Ancient Hideouts and Byzantine Mosaics Unveiled at New Judean Hills Heritage Site

By חדשות כיפה

Translated & summarized from Kipa by baba

Religious-rightCharged tone

Hebrew · 9 newsrooms covering

Plus

A new heritage site featuring 2,000-year-old Jewish rebel hideout tunnels and a Byzantine church with mosaics has opened at Khirbet Burgin in Israel's Judean lowlands. The site, a joint project by the JNF, IAA, and Mateh Yehuda Council, was revealed after extensive excavations and preservation work. It showcases settlement history from the Second Temple period through the Ottoman era, including evidence of Roman-era resistance and Byzantine religious structures. The site aims to make the region's unique heritage accessible to the public.

The story in 6 lines · by baba

A new heritage site with 2,000-year-old Jewish rebel hideouts and a Byzantine church opened in Israel's Judean lowlands.
Khirbet Burgin site reveals settlement history from the Second Temple period to the Ottoman era.
The site includes Roman-era hideout tunnels used against Roman forces.
A Byzantine church with colorful mosaic floors and a monastery complex were discovered.
Intensive antiquity theft had previously damaged the site before preservation efforts.
The site's opening follows extensive excavation, preservation, and development work by multiple organizations.

Ancient Hideouts and Byzantine Mosaics Unveiled at New Judean Hills Heritage Site — Editorial illustration generated by baba News, not a photograph of the event.

A newly opened complex at Khirbet Burgin in the Adulam Park, located in the Judean lowlands, features ancient hideout tunnels used by Jewish rebels 2,000 years ago and a Byzantine church adorned with colorful mosaics. The site's inauguration followed extensive excavation, preservation, and development work by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), and the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council, aimed at making the region's unique heritage accessible to the public.

Excavations led by Dr. Amir Ganor, Alon Klein, and Dr. Peter Gendelman from the IAA revealed evidence of settlement at Khirbet Burgin spanning from the Second Temple period to the Ottoman era. During the Second Temple period, a large village, possibly identified with the village of Bish mentioned by Josephus, thrived there. In the early Roman period, extensive hideout systems were carved into the rock, used by locals in their struggle against the Romans. The settlement was damaged and destroyed during the Bar Kokhba revolt, after which a pagan population settled on its ruins, building new structures above ground and elaborate burial systems below.

During the Byzantine period, a magnificent church was erected, featuring a floor decorated with colorful mosaics, alongside a monastery complex. The site and its surroundings yielded columbarium facilities and numerous winepresses, indicating that the inhabitants at the time sustained themselves through pigeon breeding, agriculture, and wine production.

Dr. Amir Ganor described Khirbet Burgin as the largest ancient settlement in the area in terms of area and remains, noting that it had suffered from intensive antiquity theft. He credited the IAA and JNF's enforcement operations and the establishment of the Adulam Caves Park for halting further damage and enabling the site's preservation and public access.

Minister of Heritage, Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, stated that the findings at Khirbet Burgin are living testimony to deep roots in the land and an eternal struggle for it. He emphasized that the tunnels dug by Jewish rebels are a tangible link connecting past heroism to present sovereignty and redemption, pledging to continue developing such heritage assets for future generations.