Khirbet Kelafa

Khirbet Kelafa

חורבת קלפה (in Hebrew)
Shown within Israel
Location	Israel
Region	Judaean Mountains
Coordinates	31°38′27″N 35°05′23″E
Grid position	Israel Ref. 20815/61655
Type	Settlement, Mikveh
Part of	Herodium
Area	2 ha (4.9 acres)
Height	650 m
History
Periods	Second Temple period
Cultures	Second Temple period
Site notes
Condition	Ruined
Ownership	Public
Public access	Yes

Khirbet Kelafa was a Jewish settlement from the Second Temple period and the Bar-Kokhba Revolt.

The site that extends over an area of about 8 dunams, is located at an altitude of 780 m above sea-level, on the northern Hebron Mountains, on a top hill in the center of a narrow steep ridge, about two km southeast of the village of Surif and one km northwest of Kh. Judur.

Geology analysis

The site was surveyed for the first time in 2013. The geology of the site consists of dolomite and marl rocks of the Soreq formation, which made it easy for inhabitants to cut into the surface and create many underground complexes.

Archeological findings

The site that was exposed to illegal looting by nearby residence, contains remains of buildings, cisterns, caves, quarries, agricultural installations, miqveh (ritual bath) and a hiding complex. In the mounds of earth left by the robbers, numerous pottery fragments were found dating to the Second Temple period, the Great Revolt and the Bar kokhba Revolt.

The main findings helping to identify the Jewish characteristic of the settlement, were a soft curved chalk bowl which is a characteristic find of Jewish material culture from the late Second Temple period until the Bar-Kokhba revolt. The Ritual Miqveh In the western part of the site, among the remains of houses. A smaller Miqveh was discovered and it includes a corridor 1.8m length and 1.0m wide, ending in seven steps leading to a small oval immersion room (1.8m X 2.2m, average height 1.5m), its walls coated in gray plaster typical of the Early Roman period. This Miqveh joins several other ritual baths previously recorded in a series of sites in the northern Hebron Mountains.

The large hiding complex is located at the southern part of the site and has four entrances: two vertical and circular-shaped openings, and two horizontal entrances that look like cave entrances. Walls and building blocks placed beside the openings indicate that the four openings were carved under and in relation to ancient buildings. The hiding complex consists of a series of spaces and passageways forming narrow tunnels with a total length of 70m. The hiding complex contains a variety of elements typical to hiding complexes from the Roman period.

History of the site

The discovered remains indicate an extensive rural Jewish site of the Second Temple period until the Bar-Kokhba revolt. The findings in this site as in a series of sites, typical to the Northen Hebron Mountains, indicate a Jewish settlement in the region, that according to historical sources belonged to the Herodium district. A district that was at the heart of the rebellious Jewish area during the Bar-Kokhba revolt. It included sites such as: Betar, Herodium, Kiriath Arbaia, Tekoa, Cusiba, Eir Nahash, and Bethel de-Yahud (below). In 135 CE the Bar Kokhba revolt was cruelly suppressed by the Romans which led to the destruction of the Jewish settlement in the northern Hebron Mountains, from which it recovered only in modern times.