The use of rock-cut cave tombs in the region began in the early Canaanite period, from 3100–2900 BCE. The custom lapsed a millennium, however, before re-emerging in the earliest Israelite tombs, dating to the 9th century BCE in Jerusalem. The use of rock-cut tombs reached its peak in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, before rapidly declining and eventually falling out of use in the 6th century BCE in some regions. It reappeared during the Second Temple period and continued into the Late Roman and Byzantine periods.
The Well of Souls, is a partly natural, partly man-made cave located inside the Foundation Stone under the Dome of the Rock shrine on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. During the Crusader period, it was known to Christians as the "Holy of Holies", referring to the inner sanctum of the former Jewish Temple, which, according to modern scholarship, was probably located on top of the Foundation Stone.
Mount Scopus is a mountain in northeast Jerusalem.
The Bar Kokhba revolt was a large-scale armed rebellion initiated by the Jews of Judea, led by Simon bar Kokhba, against the Roman Empire in 132 CE. Lasting until 135 or early 136, it was the third and final escalation of the Jewish–Roman wars. Like the First Jewish–Roman War and the Second Jewish–Roman War, the Bar Kokhba revolt resulted in a total Jewish defeat; Bar Kokhba himself was killed by Roman troops at Betar in 135 and the Jewish rebels who remained after his death were all killed or enslaved within the next year.
The Copper Scroll (3Q15) is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Cave 3 near Khirbet Qumran, but differs significantly from the others. Whereas the other scrolls are written on parchment or papyrus, this scroll is written on metal: copper mixed with about 1 percent tin, although no metallic copper remained in the strips; the action of the centuries had been to convert the metal into brittle oxide. The so-called 'scrolls' of copper were, in reality, two separated sections of what was originally a single scroll about 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) in length. Unlike the others, it is not a literary work, but a list of 64 places where various items of gold and silver were buried or hidden. It differs from the other scrolls in its Hebrew, its orthography, palaeography and date.
The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert is a desert in the West Bank and Israel that lies east of the Judaean Mountains, so east of Jerusalem, and descends to the Dead Sea. Under the name El-Bariyah, it has been nominated to the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites in the State of Palestine, particularly for its monastic ruins.
Hizma is a Palestinian town in the Jerusalem Governorate, seven kilometers from Jerusalem's Old City. The town, mostly located in Area C of the West Bank, borders four Israeli settlements, Neve Yaakov and Pisgat Ze'ev, Geva Binyamin and Almon.
Herodian architecture is a style of classical architecture characteristic of the numerous building projects undertaken during the reign of Herod the Great, the Roman client king of Judea. Herod undertook many colossal building projects, most famously his reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Many of his structures were built upon comparable, previous Hasmonean buildings and most of his have, in their turn, vanished as well.
The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem.
The Burnt House Museum is a museum presenting an excavated house from the Second Temple period. It is situated 6 m (20 ft) below current street level in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Judea or Judaea is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the present day; it originates from Yehudah, a Hebrew name. Yehudah was a son of Jacob, who was later given the name "Israel" and whose sons collectively headed the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Yehudah's progeny among the Israelites formed the Tribe of Judah, with whom the Kingdom of Judah is associated. Related nomenclature continued to be used under the rule of the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. Under the Hasmoneans, the Herodians, and the Romans, the term was applied to an area larger than Judea of earlier periods. In 132 CE, the Roman province of Judaea was merged with Galilee to form the enlarged province of Syria Palaestina.
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park is a national park in central Israel, containing a large network of caves recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The national park includes the remains of the historical towns of Maresha, one of the important towns of Judah during the First Temple Period, and Bayt Jibrin, a depopulated Palestinian town known as Eleutheropolis in the Roman era. However, Maresha and Bayt Jibrin are not part of the UNESCO site, which covers only the cave network.
Jerusalem during the Second Temple period describes the history of the city during the existence there of the Second Temple, from the return to Zion under Cyrus the Great to the siege and destruction the city by Titus during the First Jewish–Roman War in 70 CE. During this period, which saw the region and city change hands several times, Jerusalem was the center of religious life for all Jews; even those who lived in the diaspora prayed towards Jerusalem on a daily basis and went there on pilgrimage during three annual religious festivals. Under Hasmonean and Herodian rule, Jerusalem served as a royal capital and the seat of all major national institutions. In Jerusalem, the Pharisees of Second Temple Judaism developed into the Tannaim and Judaism's post-Exilic religious identity as it continues today, and the Hebrew Bible was perhaps canonized, although exactly when this occurred remains disputed. It was also in Jerusalem during the later stages of this period that Christianity was born.
The Cave of Nicanor is an ancient burial cave located on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. Among the ossuaries discovered in the cave is one with an inscription referring to "Nicanor the door maker". The cave is located in the National Botanic Garden of Israel on the grounds of the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Tombs of the Sanhedrin, also Tombs of the Judges, is an underground complex of 63 rock-cut tombs located in a public park in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Sanhedria. Built in the 1st century CE, the tombs are noted for their elaborate design and symmetry. They have been a site for Jewish pilgrimage since the medieval period. The popular name of the complex, which has the most magnificently carved pediment of ancient Jerusalem, is due to the fact that the number of burial niches it contains is somewhat close to that of the members of the ancient Jewish supreme court, the Great Sanhedrin, namely 71.
Horvat 'Ethri, or Umm Suweid, is an archaeological site situated in the Judean Lowlands in modern-day Israel. Excavations at the site have uncovered the remains of a partially restored Jewish village from the Second Temple period. The site features an ancient synagogue, wine presses, cisterns, mikvehs, stone ossuaries, and an underground hideout system.
The Te'omim Cave, or the Twins Cave, Arabic name Mughâret Umm et-Tûeimîn, is a karstic cave within a nature reserve in Israel located on the western edges of the Jerusalem Mountains, in the vicinity of Beit Shemesh.
The Bar Kokhba hiding complexes are underground hideout systems built by Jewish rebels and their communities in Judaea and used during the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire. The hiding complexes are believed to have played a significant role during the revolt, particularly in Judea proper. Functioning as hiding places during times of emergency, these systems facilitated defense strategies and guerrilla warfare tactics.
A stone vessel is a hollow container, made of stone.
The use of stone vessels made from soft limestone/chalkstone among Jews during the Second Temple period and beyond was widespread across Judea, Galilee and the Golan Heights. Initially appearing in the early 1st century BCE, these vessels continued to be utilized until different times in various regions.
