Usha (ancient city)
Western Galilee | |
Coordinates | 32°47′58″N 35°08′48″E / 32.799414°N 35.146701°E |
---|---|
Site notes | |
Condition | ruins |
Public access | yes |
Usha (Hebrew: אושא) was a city in the Western part of Galilee. It was identified in the late 19th century as the Palestinian village of Hawsha, based on the similar-sounding name.[1]
The modern kibbutz of Usha, Israel is located several kilometers to the west. The site is close to the town of Kiryat Ata.[2]
History and archaeology
Habitation periods
Archaeological excavations undertaken in 2014 just along the southwestern fringes of Horbat Usha led to the conclusion that that specific area had been continuously inhabited from the Roman period until the Ottoman period.[3] There were additional findings indicating habitation in the Persian period next to pottery from the Hellenistic period.[3]
Regarding the town in which the Sanhedrin set roots sometime after 135 CE, Yair Amitzur, one of the two dig directors, stated in 2019 that between the second and about the sixth century, Usha was inhabited by Jews.[4] At the latter point, during the Byzantine period, the Jews abandoned the site which was then settled by Christians, with unearthed artifacts attesting to this change in populations.[4] According to Amitzur, Usha started being mentioned in Jewish sources in the first century CE.[5]
The Jerusalem Post cites the
Biblical connection: unlikely
19th-century researchers have connected the Arab site of Hawsha to the biblical village of
Roman- and Byzantine-period Jewish city
Identification
19th-century researchers such as Leopold Zunz and those from the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF), among others, have identified the site of Hawsha as that of the Roman- and Byzantine-period city of Usha, the seat of the Sanhedrin after AD 135.[10][11][12]
Seat of the Sanhedrin (2nd century)
Usha came to renown in the 2nd century (c. 135), after the
The Sanhedrin's final settlement in Usha indicates the ultimate spiritual supremacy of Galilee over Judea, the latter having become depopulated after the
Findings; economy
- Underground hiding complexes
In 2012, a hiding complex, carved out probably no later than the Bar Kokhba revolt, was found to cut through and put out of use an earlier ritual bath.[18]
- Ritual baths, oil & wine industries
Two
The size and complexity of the olive oil and wine producing installations indicate that these were among the primary industries and sources of income for the Jewish inhabitants, who processed the produce of the olive orchards and vines which they grew on the gentle hills in the area.[20]
- Glass industry
The other major local industry dealt in glass production.
- Smithy
In 2019, the IAA published the discovery of an iron hammer-head, a rare find for the Byzantine period, along with nails and iron slag discovered together at Usha and dated to about 1400 years ago, finds which prove that the town's inhabitants also worked in metallurgy.[19] However, according to Amitzur, this was a very small operation, only producing for the immediate needs of the local community, forging objects like nails and small rings; smithies of this size would have existed in every village.[4] Regarding Rabbi Yitzhak Nafha, his by-name would be generally associated in Rabbinical-period Hebrew with "blacksmith", but in his time the smithy was not in operation, while the large glass industry was, which makes Amitzur associate it with glassblowing.[4]
Rabbinic enactments made at Usha
The rabbis who settled in Usha were active in making many reforms, under the leadership of Simeon ben Gamaliel II. They ruled in favor of several legal enactments, such as making it compulsory upon Jewish fathers to support their small children by providing sustenance unto them, until they were able to provide for themselves,[21] and that if the Av Beit Din "President of a Court" was known to have transgressed, he was not to be excommunicated as a first resort, but rather asked to simply "show self-respect" by resigning his post. If he persisted in the same act, only then would he be excommunicated by the community.[22]
The court at Usha also ruled that if a wife, during the life of her husband, conveyed any of her private possessions to another, her husband has got the
Likewise, the court passed a law making it unlawful for any person to be wasteful with his own money, goods or property, and that he is not to expend more than one-fifth (20%) in charitable or philanthropic causes.[25]
The rabbis of Usha also decided in the case of citron fruits that their time of picking determined their tithing status and bi'ur (time of removal).[26] For example, if they were picked during any time of the regular yearly cycle, they are deemed as not having Seventh-year sanctity, even if picked one day following the Seventh-year and had grown during the Seventh-year. If picked at the very onset of the Seventh-year, even though they grew in an ordinary year, they are deemed as Seventh-year produce and the laws of removal (bi'ur) would apply to them.
Archaeological exploration
In 2004, a survey of the "Khirbet/Horbat/Hurvat Usha" site was made by the IAA.[28] In 2013, two archaeological surveys and excavations were conducted at Khirbet Usha by Abdallah Massarwa and Alla Nagorski on behalf of the IAA.[29] In 2014, the site continued to be excavated by four individual teams. In October of 2019, traces of metallurgical activities from the Byzantine period were unearthed.[19]
Archaeological park and Sanhedrin Trail Project
In 2009, Hurvat Usha was declared a
The archaeological excavations at Usha are included in the Sanhedrin Trail Project initiated by the IAA, which touches on the stations of the Sanhedrin through Galilee, leading from Bet She'arim in the west to Tiberias in the east.[20]
References
- ^ Guerin, 1880, pp. 415-416. Partially translated in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 311
- ^ "1,400-year-old Byzantine Hammer and Nails Discovered in Ancient Jewish Village of Usha", Ruth Schuster for Haaretz, 30 Oct 2019. Accessed 29 Jan 2024.
- ^ Hadashot ArkheologiyotVolume 127, 2015. Accessed 29 January 2024.
- ^ Times of Israel, 30 October 2019. Accessed 29 January 2024.
- Ynet News, 30 Oct 2019. Accessed 29 January 2024.
- ^ Jerusalem Post, 31 Oct 2019. Accessed 29 January 2024.
- ISBN 978-0-8308-2506-6.
- ^ "Tell Rachidiyeh" at openbible.info.
- ^ "Khirbet el-Hos" at openbible.info.
- ISBN 1-152-34804-3. Accessed 29 January 2024.
- ^ Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF); Stewardson, Henry C. (1838). The survey of western Palestine: A general index to 1. The memoirs, vols. I.-III.; 2. The special papers; 3. The Jerusalem volume; 4. The flora and fauna of Palestine; 5. The geological survey; and to The Arabic and English name lists. Printed for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund by Harrison & sons. p. 35.
- ^
ISBN 978-1-4102-1727-1.
- Rosh Hashana 31b, Rashis.v. ומיבנא לאושא
- ^ a b Simon, Maurice, ed. (1990). Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonian Talmud (Seder Moed), Rosh Hashanah, Beẓah, Sheḳalim. The Soncino Press: London, s.v. Rosh Hashanah 31b (note 6, citing Horowitz, Palestine, p.34)
- JSTOR 3622299.
- ^ "Sanhedrin 14a:2". www.sefaria.org.
- ^ Heinrich Graetz, History of the Jews (vol. 2) - From the Reign of Hyrcanus (135 B.C.E.) to the Completion of the Babylonian Talmud (500 C.E.), The Jewish Publication Society of America: Philadelphia 1893, p. 429
- Hadashot ArkheologiyotVolume 124, 2012. Accessed 29 January 2024.
- ^ a b c Abby VanderHart (October 30, 2019). "Ironworks in Ancient Usha". New York, NY: Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- ^ Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 Oct 2019. Accessed 29 January 2024.
- Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot49b. Prior to this time, it was only mandatory for a father to provide sustenance to his children until the age of six.
- Mo'ed Ḳaṭan17a
- Baba Bathra50a
- Shabbat15b
- ^ Simeon Kayyara, Halachot Gedolot, vol. 3, Hil. Matanat Kehunah
- ^ Tosefta (Shevi'it 4:21)
- ^ Tosefta (Megillah 2:8)
- ^ Israel Antiquities Authority, Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2004, Survey Permit # A-4316
- ^ Israel Antiquities Authority, Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2013, Survey Permits # A-6752 and A-6880
- ^ Hurvat Usha National Park (Hebrew)
External links
- Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Synod of Usha". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
- Presentation: history, archaeology, tourism. Aviva & Shmuel Bar-Am for Jerusalem Post, 27 Aug 2022. Accessed 30 Jan 2024.
- Archeological world (with photos of ruins of Usha)