Ὑρκανία | |
Location | Bethlehem Governorate, West Bank |
---|---|
Region | Judea |
Coordinates | 31°43′11″N 35°21′56″E / 31.71972°N 35.36556°E |
Type | Fortification |
History | |
Builder | John Hyrcanus or Alexander Jannaeus |
Founded | 2nd or 1st century BC |
Abandoned | 14th century CE |
Periods | Hellenistic to Late Middle Ages |
Cultures | Hellenistic-Jewish, Byzantine |
Site notes | |
Archaeologists | Oren Gutfeld and Michal Haber (2023, HUJI)[1] |
Hyrcania (Ancient Greek: Ὑρκανία; Arabic: خربة المرد "Khirbet el-Mird"; Hebrew: הורקניה Horcania) was an ancient fortress in the Judean Desert. It was built by Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus or his son Alexander Jannaeus in the 2nd or 1st century BCE[1] (in the Hellenistic part of the Second Temple period).
Initially destroyed by Gabinius,[2] the fortress was rebuilt and greatly expanded by King Herod (r. 37-4 BCE; Roman period).[1][3] After Herod executed his son Antipater, he was interred there.[2] After Herod's death Hyrcania was abandoned, only to be resettled during the Byzantine period, when a late-5th century monastery named Kastellion was established on the ruined fortress, which remained active until the early 9th century.[1] There was a short-lived attempt by monks to rebuild in the 1920s-30s.[3] The ancient ruins can still be seen today.
The site is located on an isolated hill about 200 m above the Hyrcania valley, on its western edge. It is about 5 km west of Qumran, and 16 km east of Jerusalem. Until the start of a 2023 archaeological campaign, the site had not yet been thoroughly excavated.[1] Until then, knowledge about the ruins of the site was based on a limited number of test pits.
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