Transliterated Name | Source | Name |
---|---|---|
En Haseva | Hebrew | |
Mezad Hazeva | Hebrew | |
Ain Husub | Arabic | اين هوسوب |
Hosob | German (Musil) | |
Tamara | Latin | |
Thamana | Latin | |
Thamaro | ||
Tamar | Biblical Hebrew |
Tentative, modified, and unverified Stratigraphy initially from here whose numbering differs from earlier publications is presented below:
Stratum | Period | Approximate Dates | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
1b | Modern | 1900- | Aqueduct, well, police station, Kibbutz Ir-Ovot (1967- 1980s)In modern times, the British authorities paved a road across this part of the site. Traces of the road can still be discerned in the upper layers of the balks over the principia (headquarters) of the camp(Erickson-Gini and Moore Bekes, 2019) |
1a | Early Islamic | 8th - 9th centuries CE | During the Early Islamic period, in the eighth–ninth centuries CE, the bathhouse was reoccupied and converted into domestic quarters, and water channels that led to nearby fields were constructed over the ruins of the camp(Erickson-Gini and Moore Bekes, 2019) |
2 | Byzantine | 4th-7th centuries CE | |
3 | Byzantine ? | 4rd-6th centuries CE | Three phases of construction and occupation were identified in the camp (Erickson-Gini 2010:97–99). The camp appears to have been built around the time that the Diocletianic fort was constructed on the tell, in the late third or early fourth century CE. It was devastated in the earthquake of 363 CE, which damaged the bathhouse and the fort as well. The camp was subsequently reconstructed and remained in use until the sometime in the sixth century CE. A second earthquake, in the sixth century CE, appears to have destroyed the second phase of the structure and the bathhouse, and subsequently they were both abandoned(Erickson-Gini and Moore Bekes, 2019) |
4 | Roman | 3rd-4th centuries CE | Three phases of construction and occupation were identified in the camp (Erickson-Gini 2010:97–99). The camp appears to have been built around the time that the Diocletianic fort was constructed on the tell, in the late third or early fourth century CE. It was devastated in the earthquake of 363 CE, which damaged the bathhouse and the fort as well.(Erickson-Gini and Moore Bekes, 2019) |
5 | Nabatean | 1st century BCE-1st century CE | |
6 | 7th-6th centuries BCE | Fortress apparently concurrent with Edomite Shrine - Stratum 4 of Cohen and Yisrael (1995) | |
7b | 8th century BCE | Fortress | |
7a | Late Iron Age IIa | 9th-8th centuries BCE | The Middle Fortress - Stratum 5 of Cohen and Yisrael (1995) |
8 | Late Iron Age I | 10th century BCE | The Early Fortress - Stratum 6 of Cohen and Yisrael (1995) |
21. 'Haseva
136 Rudolph Cohen, “The Fortress at 'En 'Haseva,” BA 57 (1994): 203-214. On the 363 CE earthquake, see Kenneth
W. Russell, “The Earthquake of May 19, A.D. 363,” BASOR 238 (1980): 47–64; Kenneth W. Russell, “The
Earthquake Chronology of Palestine and Northwest Arabia from the 2nd Through the Mid-9th Century A.D.,” BASOR
260 (1985): 37–59.
137 Cohen and Yisrael, “The Iron Age Fortreses,” 231. Austin et al., “Amos’s Earthquake,” 661-662, list ‘En Haseva
as one of the sites that corroborates evidence of earthquake damage.
138 Nadav Na’aman, “Notes on the Excavation of {Ein HasΩeva,” Qadmoniot 30 (1997): 60 (Hebrew); Nadav
Na’aman, “An Assyrian Residence at Ramat RahΩel?,” TA 28 (2001): 260-280.
139 To be fair, stratum 4 dates to the seventh-sixth centuries so a tight sequence is not needed to explain the end of
stratum 5 before stratum 4 began.
140 David Ussishkin, “{En H¸asΩeva: On the Gate of the Iron Age II Fortress,” TA 37 (2010): 246-253.
141 David Ussishkin, “The City-Gate Complex: A Synopsis of the Stratigraphy and Architecture,” in The Renewed
Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994) (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv
University 22). Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2004), 504–524.
Three phases of construction and occupation were identified in the camp (Erickson-Gini 2010:97–99). The camp appears to have been built around the time that the Diocletianic fort was constructed on the tell, in the late third or early fourth century CE. It was devastated in the earthquake of 363 CE, which damaged the bathhouse and the fort as well. The camp was subsequently reconstructed and remained in use until the sometime in the sixth century CE.
The 2003 Excavation
Room 45
A north–south wall (W785), running through the center of the room was exposed to its full length. The wall was made up of pilasters and collapsed arches over a layer of dark soil and ash (Figs. 6, 7![]()
Figure 6
Line of collapsed arches over a layer of ash in Room 45, looking west
Erickson-Gini and Moore Bekes (2019)). Coins discovered under the arches included a Roman Provincial coin from the third century CE (IAA 97941), coins of Licinius I (320 CE; IAA 97946) and Constantine I (324 CE; IAA 97937), and a Late Roman coin from 324 CE (IAA 97936).![]()
Figure 7
Line of collapsed arches over a layer of ash in Room 45, looking east.
Erickson-Gini and Moore Bekes (2019)
The soil over the Room’s floor (L300/L303) contained coins, mainly from the fourth century CE, attributed to both the first phase of the structure (late third or early fourth century to the earthquake of 363 CE) and its second phase (from 363 CE until the early sixth century CE). These included coins of Arcadius (383 CE; IAA 97942) and Theodosius (379 CE; IAA 97940), as well as several other Late Roman coins of the early fourth century CE (IAA 97939, 97944, 97945, 97947, 97948). A Late Roman coin from 346 CE was recovered on the surface of the site elsewhere in the structure (IAA 97949).
Room 53
According to the 1994–1995 field notes by Y. Kalman, Area E supervisor, Room 53 was filled with collapsed debris, stone slabs that were used for roofing, arch stones and other building stones. The structure probably collapsed in the 363 CE earthquake.
The 2009–2010 Excavations
The wall running down the center of the structure and dividing it into two (W578; Fig. 14)—probably a stylobate or a foundation for a series of arches—appears to have been constructed in the second, post-363 CE phase of the camp. This wall is essentially an extension of W785, running down the center of Room 45. This suggests that the original gatehouse was blocked, probably after it was damaged in the earthquake, and the entrance to the camp was removed to a different location.
The 2003 Excavation
Room 45
Evidence of damage caused by the earthquake that occurred in the sixth century CE was found in the collapse of the western wall of Room 45 (W790); it fell into an open space west of the room (L600). Here, two complete oil lamps were revealed that had apparently sat in a niche in the wall. One belongs to a type that is commonly found in contexts from the first half of the fifth century CE (Fig. 8:1). The other is a Byzantine sandal lamp, commonly found in deposits from the second half of the fifth century CE (Fig. 8:2).
filled with collapsed debris, stone slabs that were used for roofing, arch stones and other building stones.- not as well dated
Effect | Description | Intensity |
---|---|---|
Tilted Wall | Fortress Gate
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 12 Jan. 2023 |
VI + |
Effect | Description | Intensity |
---|---|---|
Collapsed Arches | Room 45 -
Figs. 6
![]() ![]() Line of collapsed arches over a layer of ash in Room 45, looking west Erickson-Gini and Moore Bekes (2019) ![]() ![]() Line of collapsed arches over a layer of ash in Room 45, looking east. Erickson-Gini and Moore Bekes (2019) |
VI + |
Collapsed Walls |
Based on an earlier excavation report, Erickson-Gini and Moore Bekes (2019) characterize Room 53
as filled with collapsed debris, stone slabs that were used for roofing, arch stones and other building stones. Note - this archaeoseismic evidence is not as well dated as the Collapsed Arches |
VIII + |
Effect | Description | Intensity |
---|---|---|
Collapsed Walls | Western Wall of Room 45 collapsed to the west | VIII + |
Description | Flight Date | Pilot | Processing | Downloadable Link |
---|---|---|---|---|
Entire Site | 12 Jan. 2023 | Jefferson Williams | ODM - no GCPs | Right Click to download. Then unzip |
Description | Photo | Comments |
---|---|---|
Oblique Aerial Shot of Entire Site |
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 12 Jan. 2023 |
|
Cropped Oblique Aerial Shot of Entire Site |
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 12 Jan. 2023 |
|
Oblique Aerial Shot of Iron Age Gate |
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 6 Jan. 2023 |
|
Tilted Wall of Iron Age Gate |
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 6 Jan. 2023 |
|
Tilted Wall of Iron Age Gate (Digital Theodolite) |
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 12 Jan. 2023 |
|
Orientation Measurement (Az = 51°) of Wall of Iron Age Gate (Digital Compass) |
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 12 Jan. 2023 |
|
Tilt Measurement (8.6°) of Wall of Iron Age Gate (Digital Theodolite) |
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 12 Jan. 2023 |
|
Tilt Measurement (7°) of Wall of Iron Age Gate (Clinometer) |
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 12 Jan. 2023 |
|
Slumped and Faulted Walls |
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 12 Jan. 2023 |
|
Slumped and Faulted Walls (Digital Theodolite) |
![]() ![]() Photo by Jefferson Williams 12 Jan. 2023 |
Erickson-Gini and Moore Bekes (2019), Hadashot Arkheologiyot, Volume 131
Hamai (2016), Hadashot Arkheologiyot, Volume 128
Erickson-Gini, T. (2010). Nabataean settlement and self-organized economy in The Central Negev: crisis and renewal, Archaeopress.
Cohen, R. (1994). "The Fortresses at En Haseva." The Biblical Archaeologist 57(4): 203-214.
Cohen, R. and Y. Yisrael (1995). "The Iron Age Fortresses at En Haseva." The Biblical Archaeologist 58(4): 223-235.
Cohen, R. and Y. Yisrael (1995). "The Iron Age Fortresses at En Haseva." The Biblical Archaeologist 58(4): 223-235.
Aharoni, Y. (1967). "Forerunners of the Limes: Iron Age Fortresses in the Negev." Israel Exploration Journal 17(1): 1-17.
Cohen and Israel (1990) 'En Hazeva Summary Report on Excavations at 'En Hazeva - Excavations and Surveys in Israel Vol.15:110-116 - IAA
Musil A. 1907. Arabia Petraea II: Edom––Topographischer Reisebericht. Vienna.
Cohen, R. and Y. Yisrael "On the Road to Edom: Discoveries from En Hazeva." Israel Museum Catalogue(370).
Aharoni, Y. (1963). "Tamar and the Roads to Elath." Israel Exploration Journal: 30-42.
Cohen R. 1984. Ma‘ale Safir. ESI 2:64–65.
Cohen, R. and Y. Yisrael "On the Road to Edom: Discoveries from En Hazeva." Israel Museum Catalogue(370).
Ein Hatzeva-an Israelite Fortress on the Border with Edom - Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Blossoming Rose - Official curators of the Biblical Tamar Park at En Haseva
website with info on En Haseva
En Haseva (aka Biblical Tamar) at biblewalks.com