Eitan Klein

23. Klein, E., Ganor, A., Porat, R., Ullman, M. and Davidovich, U. 2020. Excavation at 'The Great Caves Complex' at Nahal Zeelim, Judean Desert. Editors, Abadi-Reis, Y., Varga, D. and Lehmann, G. Desert Archaeology: Proceedings of the 16th 'South Conference'. Israel Antiquities Authority, Beer-Sheva, pp. 33-56 (Hebrew).

Horbat Bet Bad (in Arabic, Kh. Umm er-Rus) extends over 1.5 hectares at the top of a hill 442 meters above sea level, east of the Ela Valley in the Judean Shephelah. The site is located 2.5 kilometers southeast of Horbat Beit Nattif and 3 kilometers northeast of Tel Adullam. A church decorated with mosaics and bearing a dedicatory inscription to St. John in Greek and Syriac was uncovered at the site in 1898. Beneath the church is a burial cave with arcosolia in the walls; the cave was identified as a Byzantine crypt belonging to the church. In 2014 this burial cave was resurveyed by inspectors from the Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit following damage to the site caused by antiquities looters. It was found that the cave walls were coated with gray plaster of the type characteristic of the Second Temple period, suggesting that this was a miqveh from that period that was later converted into a burial cave. A test excavation carried out as a result by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) confirmed this hypothesis, and its results enable us to reconstruct the various stages of use of the installation. The fieldwork also included a survey of additional subterranean spaces at the site, among them cisterns, underground storage installations, a hiding complex, and other miqva'ot. The results of our fieldwork as presented here will make possible a clearer understanding of settlement processes there in antiquity.

KH. UMM ER-RUS (HORBAT BET BAD) RECONSIDERED 91 RÉSUMÉ Horbat Bet Bad (en arabe, Kh. Umm er-Rus) s'étend sur 1,5 hectares au som-met d'une colline à 442 mètres d'altitude, à l'est de la vallée d'Ela (vallée des térébinthes), dans la Shéphélah judéenne. Le site est situé à 2,5 kilomètres au sud-est de Horbat Beit Nattif et à 3 kilomètres au nord-est de Tel Adullam. Une église décorée de mosaïques et portant une inscription dédiée à saint Jean en grec et en syriaque a été découverte sur le site en 1898. Sous l'église se trouve une grotte funéraire avec des arcosolia dans les murs ; la grotte a été identi-fiée comme une crypte byzantine appartenant à l'église. En 2014, cette grotte funéraire a été réexaminée par des inspecteurs de l'Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit à la suite de dommages causés au site par des pilleurs d'antiquités. Il a été constaté que les murs de la grotte étaient recouverts d'un enduit gris du type caractéristique de la période du Second Temple, suggérant qu'il s'agissait d'un miqveh de cette période qui fut ensuite converti en une grotte funéraire. Par la suite, une fouille réalisée par l'Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) a confirmé cette hypothèse, et ses résultats nous permettent de reconstituer les différentes étapes d'utilisation de l'installation. Le travail de terrain comprenait également une étude d'espaces souterrains supplémentaires sur le site, parmi lesquels des citernes, des installations souterraines de stockage, un complexe caché et d'autres miqva'ot. Les résultats de notre travail de terrain, présentés ici, permettront une meilleure compréhension des processus de peuplement du site dans l'Antiquité.

Zissu Boaz and Klein Eitan, Some Remarks on the Jewish Settlement in Judea during the Mishnaic and Talmudic Periods in Light of Funerary Finds. In: Tavger A., Amar Z., and Billig M., (eds.), In the Highland's Depth, Ephraim Range and Binyamin Research Studies 3. Ariel-Talmon (2013). pp. 171-190 (Hebrew).

Jewish settlement in the Land of Judea suffered from two severe blows that occurred within a period of about 65 years.
The Jewish War resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, but the rural settlement in Judea survived. Following the failure of the Bar-Kokhba war, the Jewish settlement in Judea was severely damaged, but the extent of the destruction is not entirely clear.
From the beginning of the third century CE there is evidence for the existence of an important Jewish center in Lod - Diospolis and its surroundings, such as Ono. There are some enigmatic references to the existence of a Jewish community in Jerusalem – "the Kehilla Kadishah De'Yerushalaim". To this period belong also some references in the Rabinic literature to sages of the Darom, as Rabbi Yonatan and Rabbi Judah Ben Ya'akov of Bet Guvrin. The Onomasticon of Eusebius, from the beginning of the fourth century CE, attests to the existence of a Jewish center in southern Judea, concentrated in seven communities: Thalla, Rimmon, 'Ania, Yutah, Eshtamo'a, Carmel and En Gedi. A variety of archaeological finds support the written sources, indicating a Jewish settlement during this period in southern Judea - the region known as the "Darom", or Jewish South.
Many questions arise - for if this is the case in the third and fourth centuries in southern Judea, how can we explain the presence of large and important Jewish villages in the region ? Are these villages the result of a long and continuous process of development? Or maybe – were these settlements founded shortly after the Bar – Kokhba war? If they were established after the war – what is the exact date of their foundation ? What historical circumstances made possible the return of Jews to the "Darom" ?
This article examines written sources and archaeological finds from the Late Roman period, discovered in southern Judea, and discusses the possibility that the origin of the development of the Jewish community at the beginning of the third century CE in the "Darom" is connected to the return of Galilean Jews.