Maresha
Encyclopedia
Tel Maresha also Marissa, is an antiquity site in Israel
's southern lowlands
. The tel
was first excavated by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund
. The majority of the artifacts are to be found today in the Museum
of Archaeology
in Istanbul
.
during the time of the First Temple and is mentioned among the conquests of the ancient Israelites in the Book of Joshua
and later in the Books of Chronicles
as one of King Rehoboam
's fortifications. In the 6th century BCE, as result of Zedekiah
's rebellion against the Babylonian kingdom and its king Nebuchadnezzar II, the latter occupied the Judean kingdom
and sent many of its inhabitants into exile. This marked the end of Maresha as a Jewish (or Judean) city.
Following these events, Edomites who had lived south of the Dead Sea
migrated north to the area. Hence, from the Persian rule and throughout the Hellenistic kingdoms' rule in the region (6th - 1st century BCE), Maresha was part of the area known as Idumea
.
Maresha emerged as a major Edomite city and with the conquest of the region by Alexander the Great the city was settled by retired Greek soldiers as was then custom. Thus Maresha developed as a Hellenistic city encompassing a multitude of Greek
and oriental cultures including Sidonians and Nabataeans
.
Maccabee rebellion
against the Seleucid Empire
(2nd century BCE) when the city was used as base to combat the rebels.
Following the rebellion and its success, it is believed that John Hyrcanus
conquered the city (112 BCE) and forcibly converted its inhabitants and laid the city to waste. Most opposed the conversion, many abandoned their homes and the city quickly withered into decay.
In 63 BCE, as part of the arrangements made by Pompey
in the region, Maresha, along with all of Edom, was separated from the Jewish kingdom and returned it to Idumea. In 47 BCE Julius Caesar
then annexed the city to Judea.
Maresha was finally destroyed in 40 BCE by the Parthians as part of the power struggle between Antigonus
of the Hasmoneans who had sought their aid and Herod
, who was a son of the converted Antipater the Idumaean
and was being supported by the Romans.
The area remained barely inhabited until the 2nd century when the Roman city Eleutheropolis
was established on the adjacent hills.
i national park
of Beit Guvrin
. Many of the ancient city's olive presses, columbarium
s and water cisterns can still be seen. Furthermore, Archaeological Seminars
, under the license of the Israel Antiquities Authority
, conduct excavations of Maresha's many quarried systems and invite visitors to participate.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's southern lowlands
Shephelah
The Shephelah is a designation usually applied to the region in south-central Israel of 10-15 km of low hills between the central Mount Hebron and the coastal plains of Philistia within the area of the Judea, at an altitude of 120-450 metres above sea level. The area is fertile, and a temperate...
. The tel
Tell
A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.-Archaeology:A tell is a hill created by different civilizations living and...
was first excavated by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund
Palestine Exploration Fund
The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society often simply known as the PEF. It was founded in 1865 and is still functioning today. Its initial object was to carry out surveys of the topography and ethnography of Ottoman Palestine with a remit that fell somewhere between an expeditionary...
. The majority of the artifacts are to be found today in the Museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of Archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
.
History
Maresha was one of the cities of JudeaJudea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
during the time of the First Temple and is mentioned among the conquests of the ancient Israelites in the Book of Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
and later in the Books of Chronicles
Books of Chronicles
The Books of Chronicles are part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Masoretic Text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim . Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings...
as one of King Rehoboam
Rehoboam
Rehoboam was initially king of the United Monarchy of Israel but after the ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled in 932/931 BC to form the independent Kingdom of Israel he was king of the Kingdom of Judah, or southern kingdom. He was a son of Solomon and a grandson of David...
's fortifications. In the 6th century BCE, as result of Zedekiah
Zedekiah
Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and...
's rebellion against the Babylonian kingdom and its king Nebuchadnezzar II, the latter occupied the Judean kingdom
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
and sent many of its inhabitants into exile. This marked the end of Maresha as a Jewish (or Judean) city.
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
migrated north to the area. Hence, from the Persian rule and throughout the Hellenistic kingdoms' rule in the region (6th - 1st century BCE), Maresha was part of the area known as Idumea
Edom
Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...
.
Maresha emerged as a major Edomite city and with the conquest of the region by Alexander the Great the city was settled by retired Greek soldiers as was then custom. Thus Maresha developed as a Hellenistic city encompassing a multitude of Greek
Culture of Greece
The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, through the influence of the Roman Empire and its Greek Eastern successor the Byzantine Empire...
and oriental cultures including Sidonians and Nabataeans
Nabataeans
Thamudi3.jpgThe Nabataeans, also Nabateans , were ancient peoples of southern Canaan and the northern part of Arabia, whose oasis settlements in the time of Josephus , gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Syria and Arabia, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea...
.
Decline and fall
The city began its decline during the HasmoneanHasmonean
The Hasmonean dynasty , was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea...
Maccabee rebellion
Maccabees
The Maccabees were a Jewish rebel army who took control of Judea, which had been a client state of the Seleucid Empire. They founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 164 BCE to 63 BCE, reasserting the Jewish religion, expanding the boundaries of the Land of Israel and reducing the influence...
against the Seleucid Empire
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...
(2nd century BCE) when the city was used as base to combat the rebels.
Following the rebellion and its success, it is believed that John Hyrcanus
John Hyrcanus
John Hyrcanus was a Hasmonean leader of the 2nd century BC.-Name:...
conquered the city (112 BCE) and forcibly converted its inhabitants and laid the city to waste. Most opposed the conversion, many abandoned their homes and the city quickly withered into decay.
In 63 BCE, as part of the arrangements made by Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
in the region, Maresha, along with all of Edom, was separated from the Jewish kingdom and returned it to Idumea. In 47 BCE Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
then annexed the city to Judea.
Maresha was finally destroyed in 40 BCE by the Parthians as part of the power struggle between Antigonus
Antigonus
Antigonus, a Greek name meaning "comparable to his father" or "worthy of his father", may refer to:* Three Macedonian kings of the Antigonid dynasty that succeeded Alexander the Great in Asia:** Antigonus I Monophthalmus...
of the Hasmoneans who had sought their aid and Herod
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
, who was a son of the converted Antipater the Idumaean
Antipater the Idumaean
Antipater I the Idumaean was the founder of the Herodian Dynasty and father of Herod the Great. According to Josephus, he was the son of Antipas...
and was being supported by the Romans.
The area remained barely inhabited until the 2nd century when the Roman city Eleutheropolis
Eleutheropolis
Eleutheropolis was the Greek name of a Roman city in Israel, some 53 km southwest of Jerusalem. Its remains still straddle the ancient road to Gaza. The site— already rendered as Baitogabra in Ptolemy's Geography— was called Beit Guvrin and Bet Gubrin in the Talmud...
was established on the adjacent hills.
Archaeology
Less than 10 percent of the caves on Tel Maresha have been excavated. Located some 1,300 feet above sea level, the ground is chalky and soft, lending itself to the digging of caves which were used as quarries, burial grounds, animal shelters, workshops and spaces for raising doves and pigeons. Many of the caves are linked by an underground maze of passageways.Tel Maresha and national park
Today Maresha is part of the IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
of Beit Guvrin
Beit Guvrin
Beit Guvrin may refer to:* The ancient city of Maresha, now an archaeological museum, in Israel* The adjacent Roman and Byzantine city of Eleutheropolis, referred to as Beit Guvrin in Jewish scripture.* Beit Guvrin, Israel, a Kibbutz founded in 1949....
. Many of the ancient city's olive presses, columbarium
Columbarium
A columbarium is a place for the respectful and usually public storage of cinerary urns . The term comes from the Latin columba and originally referred to compartmentalized housing for doves and pigeons .The Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas is a particularly fine ancient Roman example, rich in...
s and water cisterns can still be seen. Furthermore, Archaeological Seminars
Archaeological Seminars
Archaeological Seminars, a private company located in Jerusalem, Israel. The Company conducts a multitude of activities related to tourism of historical sites in Israel....
, under the license of the Israel Antiquities Authority
Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservation, and promotes research...
, conduct excavations of Maresha's many quarried systems and invite visitors to participate.
Biliography
- Kloner, Amos, Maresha Excavations Final Report I: Subterranean Complexes 21, 44, 70 (Jerusalem, Israel Antiquities Authority, 2003).
- Jacobson, D. M., The Hellenistic Paintings of Marisa (London, Palestine Exploration Fund, 2005).
External links
See also
- Beit GuvrinBeit GuvrinBeit Guvrin may refer to:* The ancient city of Maresha, now an archaeological museum, in Israel* The adjacent Roman and Byzantine city of Eleutheropolis, referred to as Beit Guvrin in Jewish scripture.* Beit Guvrin, Israel, a Kibbutz founded in 1949....
- LMLK sealLMLK sealLMLK seals were stamped on the handles of large storage jars mostly in and around Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah based on several complete jars found in situ buried under a destruction layer caused by Sennacherib at Lachish...
- Tourism in IsraelTourism in IsraelTourism in Israel is one of the country's major sources of income, with 3.45 million tourist arrivals in 2010. Israel offers a plethora of historical and religious sites, beach resorts, archaeological tourism, heritage tourism and ecotourism. Israel has the highest number of museums per capita in...