Khirbet el-Maqatir

Khirbet el-Maqatir is an archaeological site located in the central West Bank, between Deir Dibwan and Beitin. Occupation began with a fortified settlement in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, followed by an Iron Age highland village. After a lengthy abandonment following the Babylonian conquest of Judah, the site was resettled during the Second Temple period, when it flourished as a Jewish village until its destruction during the First Jewish Revolt. A Byzantine ecclesiastical complex was later established on a neighboring hill to the northwest. It remained in use into the early Islamic period before being abandoned after the earthquake of 749. Notable remains include a Bronze Age fortified enclosure destroyed by fire during the 15th century BCE; an Iron Age village built partly into the earlier fortifications with remains such as a Hebrew-inscribed potsherd and an Egyptian scarab; and a late Hellenistic–early Roman Jewish settlement with dwellings, multiple mik'vaot (Jewish ritual baths), an olive press cave, winepresses, storage caves, cisterns, a monumental tower, a large courtyard house with a private bathhouse, a kokhim tomb, and an underground hiding complex reused during both Jewish revolts against Rome. Military finds include ballista stones, arrowheads, hobnails, and revolt coinage. The Byzantine ecclesiastical complex, comprising a tri-apsal basilica with a vaulted cr

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