehs, a decorated rock-cut burial cave, fragments of ossuaries, and hiding complexes.[1] It can be determined that the inhabitants in both areas of the site during the discussed period were buried in burial caves with kokhim, which are a common marker for burial caves in the Land of Israel and its surroundings from the Hasmonean period (approximately the second century BCE) to the Hellenistic and Roman periods (the second century CE).[1]
Archaeological suggestion[edit]
Zisuu suggest that It seems that the site, its locations, and dimensions, as well as the distribution of the underground cavities, allow an assumption that the upper site served as an estate or agricultural farm.[1] In contrast, the lower site is built at the bottom of the slope, in a relatively inferior location. Its location was determined by the proximity to the water source that flowed nearby and gave the site its name, in connection with the agricultural fields in the valley between the site and Tel Goded towards Beit Guvrin, and due to its proximity to the ancient road ascending from the coastal plain through Beit Guvrin to Jerusalem.[1][2] It is also possible that the rise of the neighboring Beit Guvrin, which received the status of a Roman city in 199–200 CE,[5] and the capture of the spring water that flowed at the foot of the site and their conveyance via an aqueduct to Beit Guvrin from the third century CE, led to the decline of the settlement at Khirbet el-Ein.[1] According to this possibility, the activity during the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods may be related to the quarrying and exploitation of the quality chalk rock, rather than actual settlement.[1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Zissu, Boaz; Shemesh, Ya'aran; Gester, Omri; Klien, Eitan (2020). "סקר חללים תת־קרקעיים חצובים בחורבת אל־עין שמצפון־מזרח לבית גוברין" (PDF). במעבה ההר. 10 (1): 55–89.
- ^ a b c d e Roman roads in Judaea. 1: The Legio-Scythopolis road. British Archaeological Reports International series. Oxford: B.A.R. 1982. ISBN 978-0-86054-172-1.
- ^ a b "מאמרים | כבישים רומיים ואבני מיל בארץ ישראל" (in Hebrew). 2024-03-26. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
- ^ Khachatryan, G. S.; Alaverdyan, A. A. (1975). "[Changes in the content of ribosomal RNA and the activity of ribosomal RNAase in the brain under natural physiological conditions]". Voprosy Meditsinskoi Khimii. 21 (3): 264–268. ISSN 0042-8809. PMID 1900.
- ^ אורמן, דן; שטרן, אליהו (1988). אדם וסביבה בדרום השפלה : מחקרים בגיאוגרפיה והיסטוריה אזורית. גבעתיים: מסדה.