Khirbet el-Qutt

32°06′20″N 35°24′28″E / 32.10556°N 35.40778°E / 32.10556; 35.40778Grid positionIsrael Ref. 22295/66332TypeSettlement, mikveh, rock-cut tombsArea2 ha (4.9 acres)Height650 mHistoryPeriodsBronze Age, Iron Age, Hasmonean kingdom, Herodian kingdom, province of Judaea, Byzantine, PersianCulturesSecond Temple periodSite notesConditionRuinedOwnershipPublicPublic accessYes

Khirbet el-Qutt is an ancient Jewish archeological site.^[1] It is located approximately one kilometer north of the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Levona in the West Bank.^[1][2][3] It was inhabited from the early Bronze Age to the early Muslim period.^[4][2] It was a fortified Jewish village from at least the end of the Second Temple period to the Bar Kokhba revolt.

The site is located on an extended hill-top 650m above sea-level and site covers an area of about 20 dunams, overlooking the Lebonah valley, the road passing through it and the ancient “Lebonah Ascent”.^{[close paraphrasing][1][5][2]}

Survey history

The site was first surveyed in the late 1960s by Z. Kallai and then subsequently by I. Finkelstein about fifteen years later. Another survey took place in the 1990s by E. Maharian, the Staff Officer of the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria. Two further surveys were conducted in 2006 by E. Klein and in October–November 2014 by Raviv, Har-Even, Tavger in the framework of the "New South Samaria Survey".^[1][5][2]

Archaeological findings

The archeological surveys conducted at the site discovered findings dating from the Bronze age up until the Early Muslim period.^[1] The findings included buildings, mikvehs, cisterns, caves, quarries, agricultural installations, hiding complexes, and rock-cut burial-caves of the settlement. In addition the remains of a monumental building were found, either of a monastery or a fort dating to the late Roman Period or Byzantine period.^[3][1]

Archaeological analysis

Khirbet el-Qutt's location next to a main road and the fertile Lebonah valley attracted inhabitants who continuously settled at the place from the Iron age I until the early Muslim period, as archeological surveys indicate.^{[close paraphrasing]} According to the findings the settlement reached its peak during the Early Roman period as seen by extensive ceramic findings, including mikvehs and ossuaries, which indicate a Jewish presence until the Bar-Kokhba Revolt. It seems the settlement became a fortified Jewish village during the Hellenistic period as the Hasmonean Kingdom expanded to the region and positioned strategically along the highway, possibly corroborating its identification as a fortified village from the Second Temple period.^[1][5]

References