Zissu B., 2007. Village Razed, Rebel Beheaded, How Hadrian Suppressed the Second Jewish Revolt at Horvat 'Ethri. Biblical Archaeology Review 33/5. pp. 32-41.

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H O R V A T ' E T H R I

PRECEDING PAGES: "The small town of Caphetra," which

lies in the low hills of the judean Shepelah, was violently

destroyed during the First Jewish Revolt (66-70 C.E.), rebuilt

and destroyed again at the end of the Second Jewish Revolt

(the Bar-Kokhba Revolt) in 135 C.E. Its excavation has left us

with a unique glimpse into life in the Jewish countryside.

Almost 5 acres, the village had a synagogue, stables, ritual

baths, burial caves and evidence of horticulture and viti-

culture. Partially destroyed during the First Jewish Revolt

against Rome, it was rebuilt, possibly by returning villagers

who constructed secret hiding chambers where they took

refuge from the onslaught of the Roman legion during the

Bar-Kokhba Revolt.

were buried in a mass grave. Examination of the bonesreveals that one of the victims was beheaded; thesword left cut marks on the vertebrae of his neck.

Perhaps most significantly, our excavation ofHorvat 'Ethri has lifted from obscurity a typicalJewish village that experienced Roman militarymight in both the First Jewish Revolt (66-70 C.E.),in which the Temple was destroyed, and the SecondJewish Revolt, led by Bar Kokhba (132-135 C.E.).

Before our excavations, even the ancient nameof the village was unknown. References to the sitein the last few hundred years call it many things—Horvat Shu'a, Khirbet Umm es-Suweid, HorvatHoah and, on our excavation permit from theIsrael Antiquities Authority, Khirbet el-Hih, whichis probably a typo. In any event, all these names arewrong. We discovered what might be the ancient

Beth ShemeshBethar,

• Bethlehem

'Ethri 0

AN

0 — — — 5 mi

0 — — —10 km

"Digging In" to Win: ModernTactics Echo Ancient OnesThroughout history, civilians and guerilla fightershave burrowed underground to escape from, orto gain tactical advantage against, stronger adver-saries. In Israel, underground tunnels and cavesdating to the time of the Great Revolt (66-70C.E.) have been found in the Galilee, while oth-ers, dating from the time of the Bar-KokhbaRevolt (132-135 C.E.)—like those at Horvat 'Ethri—have been found near Beit Guvrin and Lachish.

Elsewhere, centuries before the Common Era,the residents of Cappadocia (in what is todaysoutheastern Turkey) excavated a network of150-200 underground settlements to serve asa place of refuge in times of war. (Some of thelarger underground cities, such as Derinkuyu,could accommodate thousands of people forseveral months.) Some of these were later usedby early Christians fleeing persecution at thehands of the Romans.

During the Mongol invasion of Afghanistan(1221 C.E.), Afghan villagers hid from the invadersin manmade underground irrigation shafts andtunnels (known locally as karez). Centuries later,during the Soviet occupation (1979-1989), Afghanmujahidin ("holy warriors") hid from pursuingSoviet forces in these same karez. The mujahidinalso used natural mountainside caves as com-mand posts and staging areas for their opera-tions. Many of these were later used by Talibanand al-Qaeda fighters during the U.S. invasion ofAfghanistan in 2001.

And during the Vietnam War (1963-1975),the Viet Cong built an extensive network oftunnels in South Vietnam to provide protec-tion from American firepower and from whichto stage attacks. Two examples of these, theunderground village at Vinh Moc (home to400 people for six years) and sections of theinfamous tunnels at Cu Chi (a massive complexconsisting of more than 75 miles of tunnels),survive to this day as tourist attractions.—Michael Eisenstadt, The Washington Institutefor Near East Policy

name of the site on an ostracon, a potsherd withwriting on it. The potsherd was in a cistern filledwith hundreds of broken jars and cooking pots,probably thrown here by the Jews who were tryingto rebuild the village after it had been destroyedin the First Jewish Revolt. Among these potsherds,we found 28 with writing on them, in the familiarsquare Hebrew letters that are still used today.

34 B I B L I C A L A R C H A E O L O G Y R E V I E W • S E P T E M B E R / 0 C T 0 B E R 2 0 0 7

H O R V A T ' E T H R l

. An ostracon from the turn of the era

identifies the then-unknown site as 'Ethri

(below). More than 20 fragments of broken jars

and cooking pots found in a cistern contained

inscriptions in Jewish script, most recording

common abbreviations for administrative pur-

poses. Another (left) had an abbreviation

referring to dried figs, intimating the cultivation

of fig trees at the site.

Most of these ostraca contain only a single letteror number, probably to record some administrativeclassification or filing system. But one of them hadthe name 'Ethri on it. Horvat 'Ethri means simplythe "ruins of 'Ethri." As the result of our excavation,that is now the official name of the site, approvedby the Israel Official Names Commission.

The name is probably referred to by the Jewishhistorian Josephus, who left us a long and detailedaccount of the First Jewish Revolt. He speaks ofa village matching our site geographically that wasburned by the Romans. We found ash in an area thatwas apparently the point of the Roman attack in theFirst Jewish Revolt, seemingly in confirmation ofJosephus's description. The name Josephus gives forthe site is Caphetra—that is, Kfar 'Ethra, the villageof 'Ethra, whose name has now been restored. Theauthoritative English translation of Josephus insertsa footnote at the mention of Caphetra stating thatthe site has not been identified. In the next edition,this footnote should be changed.

Abundant archaeological evidence informs usabout how 'Ethri villagers earned their livelihoodbefore it was destroyed in the First Jewish Revolt—and no doubt later as well. Rock-cut winepresseswith treading floors, filtration vats and collectingvats are evidence of viticulture. Olive presses indicatean additional kind of agriculture. An ostracon con-tains an abbreviation for dried figs, suggesting stillanother agricultural product. A rock-cut colum-barium, or dovecote, implies that the villagers raisedpigeons. Loom weights and spindle whorls provideevidence of spinning and weaving textiles.

The houses were modest structures—nothingfancy. A central courtyard was surrounded by

rows of squarerooms constructedof roughly hewn field-stones. Only corners anddoor and window frames aremore carefully crafted. Architecturalornamentation, however, is entirely absent-not even painted walls. Only one of the roomswas even covered with white plaster. The rest ofthe stone walls were probably covered with clay.The floors were made of compressed earth laid onlimestone chips or on dressed bedrock. A tabun(cooking oven) in the corner of a room was madeof thick, rough clay and coated with pottery sherdsand earth. Rainwater from roofs and ground-levelchannels, in addition to water from wells, filled cis-terns, both public and private.

The houses had one peculiarity, however, bothduring the time of the First Jewish Revolt and theSecond Revolt. Many of them had undergroundcompounds hewn from the rock. The undergroundsystem in each of these homes was entered througha shaft or stairs, followed by a twisting tunnelthrough which one or two chambers was entered.Several of these tunnel systems were more sophisti-cated and quite extensive, with sections connectedby underground burrows. In peacetime these under-ground units could be used for storage. During therevolts, however, they functioned as refuge cavesto which the villagers could flee during a Roman

S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 7 • B I B L I C A L A R C H A E O L O G Y R E V I E W 35


attack. But they were also more than this. Theywere secret places where Jewish fighters couldhide and then quickly ambush Roman forces.Cassius Dio vividly describes the situation:

They [the Jews] did not dare try conclusionswith the Romans in the open field, but theyoccupied the advantageous positions in thecountry and strengthened them with mines andwalls, in order that they might have places ofrefuge whenever they should be hard pressed,and meet together unobserved under ground;and they pierced these subterranean passagesfrom above at intervals to let in air and light.2

You may wonder how we know that 'Ethriwas a Jewish village. Well, it's partly geography.It is in an area—the Judean Shephelah—in whichJews are known to have lived. But there is con-siderably more archaeological evidence than this.First, of course, were the numerous ritual baths, ormikva'ot. They were coated with waterproof plasterto prevent seepage. Each of them meets religiousrequirements. The water must be conveyed to itnaturally, not from stored sources. And each con-tains at least 40 seahs of water, enough to providesufficient depth for complete immersion.

Another indication of the ethnic makeup of thevillagers is the many fragments of stone cups andother stone vessels. These vessels are made ofwhite chalk and were either lathe-turned or hand-carved, sometimes both. These stone vessels arecommon in Jewish areas because, unlike fired claypottery, stone vessels were not subject to impurity,according to Jewish law (Mishnah Kelim 10:1;Mishnah Betzah 2:9; Mishnah Parah 3:1).

The burial customs of the inhabitants also dem-onstrate that they were Jewish. As was true of Jeru-salemites in the period just before the First JewishRevolt, the villagers of 'Ethri were buried in specialrock-cut caves. The burial caves were located onslopes outside the village. The caves have squareopenings originally closed with a blocking stone.Inside is a square chamber in the center of whichis a lowered standing pit On the sides and back arewaist-high burial benches. Sometimes perpendicularniches (loculi or, in Hebrew, kochini) are hewn intothe wall; into each a body was lain. Again as in Jeru-salem, after a year or so, when the flesh had desic-cated, the bones were placed in limestone bone boxesor ossuaries. Although the 'Ethri tombs had beenlooted, we recovered fragments of a broken ossuary.

Another indication of Jewishness is more subtle:the complete absence of any imported vessels,

including the common stamped amphora handlesfrom Rhodes and other places in the Greek world.These widespread stamped handles come fromamphorae containing wine. The absence of thesevessels at 'Ethri suggests that the inhabitants ofthis village did not want wine made by non-Jews.According to strict Jewish law, Jews are permittedto drink wine made only by Jews. (Incidentally, thesame absence of Rhodian wine vessels has beennoted in Jerusalem.)

After the First Jewish Revolt, the site was aban-doned for a short period. Then the villagers (orperhaps other Jews) came to rebuild the site. Thenew settlement, however, was about half the sizeof the old settlement—about 1.5 acres instead of 3acres. When the village was rebuilt, however, a newbuilding, a public building, was constructed in anopen space that we call simply Ml. I believe it wasthe village public building or synagogue.

Ml is a plain rectangular structure with a singleentrance on one long wall. It is what archaeolo-gists call a broad room, as opposed to a long room.In our reconstruction, the roof was supported bythree columns consisting of drums and topped byDoric-like capitals. We found one column drum anda capital in secondary use in another room. Two ofthe square pedestals and the foundation of the thirdwere in situ. Fragments of a molded stone cornicewere found outside the building, so in our recon-struction we have placed a cornice at the top of thewall just below the ceiling. Otherwise, there doesnot appear to have been any internal decoration.

Outside the building was a long, narrow narthex,or vestibule. At either end were entrances by whichthe narthex was entered. In front of one part of thenarthex was a long, narrow courtyard or atrium.On one side of this courtyard, steps led down toa large mikveh; perhaps it was a public mikveh. Asecond, smaller mikveh was located off one of theentrances to the narthex. We found a stone sundialin this mikveh.

Beneath the building were three earlier hideouts,each consisting of an entrance shaft, a burrow and

RAISED FROM THE ASHES, the village of 'Ethri was rebuilt

after the First Jewish Revolt by returning villagers or new set-

tlers. This artist's drawing (above right) shows how the village

might have looked after its reconstruction. The buildings are

simple and square, lacking ornamentation, and surround a

central courtyard. Underground chambers for possible refuge

are visible in the lower left portion of the central courtyard

and in the plan at right. A public meeting place, more than

likely a synagogue, is situated at the lower right of the

building complex.

36 B I B L I C A L A R C H A E O L O G Y R E V I E W • S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 7


synagogue


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"THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE PLACES OF REFUGE," the residents

of 'Ethri built a complex of chambers underneath the village.

They cut stepped or vertical shafts that were designed to

be blocked by slabs to conceal openings in the floors. The

chambers were not just for cowering from the Roman wrath.

We know from Cassius Dio that they were used as places

where the villagers could "meet unobserved under ground"

and plan their counterattacks against the army as active par-

ticipants in the revolt.

a small chamber. These were joined by two longerburrows that also led to two large subterraneanwater reservoirs.

Often peoples' first reaction to the suggestionthat this building is a synagogue is, "Where is theTorah niche?" referring to the aedicule where theHoly Scriptures are kept.

While there is no question that the synagoguewas an established institution even before theRoman destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., theTorah shrine came much later. Archaeological evi-dence, an important ancient inscription, as well asancient texts testify to the existence of these earlysynagogues. Josephus, rabbinic texts and the NewTestament all refer to them. The New Testamentmentions synagogues in Nazareth (Mark 6:2; Luke4:16-30), Capernaum (Mark 1:21-29; Luke 4:31-38;7:5; John 6:59), other Galilean locations (Mark •I =



1:39; 3:1; Matthew 4:23; 9:35; Luke 4:15; 13:10-21;John 18:20) and in Jerusalem (Acts 6:8-9; 22:19;24:12; 26:11). A famous inscription, known as theTheodotus Inscription, recovered in a Jerusalemexcavation in the early part of the 20th century,is inscribed on a plaque from a synagogue built atleast a hundred years before the destruction of theTemple. And examples of actual pre-Destructionsynagogues have been found at Masada andHerodium in the Judean Desert, at Gamla on theGolan Heights and at Hasmonean Jericho. Noneof these synagogues has a Torah shrine or niche.At this time the Torah shrine was portable andwas brought into the synagogue as needed. So theabsence of a Torah niche or shrine in the 'Ethristructure should not be surprising.

Why do I think it was a synagogue? First of all,the size of the hall—42 by 23 feet—makes it thelargest building in the village. The nearby mikvehis another indication. Still another is the orientationof the building: Someone entering the buildingwould be facing Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Talmudtells us that "Those who stand and pray outside

the Land of Israel turn to face the Land of Israel[to pray] ... Those who stand and pray in the Landof Israel turn to face Jerusalem ... Those who standand pray in Jerusalem, turn to the Temple Mount"(Berakhot 4:6).

By the time this was written, prayer was thecentral focus of the synagogue, but most scholars

WRATH OF THE ROMANS. A detachment of officers fromVespasian's Fifth Legion led by an officer named Cerealisinvaded and set 'Ethri on fire in the summer of 69 C.E.,destroying most of the town. It would be destroyed again atthe end of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt in 135 C.E., leaving macabreevidence of the cruelty of war and effectively ending Jewishoccupation of the site.

Inside this mikveh (ritual bath) adjacent to the synagogue,the excavators found the scattered bones of at least 12 people,including women and children and a fetus that had beenslaughtered by the Roman legion. Examination of the bonesshowed that one of the victims was beheaded by a blow froma sword. The slain had originally been left to rot where they lay;only later were the bones collected and placed inside the oldritual bath mixed with the ashes, charred wood and meltedglass of a village laid to waste by the victorious Romans.





doubt that the synagogue was a placeof prayer in the period beforethe destruction of the Temple.The Theodotos Inscriptionmentions the many uses ofthe synagogue—as a placeof study of the Holy Scrip-tures and even as a hostelfor visitors to the city—but itmakes no mention of prayer.In the pre-Destruction period,the synagogue functioned as akind of community center, espe-cially for study and the collectionof charity. In the period betweenthe two Jewish revolts, when the'Ethri structure was built, therabbis had already transferrednumerous religious and liturgicalfunctions that were customaryin the Temple to the synagogue:important prayers, psalms, thepriestly benedictions and theblast of the shofar (ram's horn) onthe Sabbath of the New Year.

Ml is clearly a public building ina Jewish village at a time when everysuch Jewish community had a synagogue.I am confirmed in my thinking that Ml was a syna-gogue by the results of excavations in other Jewishvillages of this period. Similar simple structures likethis have been recently found in the contempora-neous Judean villages of Qiryat Sefer and KhirbetUmm el 'Umdan.3 After thorough excavations, thearchaeologists directing these digs concluded thatthey were synagogues.

At the end of the Second Jewish Revolt, 'Ethri wasviolently destroyed. An ash layer covered the floorsof a building in the center of the site. On the floorof one of the rooms, we discovered a Bar-Kokhbadenarius (restruck over a Roman coin) with a burnstain on it. Two coins of silver found elsewhere atthe site were bonded together by the flames. Glass

A PLACE FOR PUBLIC MEETINGS was built, consisting of a

main hall and a vestibule. Pillars to support the roof were

found in situ against the northwestern wall. A large hiding

place was constructed underneath the building.

When the villagers walked into the hall from the only

entrance, they were oriented toward Jerusalem. The archae-

ologists who dug at Horvat 'Ethri believe the building was a

synagogue because of the orientation toward the Holy City

and the building's similarity to other buildings identified as

synagogues from this period.

YEAR ONE OF THE REDEMPTION OF

ISRAEL" is inscribed on this bronze

coin from the first year of the

Bar-Kokhba Revolt. The obverse

shows a palm tree with the

inscription, "Elazar the Priest."

The reverse pictures a bunch

of grapes with a designation of

the year. Unlike this coin, other

Second Revolt coins found at the

site were bonded together by the

heat of the flames and contained

n stains.

fragments were deformed bythe heat of the fire.

The large mikveh outside^ the synagogue was reused| for a mass burial. The

skulls and bones of atleast 12 individuals werethrown into it—men,women and children. One

of the women was appar-ently pregnant; the bones of

the fetus were found.Dr. Yossi Nagar, an osteologist

with the Israel Antiquities Authority,examined the bones. He concluded that they hadbeen left exposed for some time and only later col-lected and buried in the mikveh.

He also observed cut marks on the neck ver-tebrae of one of the men. The man had beenbeheaded.

Overall, our excavation lends a certain credibilityto Dio's description. Dio may have exaggerated butat its core, it appears he was correct:

50 of [the Jews'] most important outposts and985 of their most famous villages were razedto the ground. 585,000 men were slain in thevarious raids and battles, and the number ofthose that perished by famine, disease and firewas past finding out. Thus, nearly the whole ofJudea was made desolate.4

'Ethri was never again settled by Jews. S

'The excavation was co-directed by my colleague AmirGanor of the Israel Antiquities Authority and me.

2Cassius Dio, Roman History 69.12.3.

•'Yitzhak Magen, et al., "Qiryat Sefer—A Jewish Village andSynagogue of the Second Temple Period," Qadmoniot 32, no.1, pp. 25-32 and Alexander Onn, et al., "Khirbet Umm el-'Umdan," Hadashot Arkheologiyot/Excavations and Surveysin Israel 114, pp. 64-68.

4Cassius Dio, Roman History 69.14.1-2.


Zissu B., 2007. Village Razed, Rebel Beheaded, How Hadrian Suppressed the Second Jewish Revolt at Horvat 'Ethri. Biblical Archaeology Review 33/5. pp. 32-41.

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