ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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KHABER AND EDDIE HAMM IS AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IN 2 KILOMETERS WEST OF A CANDLE NEAR THE TOWN AND WADI AL-HHAM. THE SITE IS LOCATED ON A STEEP SLOPE AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN CLIFFS NEAR THE ICONIC STREAM SURROUNDING IT EAST AND SOUTH. AND THE PATH OF A PARK IS EXPECTED.
THE SIZE OF THE SITE WAS ESTIMATED AT 40-30 HECTARES AND WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST VILLAGES IN THE EASTERN GALILEE DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD.

IDENTIFYING THE SITE
THE ANCIENT NAME OF THE SITE IS NOT PRESERVED. THE HYPOTHESIS OF THE RESEARCHERS IS THAT IT IS PERHAPS THE PLACE OF THE TOWN OF THE MAGDALENE TOWER, MENTIONED IN THE LITERATURE OF THE SAGES AS A VERY IMPORTANT SETTLEMENT IN THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD IN THE TIBERIAS REGION. B IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE COLORFUL TOWER THAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE FURNITURE TREES FOR THE BUILDING OF THE TABERNACLE. IN THE TALMUD OF JERUSALEM, IT WAS SAID THAT THE TOWER OF TIBERIAS HAD BEEN DESTROYED IN THE REBELLION OF A BAR CALLED “FOR PROSTITUTION.” IN EXCAVATIONS ON THE SITE, A MASSIVE LAYER OF DESTRUCTION FROM THIS PERIOD WAS IDENTIFIED.

HISTORY OF RESEARCH
THE FIRST ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY ON THE SITE WAS CONDUCTED AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY BY THE BRITISH FOUNDATION FOR THE STUDY OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE WESTERN LAND SURVEY. THE SURVEY’S PEOPLE MISTAKENLY CALLED A “LOST” SITE ON A NEARBY GROVE, HENCE THE SITE’S HEBREW NAME – “ROUNDS OF ROSES.” IN THEIR REPORT, THEY SAID THERE WERE STONES. JOSEPH BERSLAVI, WHO WAS A SCHOLAR OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL AND A TOUR GUIDE, VISITED THE SITE IN 1925 AND NOTED THAT THE ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS HE HAD SEEN WERE PROBABLY BELONGING TO A SYNAGOGUE FROM THE CYLINDER TYPE. FURTHER SURVEYS WERE MADE ON THE SITE IN THE "EAST GALILEE SURVEY" HELD BETWEEN 1999 AND 1904. IN THE SURVEY OF THE FINDINGS, THEY WERE COLLECTED FROM THE SURFACE AND BROKE A SHALLOW TEST THAT WAS DUG INSTEAD OF POTTERY FRAGMENTS. THE FRAGMENTS OF POTTERY VESSELS WERE DATED FROM THE LATE HELLENISTIC PERIOD TO THE LATE ROMAN PERIOD UNTIL THE END OF THE 4TH CENTURY CE. THERE WERE NO FINDINGS FROM A LATER PERIOD.

IN 2007 ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS WERE ORGANIZED BY THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM, WHICH LASTED UNTIL 2012. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY WERE: THE EXCAVATION OF THE SYNAGOGUE THAT WOULD ASSIST THE LONGING OF THE SYNAGOGUES FROM THE CYLINDER TYPE. THE EXCAVATION OF RESIDENTIAL AREAS, PUBLIC AREAS AND FACILITIES, WHICH WILL HELP UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THE VILLAGE LIFE IN THE ROMAN PERIOD, AND THE PROCESS OF ABANDONMENT OF THE VILLAGES DURING THE BYZANTINE PERIOD.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL LAYERS ON THE SITE
THERE WERE 4 ARCHAEOLOGICAL LAYERS:
LAYER 4 - IN THIS LAYER WHICH IS THE LOWEST HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED BY HUNDREDS OF POTTERYS AND VESSELS FROM THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE EARLY BRONZE AGE. ARCHITECTURE WAS NOT EXPOSED IN THIS LAYER AND THE FINDINGS CAME MAINLY FROM FILLINGS BELOW THE LATER LAYERS. ACCORDING TO THE RESEARCHERS, SUCH A NUMBER OF FINDINGS INDICATE THAT THERE WAS A PERMANENT SETTLEMENT ON THE SITE DURING THESE PERIODS.
LAYER 3 - ABOVE THE FOURTH LAYER DATES FROM THE 1ST CENTURY BC TO THE 2ND CENTURY CE. THE EXCAVATIONS WERE FOUND IN RESIDENTIAL HOUSES AND PART OF A PUBLIC BUILDING.
LAYER 2 - THE FINDINGS IN THIS LAYER ARE DATED TO THE 3RD AND 4TH CENTURIES CE. THE IMPORTANT FINDING AT THIS TIME IS A LARGE SYNAGOGUE. IN ADDITION, RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS WERE EXCAVATED, HOUSES OF FABRIC, FACILITIES AND OMISSIONS.
LAYER 1 IS THE SURFACE. THE BULK OF COINS AND FEW FRAGMENTS FOUND ON THE SURFACE FROM THE BYZANTINE, CRUSADER, MAMLUK AND OTTOMAN PERIODS, WITHOUT CONNECTION TO BUILDINGS. THE RESEARCHERS ESTIMATE THESE REMAINS OF GUEST EMBRYOS.

FINDINGS ON SITE
ACCORDING TO THE FINDINGS IN THE LAYERS 2 AND 3, THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SITE BEGAN DURING THE PERIOD OF THE CHAMINO. THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS MADE IN THE EASTERN GALILEE REGION HAVE SHOWN AN INCREASE IN SETTLEMENT IN THIS PERIOD. THE RESEARCHERS LINKED THIS TO THE EXPANSION OF THE INDUSTRIALIZED KINGDOM TOWARDS THE GALILEE. THE SETTLEMENT REACHED ITS PEAK IN THE 1ST CENTURY CE. IN THIS CENTURY, A LARGE PUBLIC STRUCTURE WAS BUILT IN THE CENTER OF THE SITE, WHICH RESEARCHERS SPECULATE THAT THERE WAS A SYNAGOGUE. IT CONSISTED OF PAGES IN A GENERATION STYLE, THE WALLS OF THE BUILDING WERE PAINTED AND ROOMS WITH BENCHES. IN THIS CENTURY, INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS WERE BUILT IN SUPPORT AND CASTLES TO BUILD RESIDENTIAL HOUSES. THERE WAS THREE SWORDS IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GODS DURING THE TIME OF EMPEROR HADRIAN, AND THEY MAY BE A KNACK