Beit Guvrin replaced Maresha as the
most important settlement in the area.
It is mentioned for the first time in 68 CE in writing by Josephus
Flavius, as one of the towns conquered by the Roman general Vespasian. Following the destruction of the 2nd
Temple , it
continued to exist as a rather crowded Jewish settlement until the
Bar-Kochva revolt in 132-135 CE.
In 200, Emperor Septimus Severus
changed Beit Guvrin’s name to Eleutheropolis (City of the Free) and granted it
Polis (municipal) status. 2 aqueducts
brought water from afar, which, together with local waterworks, supplied the
requirements of the residents. 5
highways, all marked with milstones, led to the city from various directions. Besides dwellings, the city boasted an
amphitheatre and public buildings. The
Jewish settlement was rehabilitated and in the 3rd-4th
centuries Beit Guvrin was mentioned in the Talmud and Midrashim by sages such as Rabbi Yonatan and Rabbi Yehuda
Ben-Yaakov.
A large Jewish cemetery and
architectural remains from the Roman and Byzantine periods have been
found. During the Byzantine period, Beit
Guvrin was an important centre of Christianity, with a number of churches. Most of the bells caves are from the Early
Muslim period, and finds from the Crusader period indicate that it was a small,
fortified city, at the hub of which was a church dedicated in 1136. The city was surrounded by Crusader villages,
and it appears the Church
of St. Anne was restored
about the same time.
An Arab village occupied the site until
the War of Independence. In June 1948
the Egyptian Army occupied the British Taggart Fort there and on 27.10.48
Israeli forces recovered the area. In
May 1948 Kibbutz Beit Guvrin was established.
The Bell Caves
A series of 80 large caves from the
Byzantine and Early Moslem periods, which the inhabitants connected by
passageways. The caves, the largest of which are over 5 meters high, were dug
into the hard surface rock and quarried downward in the shape of a bell. At first it was thought that the caves were
used a water cisterns, storehouses, dwellings and bunkers. Today, however, it is clear that most of them
were quarries, which supplied the building materials for cities of the coastal
plain and Bet-Guvrin itself. The stone
blocks were raised and removed from the caves by means of ropes. Arabic inscriptions and crosses found on the
walls show that many of the caves were dug during the Early Arab period, in the
seventh-tenth centuries CE.
The Roman Amphitheater
The Roman Amphitheater
This amphitheater, which has a capacity
of 3,500, was used for fights between gladiators, slaves and wild animals, to
entertain the masses. The floor of the arena (a Latin word meaning sand) was
covered in sand to absorb the split blood.
2 crossing tunnels under the arena probably served as cages for the
animals, who were brought up to the arena by elevator. The shows were free to
Roman citizens.
In the Byzantine period the
amphitheater served as a public market.
Parts of a large Roman bathhouse were
discovered east of the amphitheater. It
includes several impressive arches and the “Cauldron” (hot room).
In the 12th century a large
Crusader fortress, surrounded by a moat, was built on top of the amphitheatre
and the bathhouse. In the centre was an
inner fort with several arches and a mess hall.
Attached to the south of the fortress is a church with 2 rows of columns
and 3 niches. Several structures were
added to the inner fort in the Mamluk and Ottoman eras, including a mosque.
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