Keren Naftali Castle
Israel · Asia
About
The Qeren Naftali fortress, also spelled Keren Naftali, also known as Khirbet el-Ḥarrawi or Khurbet Ḥarrawi, is an ancient fortress in the eastern Upper Galilee region of northern Israel. It sits atop Qeren Naftali peak, 492 metres (1,614 ft) above sea level, southeast of the modern village of Ramot Naftali and across a narrow vale from the ancient city of Kedesh, with which it shares clear lines of sight. From its summit, the site commands views of the Hula Valley directly below, Mount Hermon to the north, and the Golan Heights plateau beyond.
The fortress was built during the Hellenistic period as part of the defensive network protecting Kedesh, then an administrative center of the Phoenician city of Tyre. During this period, it controlled routes through the Hula Valley and onward toward Tyre via Tibnin. It was captured by Hasmonean Judea during a military campaign most commonly associated with King Alexander Jannaeus. The fort was subsequently garrisoned by Jewish soldiers, whose presence is attested by Hasmonean coins and a mikveh (Jewish ritual bath). The site appears to have later fallen under Herodian control, with archaeological evidence pointing to a siege; following the Roman conquest, the mikveh was repurposed as refuse pit, and finds such as figurative oil lamps and non-kosher animals suggest a non-Jewish garrison occupied the fortress. In Late Antiquity, the site was inhabited by a pagan population, as indicated by dedicatory inscriptions to Greek deities.
In late antiquity, during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, a small pagan settlement developed at the site, evidenced by architectural fragments and inscribed dedications to Zeus and Athena suggesting a temple once stood there. The site has drawn scholarly attention since the 1880s, beginning with Victor Guérin's visit and a subsequent survey by C. R. Conder and H. H. Kitchener of the Palestine Exploration Fund; in the 1990s and 2000s, surveys by the Israel Antiquities Authority headed by Mordechai Aviam have refined the fortress's chronology and layout.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.