Horvat Burgin

For other uses, see Burj.

Horvat Burgin

חורבת בורגין
Location	Israel
Region	Shephelah
Coordinates	31°38′18″N34°58′10″E / 31.63833°N 34.96944°E / 31.63833; 34.96944
Type	Settlement
Part of	Iron Age, Hellenistic period, Roman period, Byzantine period, Ottoman period, Mandatory period
Area	7.4 ha (18 acres)
History
Periods	Iron age - Ottoman period
Cultures	Jewish, Christians, Muslim
Site notes
Condition	Ruined
Ownership	Public
Public access	Yes

Horvat Burgin, or Burgin, ^{[1] [2]} is an archaeological site in the Judaean Lowlands. Settlement at the site began in the Iron Age. During the Second Temple period, it was a Jewish settlement, which was abandoned in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. In the Byzantine period it was populated by Christians, likely including Georgian monks. In the modern period, it was a small Arab hamlet named Khirbat Umm Burj, which was depopulated in 1948. ^{[2] [3]}

The ruin is located about 7.5 km northeast of Beit Guvrin and about 17 km northwest of Hebron. It occupied an extensive site, stretching about 30 dunams (7.4 acres) on the crest of a hill, rising some 430 metres (1,410 ft) above sea level, and commanding a good prospect of the surrounding region. ^{[1] [2]}

Surrounding the ruin are wide valleys that were used in ancient times and even today for agriculture, and to the northwest of it is the Burgin well, next to which is a system of pools for collecting water. ^{[1] [2] [4]} The ruin has dozens of underground installations, including water cisterns, columbarium installations, storerooms, underground oil presses, and a necropolis. In addition, hiding complexes from the time of Bar Kokhba were discovered, one of which had an inscription from the Second Temple period in fluent Hebrew script - Shlmtzin, probably referring to Shlomtzion, a common Jewish name at that time. ^{[1] [2] [5]}

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the site, then known as Khirbet Umm Burj, ^{[6] [7] [8]} was described as half-ruined, and both it and the Arab village in the Hebron Subdistrict established after 1926 severely damaged the ancient remains. ^{[1] [2]} Ashlar stones and designed architectural elements were incorporated into the walls of the modern village and the sheep fences and were found scattered around the site and on the northern and western slopes. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on October 28, 1948, during the third stage of Operation Yo'av under the command of Yigal Allon.

Etymology

Due to the proposal to identify Kfarata (ΚαΦεθρα) mentioned in the history of the Jewish War against the Romans ^[9] as a village that was first conquered and destroyed by the Fifth Legion under the command of Cerialis in his campaign in Upper Idumea, with the remains of the Jewish settlement from the Second Temple period discovered at Horvat 'Ethri about a kilometer and a half north of the site, it was proposed to identify Horvat Burgin as Kfar Bish (καφαραβις) mentioned as the next place conquered by the legion units on their way to Hebron. ^[2] Kfar Bish is also mentioned in the destruction legends in the Talmud as a large and fortified village. Until today, researchers believed it should be identified with Khirbet el-Bish, located about two and a half kilometers south of Horvat Burgin. ^[2] However, Khirbet Bish is a small site of about 3 dunams that does not fit the description in the sources of a large and fortified village. ^[2] It is quite possible that the name migrated from the site now called Horvat Burgin to Khirbet el-Bish. The current proposal claims that the Arabic name Umm Burj - (Mother of Towers) preserves the memory of the strong fortification that protected καφαραβις during the revolt and destruction. ^[2] It can be assumed that the Jewish settlement at the site was destroyed following the failure of the revolt, similar to other sites in the area at that time, such as Horvat 'Ethri, Horvat el-'Umda, Khirbet Bad 'Isa, and Horvat Burnat. ^[2]

Archaeological findings

The site was occupied from the Iron Age. A large ancient necropolis was here, including a synagogue or church, residential buildings, numerous agricultural installations and underground caveties. ^{[1] [2] [10]}

The settlement was mentioned by researchers Guerin, and Clermont-Ganneau in the 19th century as a semi-built settlement. ^[11] Ancient findings, ashlar stones, designed architectural elements, tile fragments, marble lattice fragments, and pottery shards were incorporated into the walls of the Ottoman village and the sheep fences and were found scattered around the ruin and on its northern and western slopes. ^{[1] [2]}

On the surface, evidence was found of a large and fortified settlement with a public building. On the southern side of the ruin, dozens of underground installations were carved into the slopes of the ruin, serving various purposes, including water cisterns, columbarium installations, hiding complex, one of which had an inscription from the Second Temple period in fluent Hebrew script – Shlmtzin, probably referring to Shlomtzion, a common Jewish name at that time, storerooms, underground oil presses, and a necropolis surrounding the site from the east, north, and west. ^{[1] [2]} 16 burial caves were dated to the Second Temple period, 3 to the late Roman period, and one cave to the Byzantine period. The burial caves were divided into three types: Judean-style burial caves, Alexandrian-style burial caves, and Jerusalem-style burial caves. ^{[1] [2]}

After the Bar Kokhba revolt, the settlement was probably abandoned and resettled in the Byzantine period. During this period, a Christian settlement existed at the site, as evidenced by the remains of the Byzantine church discovered at the site, architectural elements found in secondary use in the houses of the Arab village, the Byzantine burial cave with crosses engraved in it, and several underground spaces decorated with crosses. The settlement likely had a population of Georgian monks, as indicated by the Georgian inscriptions found in one of the cisterns, which served as a hermitage. ^{[1] [2]}

The main water source for the settlements throughout the periods was the Burgin well, as well as several wells around it. Near the Burgin well, a hewn pool was discovered, dating from the Byzantine period to the British Mandate period. Today, Horvat Burgin is part of the Adullam Grove Nature Reserve. ^{[1] [2] [4]}

In the late 19th century, extensive Christian remains were noted in the area surrounding Umm Burj. ^[12] Finnish scholar, Aapeli Saarisalo, visited the site of Umm Burj in the early 20th-century, and described its ruins as being of Byzantine and Arab origin. ^[13]

Modern period

Late Ottoman period

Khirbat Umm Burj خربة أم برج
Ruined house in Khirbat Umm Burj
Etymology: the mother of the tower [14]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Khirbat Umm Burj (click the buttons)
Khirbat Umm Burj Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°38′12″N34°58′11″E / 31.63667°N 34.96972°E / 31.63667; 34.96972
Palestine grid	147/115
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Hebron
Date of depopulation	Not known [15]
Area [16]
• Total	13,083  dunams (13.083 km2 or 5.051 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	140 [17] [16]
Current Localities	Nehusha [18]

In 1838 Um Burj was noted as village, located in the area between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of el-Khulil. ^[19]

In 1863, Victor Guérin passed north of Khirbat Umm Burj, and described the village as being on a mountain, dominating the surroundings. ^[20]

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that um-burdsch had a population of 150, in 25 houses, though the population count included men, only. ^{[21] [22]}

French orientalist and archaeologist, Charles Clermont-Ganneau, visited the site in 1874 where he noticed a well situated nearby, called Bîr Hârûn, surmounted with a rude structure, near which were troughs hollowed out in large stone blocks. ^[23]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Umm Burj as: "A ruined village, with a central tower; apparently not ancient; caves and cisterns round it, and a well". ^[24] Khalidi believed that the SWP assumption that the tower was not ancient might have been wrong. ^[25]

The village was settled in the 19th century by the Al-Husayni family, who purchased the land, that was initially proposed for purchase by Jews. ^[26]

British Mandate period

In the 1931 census of Palestine, Umm Burj and Sanabra, listed in the sub-district of Hebron, had a joint population of 119 Muslims, in a total of 26 houses. ^[27]

In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 140 Muslims, ^[17] with a total of 13,083 dunums of land. ^[16] Of this, 28 dunums were irrigated or used for plantations, 3,546 were for cereal, ^[28] while 15 dunams were built-up (urban) areas. ^[29]

The villagers used to obtain drinking water from three wells on the northern outskirts of the village. ^[25]

1948 and aftermath

After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the ruin of Umm Burj came under Israeli control under the terms of the 1949 Armistice Agreements ^[30] between Israel and Jordan. Today, the site lies in the Adullam-France Park.

The moshav of Nehusha was established in 1955 on land that had belonged to the village, west of the village site, ^[31] but collapsed in 1968. It was re-established in 1981.

Gallery

• 

  

  Amphora decoration

  Khirbat Umm Burj
• 
  Tunnel at Hurvat Burgin (Khirbat Umm Burj)
• 
  Cave and pit in Umm Burj
• 
  Old structure of house
• 
  General view of remaining walls at Khirbat Umm Burj
• 
  Mosaic in ruined Byzantine Church at Khirbat Umm Burj
• 
  Staircase leading down to a cavern
• 
  General view
• 
  Open roof of cavern (Hurvat Burgin)
• 
  Plastered pool from Ottoman period at Khirbat Umm Burj
• 
  "Cave of the Column"
• 
  Khirbat Umm Burj 1945 1:250,000
• 
  Khirbat Umm Burj 1947 1:20,000

References

1. Zissu, Boaz. "Zissu, B. and Ganor, A. 2008 Survey and Excavations at Hurbat Burgin in the Judean Shefelah. Burial Caves, Hiding Complexes and Installations of the Second Temple and Byzantine Periods, 'Atiqot 58: 15–48 (Hebrew)".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
2. Zissu, Boaz. "Horvat Burgin - Renewed IAA Excavations 2011-2012 (Hebrew Preliminary Report, published in JSRS 22, 2013)".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
3. Zissu, Boaz. "Zissu, B. and Ganor, A. 2008 Survey and Excavations at Hurbat Burgin in the Judean Shefelah. Burial Caves, Hiding Complexes and Installations of the Second Temple and Byzantine Periods, 'Atiqot 58: 15–48 (Hebrew)".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
4. "גיליון 133 לשנת 2021באר בורגין". www.hadashot-esi.org.il. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
5. "גיליון 131 לשנת 2019חורבת בורגין". www.hadashot-esi.org.il. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
6. Conder, C. R. (Claude Reignier); Palestine Exploration Fund; Kitchener, Horatio Herbert Kitchener; Palmer, Edward Henry (1881). The survey of Western Palestine : Arabic and English name lists collected during the survey. Robarts - University of Toronto. London : Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
7. Warren, Charles; Palestine Exploration Fund; Conder, C. R. (Claude Reignier) (1884). The survey of Western Palestine-Jerusalem. Robarts - University of Toronto. London : Palestine Exploration Fund.
8. Clermont-Ganneau, Charles; Stewart, Aubrey; Macfarlane, John (1896–1899). Archaeological researches in Palestine during the years 1873-1874. Getty Research Institute. London : Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
9. Josèphe, Flavius (2008). Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary. Judean war. Vol. 1B. 2. BRILL. ISBN   978-90-04-16934-0.
10. Ganor and Klein, 2011, Horbat Burqin, Preliminary Report
11. Guérin, Victor (1868). Description géographique, historique et archéologique de la Palestine. Harvard University. Paris, Imprimé par autorisation de l'empereur à l'Impr. impériale.
12. Warren and Conder, 1884, p. 446
13. Aapeli Saarisalo, "Topographical Researches in the Shephelah", in: The Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society, vol. XI, Jerusalem 1931, p. 16
14. Palmer, 1881, p. 408
15. Morris, 2004, p. xix village #326. Morris gives both cause and date of depopulation as "Not known".
16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 50
17. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 23
18. Khalidi, 1992, p. 224
19. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 117
20. Guérin, 1869, p. 336
21. Socin, 1879, p. 162
22. Hartmann, 1883, p. 148
23. Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, ARP, vol 2, p. 462
24. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 380
25. Khalidi, 1992, p. 223
26. Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 376
27. Mills, 1932, p. 33
28. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 93
29. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 143
30. The 1949 Armistice Agreement between Israel and Jordan
31. Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, pp. 217, 224, ISBN   0-88728-224-5 ,

Bibliography

• Clermont-Ganneau, C.S. (1896). [ARP] Archaeological Researches in Palestine 1873-1874, translated from the French by J. McFarlane. Vol. 2. London: Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
• Ganor, Amir; Klein, Alon (2011-10-11). "Horbat Burgin" (123). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Guérin, V. (1869). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 1: Judee, pt. 3. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
• Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
• Hartmann, M. (1883). "Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem türkischen Staatskalender für Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871)". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins . 6: 102–149.
• Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN   0-88728-224-5.
• Marco, Eyal (2021-03-25). "Burgin Well" (133). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
• Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-00967-6.
• Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
• Rotstein, Uzi; Klein, Alon (2019-06-03). "Horbat Burgin" (131). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Shor, Meidad (2019-07-18). "Maʻalot Burgin" (131). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Socin, A. (1879). "Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 2: 135–163.
• Warren, C.; Conder, C.R. (1884). The Survey of Western Palestine: Jerusalem. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Zissu, B. [in Hebrew]; Ganor, Amir (1997). "Horbat Burgin" (16). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Zissu, B. [in Hebrew]; Ganor, Amir (1999). "Horbat Burgin" (19). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

External links

• Welcome To Umm Burj, Khirbat
• Khirbat Umm Burj, Zochrot
• Khirbat Umm Burj (Burgin)
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 21: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Umm Burj, Khirbat, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
• All About... Khirbat Umm Burj, from Zochrot
• Tour to Umm Burj ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
• Remembering Umm Burj, Umm Burj booklet, 08/2008