Huqoq or Hukkok ( he, חוקוק) was an ancient Jewish village, located 12.5 km north of

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...

. The area had been settled since ancient times and is mentioned in the Book of Joshua. The

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village

Yaquq Yaquq ( ar, ياقوق) was a Palestinian people, Palestinian Arab village, which was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 1, 1948. It was located 12.5 km north of Tiberias and was built at the site of th ...

was built at Huqoq's location, and a kibbutz named

Hukok Hukok ( he, חוּקוֹק) is a kibbutz in Israel. Located near the Sea of Galilee and the cities of Tiberias and Safed, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In it had a population of . History In 1945, the Hukok ...

was established near the site on 11 July 1945.

History

Name evolution

The Canaanites called it Hukkok, and during the Roman period it was known as Hucuca.Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I,
420
/ref>Khalidi, 1992, p.546 The name of the Arab village at the presumed site of biblical Hukkok was Yaquq.

Archaeological and historical periods

Archaeological investigations at the site of the former village of Yaquq, located near the Sea of Galilee, 12.5 km north of

, uphill from

Capernaum Capernaum ( ; he, כְּפַר נַחוּם, Kfar Naḥum, Nahum's village; ar, كفر ناحوم, Kafr Nāḥūm) was a fishing village established during the time of the Hasmoneans, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It ...

and Magdala,Kitchens on the Cutting Edge
, Paul V. M. Flesher, June 28, 2012, University of Wyoming News, suggest that the site was inhabited in the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

and Ottoman periods.Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Galilee: An Archaeological Survey of the Eastern Galilee
Uzi Leibner, 2009, p. 151. The Arab village of Yakuk was abandoned during the 1948 war and was bulldozed in 1968.

In the Hebrew Bible (Book of Joshua)

Hukkok (Hebrew חקק) is mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' The

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia The ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' refers to two different versions of a Bible encyclopedia: a 1915 fundamentalist edition, and a 1979–1995 revised evangelical edition. The first version was published under the general editorship ...

considers the identification of Hukkok with Yakuk as plausible, although it might be too far from Aznoth-tabor (possibly Khirbet el-Jebeil, c. 3 miles north of

Mout Tabor Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the operational and the tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the presence of civilians and ...

) to fit the description.

"Hukkok: huk’-ok (chuqqoq): A town on the border of Naphtali named with Aznoth-tabor (Jos 19:34). It is usually identified with the village of Yaquq, which stands on the West of Wady el-‘Amud, to the Northwest of Gennesaret, about 4 miles from the sea. This would fall on the boundary of Zebulun and Naphtali, between Tabor and Hannathon (). The identification may be correct; but it seems too far from Tabor."

Bronze Age

The village site was inhabited in the Early and Middle

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

Roman and Byzantine periods

The Roman period village was large and prosperous due to the presence of a constant spring. It is apparent from both the synagogue and the absence of pig bones that the Roman period village was Jewish. The village is attested in Late Roman and Byzantine period rabbinic sources.

Ottoman period

The prosperity of the ancient village contrasts with the simplicity of the Ottoman-era settlement and can be seen by archaeologists in animal bones which were cut by professional butchers in the ancient Jewish village, and by farmers in the Muslim period.

Archaeology

A 2011 dig led by archaeologist

Jodi Magness Jodi Magness (born September 19, 1956) is an archaeologist, orientalist and scholar of religion. She serves as the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She previ ...

excavated several sections at the site of the former village.Magness, 2011
"Huqoq - Preliminary Report"
"The ancient village is surrounded by associated features, including

cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Ea ...

graves,

rock-cut tomb A rock-cut tomb is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation, so a type of rock-cut architecture. They are usually cut into a cliff or sloping rock face, but may go downward in fairly flat ground. It was a ...

s, a mausoleum, quarries, agricultural terraces and installations, a winepress and an olive press. Two large miqwa'ot (ritual baths) are hewn into bedrock on the eastern and southern periphery of the ancient village (see below)."

Ancient synagogue

Among the structures uncovered during the 2012 dig were the remains of an elaborate synagogue,Ancient shul, Samson mosaic found in Galilee
By Yonah Jeremy Bob, 07/02/2012, Jerusalem Post dated to the 5th century. Findings include limestone carvings and an elaborate floor mosaic. The synagogue's walls and columns were painted in bright colors: plaster fragments show traces of pink, red, orange and white pigments. The artistry of the mosaic, which is composed of tiny tiles, together with the large stones used for the walls, attests to the prosperity of the village.

Mosaic iconography

The mosaic includes of the Biblical hero

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

. The figure of Samson appears twice: carrying the gates of Gaza, and tying burning torches to the tails of foxes. Samson and the foxes is an episode from the

Book of Judges The Book of Judges (, ') is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom ...

(). During a battle with the

Philistines The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, whe ...

, Samson catches 300 wild foxes, ties burning torches to their tails and sets them loose to set fire to Philistine grain fields.Ancient synagogue and mosaic unearthed in Galilee
, Matti Friedman, Times of Israel, July 2, 2012 According to archaeologist Jodi Magness, the discovery is significant because "only a small number of ancient (Late Roman) synagogue buildings are decorated with mosaics showing biblical scenes, and only two others have scenes with Samson (one is at another site just a couple of miles from Huqoq)."Monumental synagogue building discovered in excavations in Galilee (July 2012), Israel Antiquities Authority
/ref> The mosaic also shows two human faces, apparently female, flanking a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

inscription promising a reward to those who perform good deeds.Monumental synagogue uncovered in Galilee
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs2 August 2012, accessed 18 July 2019 In 2018, photographs of newly discovered mosaics were published in conjunction with a 70-page interim report of the excavations from 2014–2017. The new publication shows that the floor mosaic also depicts

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in ...

, the twelve Israelite spies (), and Moses'

parting of the Red Sea The Crossing of the Red Sea ( he, קריעת ים סוף, Kriat Yam Suph, parting of the Sea of Reeds) forms an episode in the biblical narrative of The Exodus. It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egyptia ...

, themes that are rarely, if ever, found in synagogues of the time. Other images show

Jonah Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' Ben (Hebrew), son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria ...

being swallowed by the fish and the building of the

Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...

. The mosaic also incorporates pagan Hellenistic images such as cupids and theatre masks, and an obscure cluster of important looking men, one of whom may be Alexander the Great, next to soldiers and

war elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elepha ...

s. If Magness' theory is correct, this would be the only case of a synagogue being decorated with non-Biblical imagery. Another theory is that the two groups, one dressed in armour and the other in white robes, represent the alliance between the

Seleucids The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the M ...

and the high priest

John Hyrcanus John Hyrcanus (; ''Yōḥānān Hurqanōs''; grc, Ἰωάννης Ὑρκανός, Iōánnēs Hurkanós) was a Hasmonean ( Maccabean) leader and Jewish high priest of the 2nd century BCE (born 164 BCE, reigned from 134 BCE until his death in ...

Tomb of Habakkuk

Jewish, Christian, Druze and Muslim tradition located the tomb of the prophet

Habakkuk Habakkuk, who was active around 612 BC, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Almost a ...

in Huqoq and it has been a site of pilgrimage since the twelfth century.Lissovsky, Nurit (2008).
Hukkok, Yaquq and Habakkuk's Tomb: Changes over Time and Space
., Palestine Exploration Quarterly 140 (2): 103–118. The earliest mention of the tomb is a letter written by Rabbi

Samuel ben Samson Samuel ben Samson (also Samuel ben Shimshon) was a rabbi who lived in France and made a pilgrimage to Israel in 1210, visiting a number of villages and cities there, including Jerusalem. Amongst his companions were Jonathan ben David ha-Cohen Rabbi ...

in 1210: "On our way back from Tiberias we went on to Kefar Hanan. In journeying there we came across the tomb of Habakkuk in Kefar Hukkok." In 1215 Menahem ben Perez of

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

visited the site and wrote: "And I went from there, and saw the tomb of the prophet Habakkuk near a spring." The earliest detailed description appears in the book "These are the Travels" (1270–1291): "From there one goes to Ya‘aquq, where is the grave of the prophet Habakkuk, upon which there is a fine monument between four party walls." An Englishmen named John Sanderson visited the tomb in 1601 and wrote "Then we passed by a little village where dwelt and is buried the prophet Abicoke; so said the Jews, and that the town was called Yeacoke." A description from the 1930s states that "The tombstone. . . is built of basalt stones, about two metres wide and 1.5 metres long, covered in white plaster". In 1981 the old tombstone was replaced by a new one, over which a small building was erected, along with a pool filled by spring water and meant to be used as a ritual bath. Jewish and Druze pilgrims continue to visit the tomb. Seffi Ben Yosef, a local tour guide, questioned the tradition in an editorial in

Ynet News Ynet (stylized as ynet) is one of the major Israeli news and general-content websites, and is the online outlet for the ''Yedioth Ahronot'' newspaper. However, most of Ynet's content is original work, published exclusively on the website and writ ...

, arguing that the tradition was only based on the similar-sounding name between the village and the prophet.Ein Hokuk and the story of Habakkuk
Ynetnews, 21 March 2007

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *Magness, Jodi: “Samson in the Synagogue,” Biblical Archaeology Review 39.1 (2013), pp. 32–39, 66-67. * Magness, Jodi: October 2013
Scholar’s Update: New Mosaics from the Huqoq Synagogue
BAS LIBRARY

External links

Huqoq Excavation Project
Official site {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Israel Ancient villages in Israel Hebrew Bible places Israeli mosaics