Khirbet Almit
חורבת עלמית | |
 | |
| Location | Israel |
|---|---|
| Region | Judean desert |
| Coordinates | 31°49′25.5″N 35°16′28.4″E / 31.823750°N 35.274556°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| Part of | Bronze age, Iron age, Hellenistic period, Roman period, Byzantine period, |
| Area | 2 ha (4.9 acres) |
| Height | 683 m |
| History | |
| Periods | Bronze age - Ottoman period |
| Cultures | Second Temple Judaism |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Ownership | Public |
| Public access | Yes |
Khirbet Almit is an archaeological site from the Iron Age, located in the Judaean Desert about 4 km northeast of Mount Scopus and about 1.5 km southeast of 'Anata. The site is situated on the top of two peaks of one hill at an altitude of 638 meters above sea level, near Nahal Zimri and on the border of the Nahal Prat Nature Reserve.[1]
Excavation history[edit]
The site of Khirbet Almit was excavated several times. Rescue excavations were conducted in the years 1973,[2] 1981,[3] and 1999,[4] in various areas in the site.[2][3][4]
Archeology[edit]
The archeological excavations held at the site, dicovered some notable findings. The most important of them are Yehud coinages,[5][6][7] small silver coins with the an Aramaic inscription of the word Yehud, coined by the Jewish province of Yehud Medinata within the Achaemenid Empire.[5][6][7] At the center of the site is on the southwestern peak, where there are remains of buildings, hidinhg complex dating to the Bar Kokhba revolt[8] residential and storage caves, rock-cut tombs and additional graves, water cisterns, and terraces.[1]
Apart from the excavated caves, the surveyors noted a burial cave on the western slope with five steps at its entrance. Inside the cave, there is an small hall with a small burial chamber, which includes four niches.[3][4] Near the burial cave, there is a columbarium cave with about 70 niches.[2][3][4] In the northwestern part of the peak, two water cisterns are carved into the chalk rock.[1] To the south of them are the remains of a winepress, including a treading floor, a collection pit, and a section of mosaic.[1]
At the top of the peak is a square structure with 4 meters long walls.[1][2] In the northeastern part at the top of the peak, there is an industrial underground complex that had several agricaltural uses, including an oil press.[1][2]
To the south of the southwestern peak is the tomb of Sheikh 'Abd es-Sallam, a Muslim saint who migrated from Morocco and founded the village of 'Anata.[9] Next to this tomb are modern Arab graves.[1]
References[edit]
- Kh. Alamit [496] on the Israel Archaeological Survey website
- ^ a b c d e f g "אתר הסקר הארכיאולוגי של ישראל". survey.antiquities.org.il. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ a b c d e דינור, א' (1986). "Kh. 'Almit / ח' עלמית". Hadashot Arkheologiyot / חדשות ארכיאולוגיות. פח: 18–19. ISSN 0047-1569. JSTOR 23475350.
- ^ a b c d Uri, Dinur (1988). "מערת קבורה מהמאה השישית לפנה"ס בחורבת עלמית". נקרות צורים. 14: 44–51.
- ^ a b c d הר-אבן, בנימין (2003). "ח' עלמית". Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel / חדשות ארכיאולוגיות: חפירות וסקרים בישראל. 115: 63–66. ISSN 1565-043X. JSTOR 23485275.
- ^ a b Rooke, Deborah W. (2012). Zadok's heirs: the role and development of the high priesthood in ancient Israel. Oxford theological monographs. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-966111-4.
- ^ a b Cohen, Maayan; Ashkenazi, Dana; Gitler, Haim; Tal, Oren (2023-03-09). "Archaeometallurgical Analysis of the Provincial Silver Coinage of Judah: More on the Chaîne Opératoire of the Minting Process". Materials. 16 (6): 2200. Bibcode:2023Mate...16.2200C. doi:10.3390/ma16062200. ISSN 1996-1944. PMID 36984080.
- ^ a b Cohen, Maayan; Ashkenazi, Dana; Gitler, Haim; Tal, Oren (2023-03-09). "Archaeometallurgical Analysis of the Provincial Silver Coinage of Judah: More on the Chaîne Opératoire of the Minting Process". Materials. 16 (6): 2200. Bibcode:2023Mate...16.2200C. doi:10.3390/ma16062200. ISSN 1996-1944. PMID 36984080.
- ^ Brown, Michael Joseph (2011-11-11). "Biblical Theology". The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology: 377–385. doi:10.1002/9781444345742.ch36. ISBN 978-1-4443-3082-3.
- ^ Tal, Uri (2023). Muslim Shrines. Yad Ben-Zvi. pp. 238–9. ISBN 978-965-217-452-9.