Horvat 'Ethri, Hebrew for "Ethri Ruins", Arabic name: Umm Suweid, is a sprawling archaeological site that features the remains of a now partially restored Jewish village which dates back to the Second Temple period. The site sits upon an elevation of above sea level, wherein are preserved an ancient synagogue, wine presses, cisterns, ritual baths and stone ossuaries, as well as an underground system of public hiding places. The site is located in modern-day Israel and is situated in the Judean Hills, southeast of Bet Shemesh, within the Adullam-France Park – c. southwest of Jerusalem, southeast of the Elah Valley and northeast of Beth Guvrin. The site stands out among other archaeological sites because of its formidable defensive walls, with massive stones, which led Israeli archaeologist, Boaz Zissu, to believe that it may have been one of the fifty strongholds in Judea destroyed by Hadrian during the Bar Kokhba revolt.
Name
Formerly known in Arabic as Umm Suweid, the Modern Hebrew name of the site was only applied in March 2001 by the Israel Official Names Commission, after a team of IAA archaeologists discovered an ostracon bearing the name "Ethri," thought to be a reference to the a town described by Josephus and whom he names "Caphethra" – likely a Greek corruption of the Hebrew name Kfar Ethra, "Ethra Villge".
History
The Judean Hills were populated by Hebrew tribes during the 1st millennium BCE and then became increasingly densely populated up to the 1st century CE. At the time of the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Roman rulers, the Romans took over the hills and destroyed many of the villages and towns. Despite the revolt Jewish people returned and rebuilt their villages. Some six decades later came a second revolt known as the Bar Kokhba Revolt, which lasted from 132–135 CE, during which the Jews attacked the Romans using tunnels and made widespread use of hideout caves. In the end Jewish population was beaten and their villages and towns were destroyed.
Archaeology
Archaeological findings at the site reveal that its inhabitants had several sources of income, namely, a columbarium facility for breeding doves and producing fertilizer, and loom and spindle weights for spinning and weaving. However, its numerous wine presses suggest that the town's inhabitants were engaged in viniculture. Archaeological artifacts and ruins have been found dating back to the Persian, Hellenistic and Early Roman periods. According to Finish scholar, Aapeli Saarisalo, who visited the site in the earlier 20th-century, the village was settled as late as the Byzantine and Early Arab period. Of special interest were the discoveries of small coins from the second and third year of the First Jewish Revolt, particularly, a silver half-shekel coin from the 3rd year of the revolt, upon which are embossed the words "Half-Shekel" in paleo-Hebrew, and having a silver content of 6.87 grams, discovered in an area of the site known as "complex XIV," and a bronze coin with a date-palm tree and the inscription, "El'azar the Priest," on its obverse side, and a cluster of grapes with the inscription, "Year One of the Freedom of Israel," on its reverse side. As early as 2004, archaeological excavations were conducted on the site by Amir Ganor and Sari Eliyahu. In 2016, an additional survey-excavation was made of the site by Eitan Klein, Amir Ganor, and G. Goldenberg on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
