RAMAT RA[Hdot ]EL
Israel.
An ancient site on the
S outskirts of Jerusalem, on the way to Bethlehem, within the limits of the modern settlement of Ramat Ra[hdot ]el.
This site has been tentatively identified with Biblical Beth
ha-Kerem, which is said to have been in the district of
Bethlehem. The site, excavated between 1954 and 1962,
has revealed five main occupation levels from the Iron
Age to Early Arab.
The earliest remains on the site were of a series of
royal citadels of the Late Iron Age. Very few building
remains of the Persian-Hellenistic periods were discovered, but the numerous coins and other small finds attest
an extensive settlement on the site during the 5th-3d c.
B.C. The earlier phases of this period are dated by coins,
Attic pottery, and stamped jar handles. Among these are
included several score of seals of the Yahud type, Yahud
being the official name of the Persian satrapy of Judea.
Other seal impressions had the name and title of the
Jewish satrap of the province. There were also seals with
the inscription in Hebrew “the City,” and “Jerusalem,”
as well as private seals, and seals with representations
of animals. The Hellenistic phases were dated by pottery
and coins.
The Herodian period is represented by several simply
built small rooms, used mainly for industrial installations. Remains of the Late Roman and Early Byzantine
periods were more impressive. To the 3d c. A.D. belong
the remains of a house centered around a hypostyle
court, with a bath building of which the hypocaust was
preserved. The bricks of the hypocaust were stamped
with the seal of the Legio X Fretensis. Other buildings as
well date to the Late Roman period. The site may have
been an administrative center of the Legio X, stationed
in Jerusalem until ca. A.D. 300. As indicated by the pottery found on the floors of the Late Roman buildings,
these remained in use throughout the whole of the Byzantine period. The area of the Late Roman-Byzantine town
was honeycombed with numerous cisterns. Some of these
were originally burial caves, with the latest burials made
in the 3d c. A.D.
There was some building in the Byzantine period. The
more important structures were a church and the monastery attached to it. The church is a basilica (22.3 x 15
m) with a single external apse, semicircular inside, polygonal outside. The foundations, 2 m deep, were built
with stones taken from Herodian buildings, as identified
by the typical stone dressing. A third row of columns
ran along the W side of the church, forming a third aisle,
perpendicular to the two longitudinal ones. The whole
church was paved with mosaics of geometric patterns.
On stylistic grounds the mosaics were dated to the 4th
c. A.D. To the S of the church was the monastery. A
vestibulum in front of the church gave entrance to a
court, which led to the numerous halls and rooms, including a bakery and installations for the production of wine
and oil. Other rooms probably served as a guest house
for pilgrims. The church and the monastery have been
identified with the traditional Kathisma (halt) of the
Virgin Mary, where she was refreshed by the waters of
a spring on the way to Bethlehem. This identification is
supported by the presence of a nearby well. The
Kathisma Church is continually referred to by Christian
travelers from the mid 5th c. throughout mediaeval times.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Y. Aharoni, “Excavations at Ramat
Ra[hdot ]el, 1954. Preliminary Report,”
Israel Exploration
Journal 6 (1956) 137-57; id.,
Excavations at Ramat
Ra[hdot ]el, Seasons of 1959 and 1960 (1962); id.,
Excavations at Ramat Ra[hdot ]el, Seasons 1961 and 1962 (1964).
A. NEGEV
