Monumental Jewish necropolis from the 1st century CE
Deir ed Darb ("The monastery of the road"[1]) is a monumental Jewish tomb with an elaborate façade dated to the 1st century CE.[2][3] The site is located in the West Bank about 1/2-mile SE of the village center of Qarwat Bani Hassan. Its Arab name derives from the ancient road passing near it and refers to a monastery.[4][5][6]
History of research
The tomb was surveyed for the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1873 and the main tomb was described as "one of the finest sepulchral monuments in the country, resembling in character some of the tombs near Jerusalem".[7] In further years to come surveys and rescue excavations were done (Yeivin - 1972, Dar - late 70's, Raviv -2013) at and next to the main tomb.[4][8][6]
Description
Decoration above the entranceThe front of Deir ed Derb, 1873
The tomb contains three rock-cut chambers with a courtyard in front. The entrance to the tomb has a portico measuring 5.5 metres (18 ft) wide and 3.0 metres (10 ft) tall. There is a 15-metre (50 ft) long Doric cornice in front supported by two Ionic columns and two pilasters. The carved decoration included 15 triglyphs and 14 rosettes – all the rosettes had different designs.[9][3]
The tomb features a specious rock-cut courtyard, approximately 10 by 15 meters in size.[4] Adjacent On the to yard's right side (westwards from the front), a grand staircase was carved leading into the courtyard.[4] The tomb facade is adorned in a combined architectural style: two Greek columns stand between antea in a distyle arrangement. The column on the right (western) and the central portion of the frieze are gone today.[4] Carved rosettes of various types decorate the remaining sections. Above the frieze, a cornice adorned with dentils was designed while below the triglyphs there are droplets (gutae).[4][2]
The burial chambers are accessed by an entrance that was carved in the southern wall of the antechamber.[4] Originally, the entrance was sealed with a circular burial stone that moved within a rail. Above the entrance a niche was cut later damaging the original chiseled decoration on the walls of the antechamber.[4]
Passing through the entrance reveals a central rectangular burial chamber with a carved standing pit in the middle of the room.[4] Opposite the entrance three niches were carved and two additional arched openings were carved, one in the eastern and western walls, both leading to burial chambers.[4][10][2] In the western burial chamber a standing pit with an installed cover was carved, while in the southern wall, a burial vault is situated above a wide, shallow trough (approximately 0.2 meters deep), suggesting this chamber was left unfinished. The chamber to the east was meticulously carved, featuring a relatively narrow standing pit at its center and pilasters resembling small columns in each corner.[4] Each wall of this chamber holds a vault, beneath which are shallow burial troughs. Notably, the outer septum of each burial pit is distinguished by a designed depicting a reclining bed with legs (kline). A decoration found in both Greco-Roman and Jewish burial tradition.[4][2]
Analysis
An archaeological analysis led Dar to conclude that there was a flourishing Jewish settlement near the site during the late Second Temple period and even up to the Great revolt and the Bar Kokhba revolt. After the latter, the area was settled by Samaritans.[4][8]
There is a consensus among all archaeologists and researches who have been to the site of Deir ed Darb that it resembles the Tombs of the Kings in Jerusalem and similar sites in Samaria.[10][4][5] The structure bears a strong resemblance to some tombs by Jerusalem, which have been dated to 1st century CE. Magen has linked Deir ed-Darb and other similar tombs in Samaria (including Khirbet Kurkush and Mokata 'Abud) to the departure of Jewish craftsmen from Jerusalem to Samaria before the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.[4] Peleg-Barkat, on the other hand, suggested that these tombs were constructed by local Jewish elites who were inspired by the elaborate graves of the Jewish elite in Jerusalem of the late Second Temple period. In the close vicinity of the tomb, about 20 other rock-cut burial caves were found.[2][4]
