Unfinished Tunnels in Hiding Complexes: Horvat ʻammudim in the Lower Galilee As a Case Study Yinon Shivtiel and Mechael Osband
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In the Highland’s Depth Volume 9, 2019, pp. 41*–51* DOI: https://doi.org/10.26351/IHD/9/9 ISSN: 2521-9456 (print) Unfinished Tunnels in Hiding Complexes: Horvat ʻAmmudim in the Lower Galilee as a Case Study Yinon Shivtiel and Mechael Osband Abstract Excavation of a subterranean tunnel discovered in a water cistern at Horvat ‘Ammudim revealed evidence of an unfinished hiding complex dated to the Roman period. The main findings of this excavation, directed by the authors of this paper, are presented here. Important evidence supporting the identification of the tunnel as part of an unfinished complex included oil lamp niches, the location of the tunnel in a cistern, and the overall similarity of the tunnel to similar subterranean complexes in the Galilee and in Judah. The subject of unfinished tunnels has rarely been addressed in the research on hiding complexes. Over seventy hiding complexes, most of them dated to the Roman period, have been identified in the Galilee (Shivtiel 2019, 97–210). These complexes were hewn out of the local rock, and while they vary in size, quality, and number of chambers, they all contain one or more low tunnels that can only be accessed by crawling and that are connected to chambers (for a brief preliminary description, see ibid., 197–198). In addition, they are all located near or within Jewish settlements. In this paper, we present a recently discovered and excavated hiding complex at the Jewish settlement of Horvat ʻAmmudim. This is a rare example of an unfinished hiding complex, a phenomenon that has not been investigated sufficiently. The Site of Horvat ʻAmmudim The site (ITM 246754/188719; 220 m above sea level) is located 7.5 km north of the Golani Junction at the eastern edge of the Beit Netofa Valley (fig. 1), near a Roman road (Roll 2009, 10*, Map 4; see also Tepper & Tepper 2013, 96). The site and the surrounding area have been surveyed, some salvage excavations have been done, and a predominantly fourth-century-CE synagogue has been excavated 41* 42* Unfinished Tunnels in Hiding Complexes: Horvat ʻAmmudim in the Lower Galilee as a Case Study (Guérin 1880, 361–362; Kohl & Watzinger 1916, 71–79; Adan-Bayewitz 1982; Levine 1982; Braun 2001; Leibner 2009, 242–249; Zingboym & Dalali-Amos 2013; Cinamon 2014; Cinamon & Porat 2015; Zingboym 2016). The results of all this work demonstrate that the site dates mainly from the Roman and Byzantine periods, but with a marked decline in the latter period.1 In addition, agricultural installations, water cisterns, burial caves, graves and rock-cut caves have been found in the surrounding area (Tepper & Tepper 2013, 96–97). The area to the east of the settlement, where the hiding complex described below was found, was not studied intensely in previous research. fig. 1: Location of Horvat ʻAmmudim and neighbouring hiding complexes Excavation of the Hiding Complex Tunnel A subterranean tunnel (ITM 246720/188946; 190 m above sea level) was discovered in 2016 on a slope about 200 m east of the ancient settlement of Horvat ʻAmmudim. The tunnel is located on the west side of a cistern with a collapsed roof (fig. 2).2 The 1 In the survey by Uzi Leibner, the area to the east of the site where the hiding complex was discovered (Area C) did not provide sufficient pottery for dating (Leibner 2009, 246). 2 The discovery of the complex was first brought to our attention by Yizhak Tur. The subterranean tunnel excavation at Horvat ‘Ammudim was directed by M. Osband on behalf of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa (IAA excavation permit no. G-31/2016), with the help of students from Zefat Academic College and the University of Haifa for three days (May 11, Aug. 1 and Aug. 22, 2016). Yinon Shivtiel and Mechael Osband 43* area surrounding this cistern contains burial caves, agricultural installations and some sporadic building remains, most likely dating to the Roman–Byzantine periods. fig. 2: Plan of Horvat ʻAmmudim’s unfinished hiding complex The cistern, which was hewn out of the local limestone (Arbel Map), has an irregular oval shape measuring approximately 12x6 m at its maximum length and width. A fig tree is now growing inside it (fig. 3).3 The upper section and part of the opening collapsed at some point in the past, allowing for easy entrance for excavators. Two layers of hydraulic plaster were found inside, covering most of the walls of the cistern. The fig. 3: The cistern in which the tunnel was found, and the fig tree which grows out of it 3 The fig tree stands out in the landscape, which is mostly covered by hawthorn and terebinth trees. Fig trees are not uncommon in ancient subterranean cavities, especially in cisterns. 44* Unfinished Tunnels in Hiding Complexes: Horvat ʻAmmudim in the Lower Galilee as a Case Study outer layer has a reddish color, whereas the inner layer, applied directly to the cistern walls, is more grayish in color – possibly an indicator of an Early Roman date (Porath 2002). The cistern was filled with alluvium and collapsed material and was not itself excavated. In the area above the cistern (L001), mainly Middle–Late Roman pottery was discovered. In the southwestern wall of the cistern, an opening to a tunnel (fig. 4) was found. It is located 0.6 m below the surface and 1.5 m above the current surface level inside the cistern (not the bottom of the cistern), which contains dirt and rock fill including part of the cistern’s roof. The opening is 1.2 m high and 1.0 m wide. The tunnel fig. 4: The opening to the tunnel inside the cistern, looking south itself is arched and measures about 0.6 m high and 0.8 m wide. Parts of the tunnel had collapsed from above and were filled with alluvium and collapsed material along with Roman pottery (figs. 5–6). Two soft limestone vessel fragments were found in the tunnel, a small fragment of a grooved rim, possibly from a jar, and the bottom of a hemispherical bowl. These vessels fig.5: The tunnel before excavation are known from Jewish sites dating mainly from the 1st century BCE to the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (Adler 2011, 218). The fill in the tunnel contained about 0.8 m of dirt and rock, which was removed and sifted during excavations (L002). The lower layer of dirt, 5 to 15 cm fig. 6: The tunnel at the end of excavation thick above the tunnel floor, was excavated separately from the upper level of dirt. All of the dirt in the tunnel was sifted. The tunnel ends abruptly in the bedrock. Part of the ceiling that had collapsed inwards was missing (L003). Yinon Shivtiel and Mechael Osband 45* The tunnel is 4.95 m long and then abruptly ends in hard limestone. No side rooms or chambers were found connected to it. In an area 10 m to the northwest (L004) and 7.5 m southwest (L005) of the cistern, possible additional openings were probed but no tunnel was found. These were backfilled. Four niches for oil lamps were found along the tunnel, two on each side (fig. 7; and see also fig. 2 above). The Roman pottery from the fig. 7: One of the four niches for oil lamps which were exposed tunnel was similar to typological inside the tunnel of Horvat ʻAmmudim forms common in the Galilee during the Roman period (Adan-Bayewitz 1993; Balouka 2013; Leibner 2018, 304–342), mainly from about the mid-first century BCE to the fourth/mid- fifth centuries CE (fig. 8; for details see appendix A). Some of the forms of pottery inside the tunnel, such as Kefar Hananya types 3A and 4A (fig. 8: 1–2), seem to have already gone out of use by the first third of the second century (Leibner 2018, 308). While Early fig. 8: Selected pottery from excavation of the Horvat ʻAmmudim tunnel (Locus 002) (Drawings: A.A. Iermolin) Roman pottery was recovered, including stone vessel fragments that are best dated to the Early Roman period, Late Roman pottery was found together with it, making a definitive date within the Roman period difficult to determine. It is worth noting that pottery common in the Late Roman period was found in L001, surrounding the aforementioned cistern; this may be the source of that same type of pottery found in the tunnel. It was also difficult to determine to what extent the pottery was washed in from above or originally left in the tunnel. In our estimation, the Early Roman finds are best explained as being from close to the time when the tunnel was hewn, providing a possible terminus post quem for the tunnel’s construction. 46* Unfinished Tunnels in Hiding Complexes: Horvat ʻAmmudim in the Lower Galilee as a Case Study Identification of the Subterranean Tunnel as a Hiding Complex A number of factors help identify the excavated tunnel as a hiding complex. First and foremost, the origin of the tunnel in the upper section of a water cistern is common in Galilean hiding complexes (and in Judean ones as well), including those at neighboring sites such as Hoquq, Kh. Mimlah, Kh. Rubadiya, Kh. Natif (Netofa), Kh. Ruma and Mishkena (Shivtiel 2019, 135–136, 139, 148–149, 155–156, 204–205). The complex excavated at Horvat ʻAmmudim is most similar to that found at Kh. Mushtah (ibid., 140–141), where a tunnel was hewn toward the top of the cistern, allowing for its continued use as a cistern even after the hiding complex was created.