Barsinia

Barsinia, Bersinia, Tell Barsina or Khirbet Barsiniya is an archaeological site in northern Jordan, located near the village of Dayr a-Si'na, west of Irbid. Excavations have revealed evidence of largely continuous settlement spanning the Iron Age II through the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, early Islamic, Mamluk, and Ottoman periods. The origin of the site's name remains uncertain, with proposed etymologies linking it to either of two historical figures named Barsine or to Phoenician and Greek or Latin roots. Félix-Marie Abel identified the site with biblical Rogelim, although this identification has since been challenged. Remains at the site include a residential quarter of interconnected rooms and courtyards with paved and mosaic floors, hearths, and silos, alongside evidence of a probable Byzantine church and a Roman-Byzantine bathhouse. Notable finds range from a 7th-century Umayyad coin and an ivory kohl stick to a Rhodian stamped amphora handle dated to the early 2nd century BC. At the eastern edge of the site, four tombs dating to the Roman and Byzantine periods contained the remains of dozens of individuals; one, a monumental "temple tomb" mausoleum, is among only a handful of known examples of this type in the region. Isotopic and dental analysis of the skeletal remains has indicated a generally healthy, locally rooted population that relied on a self-sufficient local diet. Barsinia first drew scholarly attention in the 19th century. A 2005 joint survey by Yarmouk University and the French Institute for the Middle East noted its importance among sites in the West Irbid area. Signs of looting prompted formal rescue excavations, first carried out in 2006 under Lamia El-Khouri of Yarmouk University's Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology, with a further season in 2007.

Several etymologies have been proposed for the site's name. These include a connection with Barsine, either the eldest daughter of Darius III or the daughter of Artabazos II and wife of Mentor of Rhodes (both associated with Alexander the Great). Other suggestions derive the name from the Phoenician Bi'rsha ("sheep fountain") or from Byrsa, the Greek and Latin name meaning "bull's hide", best known as the name of the citadel of Carthage. Ancient sources also record similarly named places, including Byrsa, Bersera in Syria, and Bersima in Mesopotamia. Félix-Marie Abel identified Barsinia with the biblical site of Rogelim (mentioned in two passages of Samuel II), suggesting that the name of the adjacent wadi, Wadi er-Rejeili (or Wadi Rugeili, but also Wadi Barsinia), preserves the biblical toponym. He also suggested that the name Barsinia may derive from Bersellei, the Greek rendering of the biblical name Barzillai the Gileadite, who is described as being from Rogelim. Nelson Glueck examined both claims. On the wadi's name, he was unable to confirm it from local residents, though he cautioned that this lack of confirmation "does not necessarily prove that the name of Wadi er-Rejeili may not exist." On the Barzillai connection, he suggested that if such a link were valid, a more likely original home for Barzillai would be the nearby Iron Age fortress of Zaharet Soq'ah. He based this on the observation that many biblical place names shifted to different sites, sometimes several kilometres away, following Hellenistic and Roman resettlement after the Iron Age. More recently, Israel Finkelstein, Ido Koch and Oded Lipschits described the identification of Barsinia with Rogelim as "far from secure".

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).