Tel Maresha ( he, תל מראשה) is the
tell (archaeological mound) of the
biblical 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 ...
city of Maresha, and of the subsequent, post-586 BCE
Idumean city known by its
Hellenised
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the H ...
name Marisa,
Arabised
Arabization or Arabisation ( ar, تعريب, ') describes both the process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing a language shift by the latter's gradual adoption of the Arabic language and incorporation of Arab culture, aft ...
as Marissa (ماريسا). The tell is situated in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
's
Shephelah
The Shephelah or Shfela, lit. "lowlands" ( hbo, הַשְּפֵלָה ''hašŠǝfēlā'', also Modern Hebrew: , ''Šǝfēlat Yəhūda'', the "Judaean foothills"), is a transitional region of soft-sloping rolling hills in south-central Israel str ...
region, i.e. in the foothills of the
Judaean Mountains
The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills ( he, הרי יהודה, translit=Harei Yehuda) or the Hebron Mountains ( ar, تلال الخليل, translit=Tilal al-Khalīl, links=, lit=Hebron Mountains), is a mountain range in Palestine and Israel wh ...
, about southeast of Beit Gubrin. It was first excavated in 1898-1900 by the British archaeologists
Bliss
BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...
and
Macalister Macalister, MacAlister, MacAllister and their variants are forms of a Gaelic surname which means 'son of Alisdair'. The name originated in Scotland and belonged to a branch of the Clan Donald; they became an independent clan in 1493. From about the ...
on behalf of the
Palestine Exploration Fund and again after 1989 by Israeli archaeologist
Amos Kloner
Amos Kloner (February 26, 1940 – March 16, 2019) was an Israeli archaeologist and professor emeritus.
Academic career
Amos Kloner taught in the Martin Szusz Department of the Land of Israel Studies at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan. His field ...
on behalf of the
Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...
.
Most of the artifacts of the British excavation are to be found today in the
Istanbul Archaeology Museums.
This site is now protected as part of
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park is a national park in central Israel, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It is located 13 kilometers from Kiryat Gat and encompasses the ruins of Maresha, one of the important towns of Judah during t ...
and recognized by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
as a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
Identification
The location of Maresha in relation to
Eleutheropolis
Eleutheropolis (Greek, Ἐλευθερόπολις, "Free City"; ar, إليوثيروبوليس; in Hebrew, בית גוברין, Beit Gubrin) was a Roman and Byzantine city in Syria Palaestina, some 53 km southwest of Jerusalem. After the Mu ...
(Beit Gubrin) has been noted by
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...
in his ''
Onomasticon'', who wrote:
Maresa (Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
15:44). Tribe of Judah. It is now a deserted site about 2 milestones from Eleutheropolis.
C.R. Conder and
H.H. Kitchener of the
Palestine Exploration Fund surmised that Maresha should be identified with ''Khurbet Mar'ash'', a ruin mile south of
Beit Jibrin, based on a phonetic similarity of their names. It was not until
J. P. Peters and Hermann Thiersch explored the ruins of ''Khurbet Sandahannah'' (grid position 140111
PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
) in 1902 that they discovered a Greek funerary inscription in an adjacent burial cave (known as the Sidonian burial Cave) which explicitly identified the site as Maresha. Today, ''Khurbet Sandahannah'' is an archaeological
tell comprising 24 ''
dunams
A dunam (Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount o ...
'' (5.9 acres), with its "lower city" incorporating into it an additional 400 ''dunams'' (98 acres).
History
Iron Age to Hellenistic Period
Maresha was one of the cities of
Judah during the time of the
First Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...
and is mentioned as part of the inheritance of the biblical
tribe of Judah
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was the first tribe to take its place in the Land of Israel, occupying the southern ...
in the
Book of Joshua ().
Later, in the second
Book of Chronicles, it is named as one of King
Rehoboam's fifteen fortified cities (). In it is the site of a
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
against an invading
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
n army.
According to the
Madaba Map, Maresha was the place "whence came
Micah the Prophet". In the 6th century BCE, as result of
Zedekiah
Zedekiah (), was the 20th and last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. His birth name was Mattaniah/Mattanyahu ( he, מַתַּנְיָהוּ, ''Mattanyāhū'', "Gift of God"; el, Μαθ� ...
's rebellion against the Babylonian kingdom and its king
Nebuchadnezzar II, the latter occupied the Judean kingdom and sent many of its inhabitants into exile. This marked the end of Maresha as a Judahite city.
Following these events,
Edomites
Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...
who had lived east and south of the
Dead Sea migrated to the area and Maresha emerged as a major Idumean city.
Hence, from the Persian rule and throughout the Hellenistic kingdoms' rule in the region (6th – 1st century BCE), Maresha was part of the area known as
Idumea, a
Hellenised
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the H ...
form of Edom. During the period of Persian rule,
Phoenician colonies were encouraged to spread out along the coastal regions of
Palestine and in the adjacent hill country of
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sou ...
, whence their early settlement in Maresha took its rise.
With the conquest of the region by
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
the city was settled by retired Greek soldiers as was then custom. Thus Maresha reached its zenith, developing as a
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 ...
city encompassing a multitude of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and oriental cultures including
Sidonians and
Nabataeans
The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern L ...
. With the advent of Hellenisation, the settlement pattern changed, as most everywhere in the region, and the city expanded far beyond the constraints of the fortified, raised
tell or mound of Iron Age Maresha. Maresha became the center of an administrative district in the
Ptolemaic empire, while from 200 BCE onward the center of a Seleucid administrative district.
Decline and fall
The city began its decline during the
Maccabean Revolt
The Maccabean Revolt ( he, מרד החשמונאים) was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167–160 BCE and ende ...
against the
Seleucid Empire (2nd century BCE) when the city was used as base to combat the rebels. reports that
Judas Maccabeus and his forces marched through Marisa in around 163/2 BCE when the city was burnt during Judas' conquest of the Idumaean region, from
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 ...
to Azotus (
Ashdod).
Following the rebellion and its success,
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 ...
conquered the city in c. 112 BCE, forcibly converting its inhabitants to Judaism.
In 63 BCE, as part of the arrangements made by
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
in the region, Maresha, along with all of Edom, was separated from the Jewish kingdom and returned to Idumea. In 47 BCE
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
then annexed the city to Judea.
Maresha was finally destroyed in 40 BCE by the
Parthians as part of the power struggle between
Antigonus of the
Hasmoneans who had sought their aid and
Herod, who was a son of the converted
Antipater the Idumaean
Antipater I the Idumaean, he, ''‘Ānṭīpāṭrūs'' (born 113 or 114 BCE, died 43 BCE) was the founder of the Herodian Dynasty and father of Herod the Great. According to Josephus, he was the son of Antipas; Hebrew: אנטיפס) and h ...
and was being supported by the Romans.
After Maresha: Beth Gabra/Eleutheropolis
After the demise of Maresha, the neighbouring
Idumean/Jewish town of Beth Gabra or
Beit Guvrin succeeded it as the main settlement in the area. Shaken by two successive and disastrous Jewish revolts against Roman rule in the 1st and 2nd centuries, the town recovered its importance only at the beginning of the 3rd century when it was re-established as a Roman city under the new name of
Eleutheropolis
Eleutheropolis (Greek, Ἐλευθερόπολις, "Free City"; ar, إليوثيروبوليس; in Hebrew, בית גוברין, Beit Gubrin) was a Roman and Byzantine city in Syria Palaestina, some 53 km southwest of Jerusalem. After the Mu ...
. By the time of
Eusebius of Caesarea (d. 340 CE), Maresha itself was already a deserted place: he mentions the city in his
Onomasticon, saying that it was at a distance of "two milestones from
Eleutheropolis
Eleutheropolis (Greek, Ἐλευθερόπολις, "Free City"; ar, إليوثيروبوليس; in Hebrew, בית גוברין, Beit Gubrin) was a Roman and Byzantine city in Syria Palaestina, some 53 km southwest of Jerusalem. After the Mu ...
".
Modern era
The Palestinian Arab village
Bayt Jibrin
Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibrin ( ar, بيت جبرين; he, בית גוברין, translit=Beit Gubrin) was a Palestinian village located northwest of the city of Hebron. The village had a total land area of 56,185 dunams or , of which wer ...
, standing on the site of ancient Eleutheropolis, was depopulated during the
1948 Arab-Israeli war. In 1949 Kibbutz
Beit Guvrin was established on part of Bayt Jibrin's lands. Most of the archaeologically important areas of ancient Maresha and Beit Guvrin/Eleutheropolis are now part of the
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park is a national park in central Israel, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It is located 13 kilometers from Kiryat Gat and encompasses the ruins of Maresha, one of the important towns of Judah during t ...
.
Archaeology
Archaeological excavations have been conducted at the site since 2002, continuing as late as 2010, and 2013–2014, by Alpert Berni and Ian Stern on behalf of the
Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...
(IAA). Less than 10 percent of the caves on Tell Maresha have been excavated. Located some 1,300 feet above sea level, the ground is chalky and soft, lending itself to the digging of caves which were used as quarries, burial grounds, animal shelters, workshops and spaces for raising doves and pigeons. Many of the caves are linked by an underground maze of passageways.
During excavations at Tell Maresha, archaeologists uncovered a lead weight with a Greek inscription that read: "Year 170 (corresponding to 143/2 BCE), the ''agoranomos''
"market inspector"being Antipater, son of Heliodorus, and Aristodamus, son of Ariston (?)." The calendar year is written according to the
Seleucid era
The Seleucid era ("SE") or (literally "year of the Greeks" or "Greek year"), sometimes denoted "AG," was a system of numbering years in use by the Seleucid Empire and other countries among the ancient Hellenistic civilizations. It is sometimes r ...
counting, during which same year
Simon Thassi of the
Hasmonean dynasty
The Hasmonean dynasty (; he, ''Ḥašmōnaʾīm'') was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity, from BCE to 37 BCE. Between and BCE the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously in the Seleucid Empire, and ...
assumed power.
Approximately 500
ostraca
An ostracon ( Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of ...
were found in Tell Maresha alone, 400 of which discovered since 2000. Included among these are both dated and undated
dockets, tags with personal names and a number of letters of correspondence.
In 2022, a large number of knucklebones were found. Some were used to play games (for example
Knucklebones) and others to contact the gods (
Astragalomancy
Astragalomancy, also known as astragyromancy, is a form of divination that uses dice specially marked with letters or numbers.
Originally, as with dice games, the "dice" were knucklebones or other small bones of quadrupeds. Marked ''astragali'' ...
). Those that bear writing were in Greek.
Huge Number of Knucklebones for Prophecy and Games Discovered in Biblical Maresha
/ref>
Tel Maresha and national park
Today Maresha is part of the Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i national park of Beit Guvrin. Many of the ancient city's olive presses, columbaria and water cisterns can still be seen. Furthermore, the Archaeological Seminars Institute, under the license of the Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...
, conducts excavations of Maresha's many quarried systems, and invites visitors to participate.
See also
* Ancient synagogues in the Palestine region
**Ancient synagogues in Israel
Ancient synagogues in Israel refers to synagogues in the modern State of Israel, built by the Jewish and Samaritan communities from antiquity to the Early Islamic period.
The designation ancient synagogues in Israel requires careful definitio ...
* Archaeological Seminars Institute
*Archaeology of Israel
The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultu ...
*Bayt Jibrin
Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibrin ( ar, بيت جبرين; he, בית גוברין, translit=Beit Gubrin) was a Palestinian village located northwest of the city of Hebron. The village had a total land area of 56,185 dunams or , of which wer ...
for most elaborate presentation (history, archaeology etc.)
*Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park is a national park in central Israel, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It is located 13 kilometers from Kiryat Gat and encompasses the ruins of Maresha, one of the important towns of Judah during t ...
*Eleutheropolis
Eleutheropolis (Greek, Ἐλευθερόπολις, "Free City"; ar, إليوثيروبوليس; in Hebrew, בית גוברין, Beit Gubrin) was a Roman and Byzantine city in Syria Palaestina, some 53 km southwest of Jerusalem. After the Mu ...
* Kibbutz Beit Guvrin
* LMLK seal - seal impressions on jars from the time of King Hezekiah (ruled c. 715-686 BCE)
*Tourism in Israel
Tourism in Israel is one of Israel's major sources of income, with a record 4.55 million tourist arrivals in 2019, and, in 2017, contributed NIS 20 billion to the Israeli economy making it an all-time record. Israel offers a plethora of historica ...
Gallery
File:Cave system at Maresha.jpg, Extensive cave dwellings at Tell Maresha
File:Underground chamber in Maresha ruin.jpg, Vast underground chambers at Tell Maresha
File:Olive press at Maresha.jpg, An old olive press at Tell Maresha
File:Millstone - Maresha ruin.jpg, Inner recess of cave dwelling
File:Staircase in cavern outside of Tel Maresha.jpg, Staircase at ruin Khirbet Sandahannah (now Tell Maresha)
File:Columbarium (dovecote) in Maresha.jpg, Columbarium (dovecote) in Maresha
References
Bibliography
* Kloner, Amos, ''Maresha Excavations Final Report I: Subterranean Complexes 21, 44, 70'' (Jerusalem, Israel Antiquities Authority, 2003).
* Jacobson, D. M., ''The Hellenistic Paintings of Marisa'' (London, Palestine Exploration Fund, 2005).
External links
Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park
– official site
Pictures of Maresha
{{authority control
Ancient Israel and Judah
Archaeological sites in Israel
Edom
National parks of Israel
Former populated places in Southwest Asia
Protected areas of Southern District (Israel)
Canaanite cities
Disestablishments in the Hasmonean Kingdom