Al-Sinnabra

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Al-Sinnabra
Sinn en-Nabra
P.L.O. Guy, Ruth Amiran, Rafi Greenberg

Al-Sinnabra or Sinn en-Nabra, is the

Arabic place name for a historic site on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee in modern-day Israel.[1] The ancient site lay on a spur from the hills that close the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, next to which towards its south being the tell, Khirbet Kerak or Bet Yerah,[2] one of the largest in the Levant, spanning an area of over 50 acres.[3][4][5] Bet Yerah was the Hellenistic era twin city of Sennabris (Hebrew: צינבריי, סנבראי),[6][7] as al-Sinnabra was known in Classical antiquity, and its remains are located at the same tell.[8][9]

The city or village was inhabited in the Hellenistic, Roman-Byzantine, and early Islamic periods. An

Jordan river
which at the time ran to the immediate north of the village.

For decades, part of the palatial complex of al-Sinnabra was misidentified as a

Old City of Jerusalem, it likely represents the earliest Umayyad complex of this type yet to be discovered.[14][19][20]

Name

In Greek (

Aramaic used in Talmudic sources it is referred to as Sinnabri,[21][22] and is described as sitting alongside Bet Yerah.[23]

The

Arabic rendering of the name is al-Sinnabra or Sinn-en-Nabra.[21][22]

Location

Though described in the writings of early Arab historians, the precise location of al-Sinnabra had long been unknown.

Buldan, Yaqut al-Hamawi (1179–1229), the Syrian geographer, situated al-Sinnabra opposite 'aqabat Afiq (meaning "the Afeq pass"), 3 miles (4.8 km) from Tiberias.[22]

Location of Sennabris on 1903 map

Josef Schwarz, a rabbi who came to reside in Jerusalem in the 19th century, transliterated its name as it appears in the Talmud as Senabrai, and citing Josephus for its location, he noted that "Even at the present day there are found in this vicinity traces of ruins called by the Arabs Sinabri."[26] A map of the area produced by the Palestine Exploration Fund around this time depicted Khirbet Sinn en-Nabrah to the immediate northwest of Khirbet Kerak, today's Kinneret village.[27]

Al-Sinnabra's location is now confirmed to have been off the main

Jordan river and rises 15 meters above sea level.[21][28] The Jordan river runs to the south, although it previously (until the medieval period at the earliest)[29] ran north and west of it.[1]

History

Hellenistic period

In Hellenistic times, the city was known as Sennabris.[21] Parts of the city walls from this period have been identified, and it is estimated that the wall (on the south and west of the tel) was at least 1600 meters long. The wall was built of piles of basalt, with bricks at the top and was strengthened by alternating rectangular and rounded towers with spiral staircases.[29][30] Similar towers from this period have been found at Tel Zeror.[30] A portion of the town discovered in the southern part of the mound included a street along which houses were built, one of which had a paved court around which were eleven rooms. Some of the houses facing the lake have survived to the height of the window sills.[31]

Roman-Byzantine period

A depiction of the location of Sennabrin in the ancient Galilee, as recorded in The Historical Atlas (1923) by William R. Shepherd

According to Josephus,

Hippos.[36]

According to the

Christ's thorn jujube."[37]

A large

Byzantine era church was constructed in the village in 450 CE and underwent several renovations, the last of these dated to 529 CE.[3] The church shows signs of renewed habitation in the early Islamic period, when it possibly served as a dar, or manor house.[38]

Early Islamic period

The village gained importance under the rule of the

caliphs in Umayyad Palestine (c. 650-704 AD).[10][11][12] Mu'awiya I, the first Umayyad caliph, settled in al-Sinnabra, dividing his time in Palestine between his residence there and Jerusalem.[40][41] Innovations he introduced to the palace structure at al-Sinnabra include the maqṣura, "a columned bay ... enclosed by a railing or screen" against which the caliph would lean to hear petitions from his subjects, and a mihrab associated with the apsidal form.[38][dubious – discuss
]

According to Whitcomb, the qasr is likely the earliest Umayyad complex of this type yet to be discovered.

Qasr ibn Wardan.[17] It is similar to other qusur in that it exhibits characteristics associated with the pre-Islamic building techniques used by Arab chieftains of the Byzantine era.[42]

Later Umayyad caliphs also came to al-Sinnabra.

al-Jabiya in the Golan, making it one of the four early capitals of the ruling Marwanid house of the Umayyad dynasty.[38][44] He died in al-Sinnabra in 705.[44] An Umayyad prince and former governor of Khurasan until 698, Umayya ibn Abdallah ibn Khalid ibn Asid, retired and died in al-Sinnabra during the reign of Abd al-Malik.[43]

In 744, an army headed by Sulayman ibn Hisham, an Umayyad prince and general sent by Caliph Yazid III to quell resistance to his rule, reached al-Sinnabra, where the tribes of Urdunn came to pledge their loyalty to the caliph before him.[45]

The site was apparently still in use in the 10th century; in 979 a meeting between

Fatimid forces took place there.[46]

Crusader period

During the

Battle of Hittin in 1187, Saladin and his forces passed through and set up camp near the village, before moving on to command the roads around Kafr Sabt.[48] The Umayyad qasr was in ruins by this time.[49] In the dried out river bed where the river used to flow at this time, the remains of the "Crusader bridge of Sennabris" were found.[3]

During the Crusader era al-Sinnabra was known as Senbra, and it was a casale under the Abbey of Tabor.[50]

Ayyubid period

The exact date of the village's destruction is unknown, but it is thought that it did not survive beyond the period of

Ayyubid rule (c. late 12th-early 13th centuries) as references to al-Sinnabra from this time mention only the bridge of the same name, without recalling the village.[51]

Excavations and identification

In 1946, in the northern quadrant of the tell, a fortified compound consisting of a series of large structures, including a bathhouse adjoined to a large apsidal hall decorated with colorful

mosaics, was discovered just above the granary (AKA the Circles Building), an Early Bronze Age structure uncovered in previous excavations.[19]
[52]

Between 1950 and 1953,

candelabrum.[11][13][14][19] The "synagogue" was incorporated into the Beth Yerah National Park which served as a popular tourist destination during the 1950s and 1960s, but has since been closed.[13]

Excavations by the

Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in 1960 uncovered the Byzantine church (to the north of the compound).[38] Questions were repeatedly raised about the identification of the structure to the south as a synagogue within a Roman era fort with attached bathhouse.[13][38] Ronny Reich, a prominent Israeli archaeologist, disproved that thesis in 1993, without offering an alternate explanation as to its identity.[11][16][17]

Correct identification

The compound, until 2002 identified as "Roman-Byzantine", was hypothesized to be the palace of al-Sinnabra by

Khirbat al-Mafjar, another Islamic era palace near Jericho, he suggested the site was one of the so-called desert castles (sing. qasr; pl. qusur) of the early Islamic Levant.[11][19] By comparing this information against the descriptions provided in historical geography texts, Whitcomb determined that the complex at Khirbet Kerak was indeed the Arab Islamic palace of al-Sinnabra.[11][12]

Dating

Whitcomb's thesis was confirmed following research conducted by Taufik De'adle of the

Hebrew University and excavations undertaken by Israeli archaeologists headed by Raphael Greenberg from Tel Aviv University's Institute of Archaeology in 2010.[12][13][18] Coins found at the site and its foundations indicate that the central building was built no earlier than 650 CE and that the bathhouse attached to the outer wall dates to the end of the 7th century. The foundations of the compound are made up of thick wall-stubs over two meters deep and provide an idea of the layout of the palace, the bathhouse and the wall and towers that surrounded them. The remains of water conduits and ceramic pipes from the bathhouse attest to the existence of a sophisticated water-distribution system, fed by an aqueduct.[13]

Greenberg said that al-Sinnabra and other sites that are in the process of being similarly re-dated indicate an architectural continuity between the Roman and early Arab empires.[56]

See also

  • Cities of the ancient Near East
  • Desert castles
  • Jerusalem, Temple Mount area: several possibly Umayyad palatial structures south (at the Ophel) and southwest of the Mount
  • Umayyad qasr on the Sea of Galilee, Israel

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-391-04205-6
    .
  2. H.H. Kitchener, in the 1878 Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, p. 165
    , describes Sinn en-Nabra: "During the survey of the shores [of the Sea of Galilee] we made one considerable discovery: the site of Sennabris, mentioned by Josephus as the place where Vespasian pitched his camp when marching on the insurgents of Tiberias. The name Sinn en Nabra still exists, and is well known to the natives; it applies to a ruin situated on a spur from the hills that close the southern end of the Sea of Galilee; it formed, therefore, the defence against an invader from the Jordan plain, and blocked the great main road in the valley. Close beside it there is a large artificially-formed plateau, defended by a water-ditch on the south, communicating with Jordan, and by the Sea of Galilee on the north. This is called Kh. el Kerak, and is, I have not the slightest doubt, the remains of Vespasian's camp described by Josephus."
  3. ^
    ISBN 9780802837820
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  4. ISBN 978-0-631-23583-5
    .
  5. Oxford University
    Press, 1980, p.159
  6. ^ Midrash HaGadol (Genesis Rabba 98:22)
  7. ^ Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah 1:1 (2b)
  8. ISBN 9783766689931
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  9. ISBN 978-0-299-04834-1
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  10. ^ a b Whitcomb in Schuzman, 2009, p. 241.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h "Individual Scholarship: 2001-2002 Annual Report - Donald S. Whitcomb". The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. July 30, 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  12. ^
    Al-Arabiya. 16 March 2010. Archived from the original
    on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h "Israeli archaeologists identified Caliph Mu'awiya's Lakeside Palace". Tel Aviv University: Division for Press Relations, Spokesperson & Communication Guidelines. March 15, 2010. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  14. ^ a b c "Tibériade: identification des vestiges d'un palais omeyyade". RTBF.be. March 16, 2010. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  15. ^ Ronny Reich (1993). "The Bet Yerah Synagogue Reconsidered". Atiqot: 139–144. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  16. ^
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  17. ^ a b c Whitcomb in Schuzman, 2009, p. 246.
  18. ^
    Agence France Presse (March 16, 2010). "Ruins of 7th century Arab palace identified in Israel". Zimbio. Archived from the original
    on October 5, 2012. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g "The Umayyad Qasr". Tel Bet Yerah Research and Excavation Project. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  20. ^ "Identifican el palacio de los primeros omeyas en el mar de Galilea". European Press Photo Agency. March 16, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  21. ^
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  22. ^ a b c Gil, 1997, p. 78, footnote #5.
  23. ISBN 978-1-60206-406-5
    .
  24. ^
    ISBN 978-3-16-148567-1
    .
  25. Wars of the Jews
    (book iii, chapter ix, § 7
  26. ^ Joseph Schwarz (1850). Issac Leeser (ed.). A descriptive geography and brief historical sketch of Palestine. Oxford University. p. 178. sennabris village.
  27. ISBN 978-0-918986-66-5
    .
  28. ISBN 9780195112153
    .
  29. ^ a b Hestrin, Ruth (1992). E.Stern (ed.). האנצקלופדיה החדשה לחפירות ארכיאולוגיות בארץ ישראל [The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land] (in Hebrew). Vol. I. pp. 175–181.
  30. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-10225-5
    . Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  31. ISBN 0-8264-1316-1. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help
    )
  32. ISBN 978-3-16-148567-1
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  33. ^ "Beth Yerah". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
  34. ISBN 978-0-14-044420-9
    .
  35. ^ Chancey, 2005, p. 67.
  36. ^ J.P. Brown; E.M. Meyers (1994). "Map 69 Damascus-Caesarea" (PDF). p. 1069.
  37. ISBN 978-1-56563-860-0
    .
  38. ^ a b c d e Whitcomb in Schuzman, 2009, p. 245.
  39. ^ University of London (1966). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. School of Oriental and African Studies. p. 370.
  40. ^ a b Gil, 1997, p. 78.
  41. ^ Noted by Yaqut al-Hamawi, see le Strange, 1890, p. 531
  42. ISBN 978-1-85168-361-1
    .
  43. ^
    JSTOR 27924483
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  44. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-10633-8
    .
  45. ^ Gil, 1997, p. 86.
  46. ^ Gil, 1997, p. 355.
  47. ISBN 978-0-674-02387-1
    . sinnabra.
  48. ISBN 978-983-9541-55-7
    .
  49. ISBN 9789652170859
    .
  50. ^ Conder, 1890, p. 31
  51. ^ Scripta Hierosolymitana, Volume 15. Magnes Press for the Hebrew University (Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim). 1968. p. 31.
  52. ^ Amihai Mazar. "al-Sinnabra Overview". The Shelby White-Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Excavations. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  53. ^ P. Bar-Adon, Beth Yerah (News and Notes), IEJ, vol. 3, pp. 132, 1953
  54. ^ P. Bar-Adon, Beth Yerah (News and Notes), IEJ, vol. 4, pp. 128-129, 1954
  55. ^ P. Bar-Adon, Beth Yerah (News and Notes), IEJ, vol. 5, pp. 273, 1955
  56. ^ "Ancient Muslim Ruins Found in Israel ... Again". Fox News. Associated Press. March 17, 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2011-08-17.

Bibliography

External links
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