Along the old Roman road (now regional highway 375) are the ruins of a travelers' inn and livery stable, now called "khanut" (formerly, Khirbet el-Khan).[5] A mosaic floor with Greek writing of a Byzantine type can still be seen in the remains of the structure, believed to have been used as a church in the 6th century.[6]
In the 12th century a rural monastery was established there by the Crusaders consisting of several barrel-vaulted buildings, an enclosure wall and a chapel.[7]
Charles Clermont-Ganneau describes the ruins of a church (el-K'niseh), partially standing, in the valley below (Wadi et Tannur), and which he thought to be of medieval origin.[8]
In the valley are various types of trees: Sweet and bitter almonds, olives, grapes, pomegranates, lemons, figs, walnuts, Syrian pears, carobs and hawthorns. To the south-east of the moshav is a natural spring called `Ain Jurish named after a nearby small Arab village (now abandoned) and which was built on the spur of a hill near the town of Tzur Hadassah (Har Kitron). Rock-carved niches used as tombs can still be seen in the abandoned village.
Landmarks
To the west of the moshav is Wadi Tannur, a riverine gulch with two natural springs - Ein Mata (Spring of the Orchard) and Ein Tannur.
At the foot of Ein Tannur ("Oven Spring") is an ancient tunnel dug deeply to catch the water at the source and increase its flow - a spring-flow tunnel.[9] According to a local legend, Noah's oven was located nearby before the flood. When God destroyed the world, Noah's oven began spouting water, proving Noah's great commitment to God. When the flood was over and the water subsided, the oven forgot its original purpose and water continued to flow from it. When Noah passed by in his ark, he only saw the spring rather than his oven, so he continued his journey and finally landed on Mount Ararat.[10]
Gallery
Vineyard in early Spring, southeast of Moshav Mata
Entrance to natural spring (now dry), Ain et-Tannur, in valley below Mata
Entrance to tunnel whence flowed a natural spring, now run-dry
A natural spring near Moshav Mata
Remains of caravanserai (Khan), formerly used also as a Byzantine church, near Moshav Mata
Caravanserai (Khan), used also as a 6th-century Byzantine church, near Mata
Byzantine mosaic, circa 6th-century CE
View of Moshav from Wadi Tannur
Signpost describing Roman road, near Mata
Old Roman road, adjacent to regional hwy 375 in Israel
Roman period columns, fallen along old Roman road
Further reading
Shlomo Shwartz, New People in the High Mountains (אנשים חדשים בהרים הגבוהים), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1953 (Hebrew) - stories of the first settlers in Mata (Allar Aleph)
^Place Names in Israel. A Compendium of Place Names in Israel compiled from various sources. Translated from Hebrew, Jerusalem 1962 (Israel Prime Minister’s Office. The Israeli Program for Scientific Translations) p111
^See Palestine Exploration Fund Map: Jerusalem (Sheet XVII), the ruin of Khurbet el-Khan), Survey of Western Palestine, 1878 Map, Map 17: IAAArchived 2018-11-03 at the Wayback Machine, Wikimedia commons, as surveyed and drawn under the direction of Lieut. C.R. Conder and H.H. Kitchener, May 1878.
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