The ancient village has been identified with the present site of Khirbet es-Saba, a hilltop ruin within a distance of less than a kilometer of the village Kafr 'Inan (Kefr ʿAnan), at the eastern fringe of the Beit HaKerem Valley, and rising some 472 metres (1,549 ft) above sea-level.[8] The same site has been rendered by other authors under the name Khirbet Abu esh-Shebaʿ, a little northwest of Kefr ʿAnan and closely adjoining Farradiyya/Parod to their southwest.[9][10] The site lies 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) eastward of the Arab town of er-Rameh, along Route 85, and about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southwest of Safed.
In 1873, Kitchener and Conder, on a surveying mission with the Palestine Exploration Fund, visited the site and mentioned it as being "a large ruin, which stands upon the terraced hill top."[11] A survey later conducted at the site reveal that the village had occupied an area of about 70 dunams (17.3 acres).[12]
From a prospect on Mount Kefir in the Mount Meron range, as one looks out over the hilltop ruin of Bersabe, the square layout or lines where once stood the walls of the town can still be distinguished.[13] The line of the ancient wall extended over an area comprising the upper third of the hill.[12] The thickness of the northernmost wall, where the hill was easily accessible, is measured at 2.8 metres (9.2 ft), and was built with three semi-circular watch towers. The easternmost wall was built in a zig-zag configuration. The walls were constructed of fieldstones.
Fate of town's defenders
From one end of Galilee to the other there was an orgy of fire and bloodshed; no horror, no calamity was spared; the only safety for the fugitive inhabitants was in the towns which Josephus had fortified....
There are no surviving written records on the fate of the town's defenders, although Josephus alludes to it in his Life's Autobiography (§ 65) where he writes: “...I was in the power of the Romans before Jerusalem was besieged, and before the same time, Jotapata was taken by force, as well as many other fortresses, and a great many of the Galileans fell in the war.” Elsewhere, Josephus writes (The Jewish War 4.7) that after the fall of Tarichaea, all but two of the rebel fortresses and strongholds surrendered to the Roman army. This would have happened in the second year of the war, in the 13th year of Nero's reign, sometime between the capture of Jotapata (in the lunar month of Tammuz) and the capture of Tarichaea (in the month of Elul that same year), and which effectually brought an end to the war in Galilee.[15]
The usual Roman procedure in cases involving open rebellion was to kill the able-bodied men who rose up in rebellion, but to sell into slavery all captive women and children.[16]
Archaeological finds
Jewish tomb below the village ruins
Potsherds from the Iron Age, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Arab periods have been found on the site.[13] Only one square near the ancient wall has been excavated.[17] Mordechai Aviam who excavated the site has noted that the ancient ruin has yielded large quantities of "Galilean Coarse Ware" (GCW)[18] and other Hellenistic and Early Roman shards and coins.[19] Coins found at the site date from the fourth century BCE to the second century CE.[20] Unidentified razed structures and rock-cut cisterns are scattered across the hilltop. The site also abounds with karstic caves.
Another discovery consists of a fragmented bronze base along with the preserved foot of a statuette depicting the Egyptian bull deity Apis. The base features a trilingual inscription in Hebrew/Aramaic, Hieroglyphic, and Greek.[1]
Pottery found at the site proves the continuation of the settlement deep into the 3rd century CE.[12]
Further reading
Oren Tal, "Fortifications of Josephus in Beersheba of the Galilee", pub. in: Jerusalem and the Land of Israel: Sefer Arieh Kindler (ed. Amar & Zohar), Museum Eretz Israel: Ramat Gan 2000, pp. 155–163 (Hebrew)
Meyers, E.M., Strange, J.F., and Groh, D.E., "The Meiron Excavation Project: Archaeological Survey in Galilee and Golan, 1976," in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (No. 230 – April 1978), pp. 1–24
Gallery
The hill of Bersabe (Kh. Abu esh-Sheba) from western side
Khirbet Abu esh-Sheba (Bersabe) seen from northern side
View from Bersabe in Galilee
Steep ascent to Khirbet Abu esh-Sheba (Bersabe)
Cave at Bersabe (Kh. Abu esh-Sheba)
Old wall in Bersabe
Ruins of Bersabe
Tomb carved from rock at Bersabe
Pit at Bersabe (Khirbet Abu esh-Sheba)
Ruins at Bersabe
Hilltop ruin of Khirbet Abu esh-Sheba as seen from Farradiyya
^Rogers, Guy MacLean (2021). For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 534. ISBN978-0-300-24813-5.
^These ceramic ware vessels are coarse and handmade (only the rim is sometimes finished on a wheel) and the brown-red ware is characterized by the use of large inclusions, thus named by Mordechai Aviam "Galilean Coarse Ware" (GCW). This ware first appeared during the Persian period and was used extensively during the Hellenistic period (Frankel et al. 2001).
Aviam, Mordechai (1983). "The Location and Function of Josephus' Fortifications in Galilee". Cathedra: For the History of Eretz Israel and Its Yishuv. 28: 33–46. JSTOR23398973.
Aviam, Mordechai (2004). Jews, Pagans and Christians in the Galilee (Land of Galilee 1). Rochester: University of Rochester Press. ISBN1-58046-171-9.
Mason, S., ed. (2001), "Josephus' Galilee in Archaeological Perspective", Life of Josephus, Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary, vol. 9, Leiden: Brill, ISBN9004117938
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