Early Roman manor houses in Judea and the site of Khirbet Qumran

Journal of Near Eastern Studies

Volumn 57, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 161-189

  Hirschfeld, Yizhar ^a  

^a HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM   (Israel)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 60950191669     PISSN: 00222968     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/468637     Document Type: Article

References (106)

1. The Dead Sea Scrolls encompass an enormous treasure of literary works, including holy scriptures, apocrypha, and other previously unknown compositions. Their importance is attested by thousands of bibliographical references; see F. G. Martinez and D. W. Parry, A Bibliography of the Finds in the Desert of Judah 1970-95 (Leiden, 1996).
2. cEin Feshkha," The New Encyclopedia of the Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (NEAEHL), vol. 4 (Jerusalem, 1993), pp. 1235-41. Vol. 1 of the complete scientific excavation report of de Vaux's excavations at Khirbet Qumran and cEin Feshkha was recently published
3. see J. B. Humbert and A. Chambon, Fouilles de Khirbet Qumran et de Am Feshkha. vol. 1 (Göttingen, 1994).
4. De Vaux, "Fouille au Khirbet Qumrân-Rapport préliminaire," Revue biblique (. RB) 60 (1953): 104-6
5. idem, "Fouilles au Khirbet Qumrân-Rapport préliminaire sur la deuxième campagne," RB 61 (1954): 231-36.
6. R. Donceel and P. Donceel-Voûte, "The Archaeology of Khirbet Qumran," in M. O. Wise et al. , eds. , Methods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Khirbet Qumran Site (New York, 1994), pp. 26-27.
7. Humbert, "L'espace sacré a Qumrân-Propositions pour l'archéoIogie," RB 101-2 (1994): 161-214.
8. A. Crown and L. Cansdale, "Qumran-Was It an Essene Settlement?," Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) 20 (1994): 24-35, 73-78.
9. N. Golb, "Khirbet Qumran and the Manuscript Finds of the Judaean Wilderness," in Wise et al. , eds. , Methods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 53-56
10. Golb, Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? The Search for the Secret of Qumran (New York, 1995), pp. 36-39.
11. J. Magness, "A Villa at Khirbet Qumran?," Revue de Qumran 16 (1994): 397-419
12. and recently, in a more popular version, idem, "Qumran, Not a Country Villa," BAR 22 (1996): 38-47, 72-73.
13. In general, a manor is defined as a private estate where the lord of the manor owned the land which his tenants farmed. Manor houses were common in medieval Europe; see N. Cooper and M. Majerus, English Manor Houses (London, 1990), p. 10, for a definition of a manor. On the term baris
14. see E. Will, "Qu'est-ce qu'une 'Baris'?," Syria 64 (1987): 253-59
15. The Hebrew term birah is discussed at length by P. Mendel, "'Birah' as an Architectural Term in the Rabbinic Literature," Tarbiz 61 (1992): 195-217 (in Hebrew). I wish to thank David Amit, who brought this reference to my attention.
16. The combination of tower and dwelling was common in the Hellenistic period; see M. Nowicka, Les maisons a tour dans le monde grec (Wroclaw, 1975). On the function of the tower as a defensive element
17. see A. W. McNicoll, Hellenistic Fortifica- tions from the Aegean to the Euphrates (Oxford, 1997), pp 171-81.
18. I. Magen, "Jerusalem as a Center for Stone Ware Production in Herodian Times," Qadmoniot 17 (1984): 124-27 (in Hebrew).
19. See my article "The Early Roman Bath and Fortress at Ramat Hanadiv near Caesarea," in J. H. Humphrey, ed. , The Roman and Byzantine Near East: Some Recent Archaeological Research (Ann Arbor, 1995), pp. 28-54. At the site, remains of a large dovecote (columbarium) from the Herodian period were found
20. see B. Zissu, "Two Herodian Dovecotes: Horvat Abu Haf and Horvat cAleq," in Humphrey, ed. , Roman and Byzantine Near East, pp. 56-69. A similar site, albeit earlier, has been uncovered at Shacar hacAmaqim, to the north of Horvat cEleq
21. see A. Segal and Y. Naor, "Shacar ha-cAmaqim," NEAEHL, vol. 4, pp. 1339-40.
22. S. Dar, Landscape and Pattern: An Archaeological Survey of Samaria 800 B. C. E.-636 C. E. (Oxford, 1986), pp. 10-12
23. see my The Palestinian Dwelling in the Roman-Byzantine Period (Jerusalem, 1995), pp. 52-53.
24. Dar, Landscape and Pattern, pp. 221-23
25. idem, "The Estate of Ptolemy, Senior Minister of Herod," in I. Gafni et al. , eds. , Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple, Mishna and Talmud Periods (Jerusalem, 1993), pp. 33-50 (in Hebrew).
26. Josephus, War 2. 70. For the identification of the site, see M. Avi-Yonah, A Historical Geography of Eretz Israel (Jerusalem, 1951), pp. 121-22.
27. M. Fisher, B. Isaac, and I. Roll, Roman Roads in Judaea, vol. 2, The Jaffa-Jerusalem Roads (Oxford, 1996), pp. 212-16
28. The remains of another Hasmonean tower on the road to Jerusalem from Jaffa have been found by V. Tzaferis, "A Tower and Fortress near Jerusalem," Israel Exploration Journal (IEJ) 24 (1974): 84-94.
29. For further discussion on Horvat Mazad, see I. Shatzman, The Armies of the Hasmonaeans and Herod (Tübmgen, 1991), pp. 226-27.
30. Y. Baruch, "The Roman Castles in the Hills of Hebron," Judea and Samaria Research Studies 4 (1994): 137-44 (in Hebrew). A similar site, albeit smaller, was uncovered recently near Ofarim in western Samaria
31. see S. Riklin, "Ofarim," Excavations and Suneys in Israel (ESI) 13 (1993): 53-54. Both sites are equipped with a tower surrounded by a stone glacis. The many examples of this type of tower in Israel indicate that the glacis was a local development. The earliest site which can be defined as a fortified farmhouse equipped with a tower surrounded by a glacis has been uncovered recently at Mazor, in the low hills on the margins of the coastal plain. This farmhouse is dated to the Hellenistic period
32. see D. Amit and I. Zilberbod, "Mazor-1994-1995," Hadashot Arkheologiyot 106 (1996): 92-94 (in Hebrew).
33. E. Damati, "The Palace of Hilkiya," Qadmoniot 15 (1982): 117-20 (in Hebrew)
34. idem, "Hilkiah's Palace," in M. Broshi, ed. . Between Hermon and Sinai: Memorial to Amnon (Jerusalem, 1977), pp. 93-113 (in Hebrew)
35. see my The Palestinian Dwelling, pp. 88-90
36. Magness, "Villa at Khirbet Qumran?," pp. 408-11.
37. D. Alon, "Horvat Salit (Kh. Salantah)," Excavations and Surveys in Israel (ESI) 5 (1986): 94-96
38. see idem, "Nahal Yattir Site," in A. Kloner and Y. Tepper, eds. , The Hiding Complexes in the Judaean Shephelah (Tel Aviv, 1987), pp. 154-59 (in Hebrew), and Tell Serac
39. see E. Oren, "Serac, Tel," NEAEHL, vol. 4, p. 1335.
40. A. Biran and R. Cohen, "Aroer in the Negev," Eretz-Israel (EI) 15 (1981): 271-72 (in Hebrew)
41. Biran, "Aroer in Judea," NEAEHL, vol. 1, pp. 91-99. For further discussion
42. see Shatzman, The Armies, pp. 244-46. An additional site on the southern border of Judea where a similar tower was found is Arad. On top of the tel of ancient Arad, the excavators claim to have discovered a large building with a massive tower and adjacent courtyard surrounded by rooms. They attribute the building to the Hellenistic period, third to second centuries B. C. E.
43. see Z. Herzog, M. Aharoni, A. F. Rainey, and S. Moshkovitz, "The Israelite Fortress at Arad," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR) 254 (1984): 29-30
44. Y. Aharoni, "Arad-The Israelite Citadels," NEAEHL, vol. I, p. 85
45. In maps of the area from the nineteenth century, before the paving of modern roads, only this route is marked, i. e. , the route along the line of the cliffs from Jericho in a straight line southward to Qumran. See C. R. Conder and R. E. Kitchener, Surveys of Western Palestine's Maps (London, 1883), Sheet 18.
46. The Qumran ascent and paved sections along it were surveyed by M. Marcus, The Northern Judaean Desert (Jerusalem, 1986), pp. 144-46 (in Hebrew). The length of the ascent is 1. 5 km, and it rises ca. 200 m.
47. According to a widespread error, the water level of the Dead Sea in the Roman period reached the rock cliffs next to cEin Feshkha (in Arabic: Ras Feshkha), preventing land passage southward. This mistake is based on the famous rock of the Palestine Exploration Foundation at Ras Feshkha, at the top of which the water level at the beginning of the twentieth century was marked; see I. Schattner, "The Lower Jordan Valley," Scripta Hierosolymitana 2 (1962): 105-7. This fact is correct, but in the period under discussion, i. e. , the Early Roman period, the water level was much lower, as may be ascertained from the remains at Qasr el-Yahud (Khirbet Mazin) located about 4 km south of cEin Feshkha
48. see E. Raz, The Dead Sea Book (Jerusalem, 1993), p. 80 (in Hebrew). The site, which is dated to the Early Roman period, is located east of the road going down to cEin Gedi at an altitude of 392 m below sea level. Thus, the water level in its period of occupation was either lower than this or, at most, at the height of the foundations. Therefore, in the Roman period there was no way to block the land route running along the narrow strip of shore from cEin Feshkha to cEin Gedi. On the site of Qasr el-Yahud
49. see P. Bar-Adon, "Excavations in the Judaean Desert," cAtiqol 9 (1989): 18-27 (in Hebrew).
50. and at cEin Gedi, see B. Mazar, T. Dothan, and I. Dunayevsky, "En Gedi-The First and Second Seasons of Excavations 1961-1962,"'Atiqot 5 (1966): 44-46.
51. It has been suggested that the remains at Qasr el-Yahud were dry docks, where the "royal" boats and ships were stored and maintained; see E. Netzer, "The Building Projects of the Hasmonaeans," in A. Kasher et al. , eds. , Greece and Rome in Eretz Israel (Jerusalem, 1989), pp. 225-27 (in Hebrew).
52. According to de Vaux ("Khirbet Qumran-Deuxiéme campagne," p. 231), there was a gap in habitation at the site. He claimed that the site was abandoned during Herod's reign, from 31 to 4 B. C. E. This assumption is no longer accepted. Based on the numismatic analysis, several scholars have shown that Qumran was inhabited during this period, albeit there was the possibility of a few years of neglect or decline; see B. Kenael, "Some Observations on the Chronology of Khirbet Qumran," E75 (1958): 164-70 (in Hebrew)
53. M. Broshi, "The Archaeology of Qumran-A Reconsideration," in D. Dimant and U. Rappaport, eds. , The Dead Sea Scrolls - Forty Years of Research (Leiden, 1992), pp. 107-11
54. Magness, "The Chronology of the Settlement at Qumran in the Herodian Period," Dead Sea Discoveries 2/1 (1995): 58-65
55. Humbert, "L'espace sacré Qumran," pp. 209-10.
56. De Vaux, "Fouille au Khirbet Qumrân-Rapport préliminaire," p. 89 ("Le bâtiment principal").
57. A. Kloner, "Central-Pillar Spiral Staircases in the Hellenistic Period," El 25 (1996): 484-89 (in Hebrew)
58. Broshi, "Visionary Architecture and Town Planning in the Dead Sea Scrolls," in D. Dimant and L. H. Schiffman, eds. . Time to Prepare the Way in the Wilderness (Leiden, 1995), p. 19.
59. This is the function of the towers which were part of traditional manor houses in medieval Sicily; see E. H. Neil, "Architecture in Context-The Villas of Bagheria, Sicily" (Ph. D. diss. , Harvard University, 1995), pp. 90-97. 1 wish to thank the author for this information. The same phenomenon is known in medieval Greece
60. see P. Lock, "The Towers of Euboea: Lombard or Venetian; Agrarian or Strategic," in P. Lock and G. D. R. Sanders, eds. , The Archaeology of Medieval Greece (Oxford, 1996), pp. 107-26. 1 wish to thank David Jacoby who brought this reference to my attention. Studies of country houses in postclassical Greece show a similarity to the use of towers in Early Roman sites in Judea
61. see J. H. Young, "Studies in South Attica-Country Estates at Sunion," Hesperia 25 (1956): 122-46
62. The problem of robbery in Judea is discussed by B. Isaac, "Bandits in Judaea and Arabia," Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 88 (1984); 176-80.
63. De Vaux, "Khirbet Qumrân-Deuxiéme campagne," p. 212
64. Humbert and Chambon, Fouilles de Khirbet Qumran, pp. 302-3 (Locus 30).
65. Donceel and Donceel-Voûte, "The Archaeology of Khirbet Qumran," pp. 27-31. The objects which de Vaux identified as writing tables for the scrolls are seen as remains of benches or reclining couches.
66. The aqueduct at Qumran, which is ca. 1 km long, was investigated by Z. Ilan and D. Amit, "The Aqueducts of Qumran," in Amit et al. , eds. , The Aqueducts of Ancient Palestine (Jerusalem, 1989), pp. 283-88 (in Hebrew)
67. B. G. Wood, "To Dip or Sprinkle? The Qumran Cisterns in Perspective," BASOR 256 (1984): 45-60.
68. Actually, the water capacity at Qumran is small relative to the water capacity of other desert fortresses. These conclusions are evident from the comparative table of water systems in desert fortresses prepared by G. Garbrecht and Y. Peleg, "The Water Supply of the Desert Fortresses in the Jordan Valley," Biblical Archaeologist (BA) 57 (1994): 169.
69. R. Reich, "Miqwa'ot (Jewish Ritual Immersion Baths) in Eretz Israel in the Second Temple and the Mishnah and Talmud Periods" (Ph. D. diss. , Hebrew University, 1990), pp. 306-18 (in Hebrew). Some of the ritual baths at Qumran are exceptionally large, although parallels from other sites in Judea are not unknown
70. see Amit, "Ritual Baths (Mikva'ot) from the Second Temple Period in the Hebron Mountains," Judea and Samaria Research Studies 3 (1993): 157-89 (in Hebrew). Amit suggests that the larger miqva'ot were connected to agricultural activity or to the pilgrim routes leading to Jerusalem.
71. J. Patrich, "Khirbet Qumran in Light of New Archaeological Explorations in the Qumran Cave," in Wise et al. , eds. , Methods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 93-94.
72. A different approach is presented by Magness, "The Community at Qumran in Light of Its Pottery," in Wise et al. , eds. . Methods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 39-48. She claims that most of the pottery at Qumran is local, simple, and repetitive. The local phenomenon is typical of ceramic production in most of the above-mentioned sites. Malka Hershkovitz, however, who is analyzing the ceramics from Masada, notes that pottery vessels similar to those found at Qumran, including the wellknown "scroll-jars," were found at Masada and also at Herodian Jericho (personal communication).
73. De Vaux, "Fouilles de Khirbet Qumrân-Rapport préliminaire sur les 3éme, 4éme et 5éme campagnes," RB 63 (1956): 542-43
74. see F. E. Zewmer, "Notes on Qumran," Palestine Exploration Quarterly 92 (1960): 28-30.
75. J. Percival, "Houses in the Country," in T. M. Barton, ed. , Roman Domestic Buildings (Exeter, 1996), pp. 66-67.
76. Cooper and Majerus, English Manor Houses, p. 43.
77. S. Applebaum, "Economic Life in Palestine," in S. Safrai and M. Stern, eds. , The Jewish People in the First Century, vol. 2 (Assen and Philadelphia, 1976), pp. 675-76
78. Crown and Cansdale, "Was It an Essene Settlement?," p. 35
79. Humbert, "L'espace sacré à Qumran," pp. 164-65
80. See also P. C. Hammond, "The Nabataean Bitumen Industry at the Dead Sea," BA 22 (1959): 48.
81. De Vaux, "Fouille au Khirbet Qumrân-Rapport preliminaire," p. 95
82. This estimate is based on the number of graves suggested by C. Clermont-Ganneau, Archaeological Research in Palestine during the Years 1873-1874, vol. 2 (London, 1899), pp. 14-16. A scholarly map of the cemetery at Qumran with the exact location of the graves has not yet been made.
83. The most up-to-date summary of the cemetery of Qumran has been written by Z. J. Kapera, "Some Remarks on the Qumran Cemetery," in Wise et al. , eds. , Methods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 97-110. Graves similar to those at Qumran have recently been uncovered in a large cemetery south of Jerusalem
84. see Zissu, "Field Graves at Beit Zafafa: Archaeological Evidence for the Essene Community?," in A. Faust, ed. , New Studies on Jerusalem (Ramat Gan, 1996), pp. 32-40 (in Hebrew). Another large cemetery with graves of the same type as those at Qumran and Jerusalem were observed by me (together with Yoram Tsafrir and Uzi Dahari) at the site called el-Mazraca in the "tongue" of the Dead Sea. These graves have been recently robbed by the local population and, as far as I know, are not recorded anywhere.
85. L. B. Elder, "The Woman Question and Female Ascetics among Essenes," BA 57 (1994): 223-32.
86. De Vaux, Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Oxford, 1973), pp. 58-82
87. Zewmer, "Notes on Qumran," pp. 33-36.
88. De Vaux, Archaeology, p. 84.
89. Patrich, "Khirbet Qumran," pp. 74-76
90. S. E. Alcock, Graecia Capta - The Landscapes of Roman Greece (Cambridge, 1993), pp. 71-80. Similar phenomena of landowners living in towerlike dwellings are known in Spain during the Early Roman period
91. see P. Moret, "Les maisons fortes de la Bétique et de la Lusitanie romaines," Revue des eludes anciennes 97 (1995): 527-64. I wish to thank Lesley Dossey who brought this reference to my attention.
92. On the continuation of the Hellenistic tradition of building an army reserve by granting tracts of land by the Hasmoneans and by Herod, see A. Schalit, Kbnig Herodes (Berlin, 1963), pp. 221-22
93. M. H. Gracey, "The Armies of the Judaean Client Kings," in P. Freedman and D. Kennedy, eds. , The Defence of the Roman and Byzantine East, vol. 1 (Oxford, 1986), pp. 311-23
94. Herod's division of his estates among his sons is expressed explicitly in his will (War 1. 646; Antiquities 17. 147). For further discussion
95. see M. Goodman, The Ruling Class of Judaea (Cambridge, 1978), pp. 38-41.
96. See also B. Rosenfeld, "The 'Boundary of Gezer' Inscriptions and the History of Gezer at the End of the Second Temple Period," IEJ 38 (1988): 235-45 on the estates in the coastal plain given by Herod to his relatives.
97. E. Gabba, "The Finances of King Herod," in A. Kasher et al. , eds. , Greece and Rome in Eretz Israel, pp. 160-68.
98. M. Stern, "The Province of Judaea," in Safrai and Stern, eds. . The Jewish People in the First Century, vol. 1, pp. 330-31.
99. A famous instance of this is the "tower" (pyrgos) in Malatha in southern Judea, to which Agrippa I arrived in 40 C. E. (Antiquities 18. 147). Agrippa arrived together with his family, and so we are probably talking about familial property. Elsewhere (Life 9. 33) Josephus mentions estates in Transjordan belonging to Crispus, the procurator of Tiberias under Agrippa I.
100. De Vaux, "Fouilles de Khirbet Qumrân-Rapport préliminaire sue les 3éme, 4éme et 5éme campagnes," p. 564.
101. Golb, "Who Hid the Dead Sea Scrolls?," BA 48 (1985): 68-82
102. idem, Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?, passim.
103. M. Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, vol. 1, From Herodotus to Plutarch (Jerusalem, 1974), pp. 479-81, 539
104. J.-P. Audet, "Qumran et la notice de Pline sur les esséniens," RB 68 (1961): 346-87.
105. E. Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ 175 B. C.-A. D. 135, rev. ed. G. Vermes et al. (Edinburgh, 1979), vol. 2, pp. 56-67.
106. According to Esti Eshel, an ostracon recently found at Qumran (not in situ) mentions members of the Yahad sect. If true, this is the first artifact attesting to the connection between Qumran and members of a sect. I recently surveyed the remains of poor huts which comprise what is called "the Essenes' village" on the margins of the cEin Gedi oasis. Coins found on the ground indicate that this area was inhabited during the first and fourth-fifth centuries C. E. Next season I hope to excavate the site and to date these interesting remains more accurately.