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82-582: Marissa can refer to: Maresha or Marissa, an ancient city in Israel Marissa, Illinois , a town in Illinois Marissa Township, St. Clair County, Illinois Marissa (name) , a female given name, including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name Vita Marissa (born 1981), Indonesian badminton player See also [ edit ] MS Princesa Marissa ,

164-586: A UNESCO World Heritage Site . Eleutheropolis remains a titular see in the Roman Catholic Church . The entire site is located in the Lakhish region of central Israel, between the coastal plain to the west and the Hebron Hills to the east, near the 1949 ceasefire line . Ancient Maresha was identified at Tell Sandahanna, renamed Tel Maresha. The Hellenised city of Marissa included

246-457: A "panic flight" of residents from the town. On October 23, a United Nations -imposed ceasefire went into effect, however, there was an IDF raid on the neighboring police fort on the night of October 24, which resulted in more villagers fleeing Bayt Jibrin. Israeli troops from the Giv'ati Brigade then occupied Bayt Jibrin and its police fort on October 27. In 2008, a former resident of the town who

328-577: A Christian family near Eleutheropolis, describes the general surroundings in Late Antique Judaea. The second chapter of the vita describes the details of the important market of Eleutheropolis. Seven routes met at Eleutheropolis, and Eusebius , in his Onomasticon , uses the Roman milestones indicating the city as a central point from which the distances of other towns were measured. The Madaba Map (dated 542-570 CE) shows Eleutheropolis as

410-422: A cave 5 km east of the village. They had left everything in their home, hoping to return after a few days when the attack would be over. The Israelis , however, did not allow them to return. Several men of Beit Jibreen were killed when they tried to go back. The village was located near the 1949 ceasefire line. In 1949, kibbutz Beit Guvrin , was founded on the former town's lands. The excavated areas of

492-571: A cruise ship operated by Louis Cruise Lines Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Marissa . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marissa&oldid=1225482887 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description

574-713: A district centre for surrounding villages. It was captured by Jewish forces during the 1948 war, causing its Arab inhabitants to flee eastward. Today, many of the Palestinian refugees of Bayt Jibrin and their descendants live in the camps of Bayt Jibrin (ʽAzza) and Fawwar in the southern West Bank . The kibbutz of Beit Guvrin was established to the north of Bayt Jibrin, on the villages' lands, in 1949. The archaeological sites of Maresha and Beit Guvrin are today an Israeli national park known as Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park , including their burial caves and underground dwellings, workshops and quarries, which are listed as

656-625: A large amphitheater . Towards the end of the 2nd century CE, Rabbi Judah the Prince ameliorated the condition of its Jewish citizens by releasing the city from the obligations of tithing home-grown produce, and from observing the Seventh Year laws with respect to the same produce, as believing this area of the country was not originally settled by Jews returning from the Babylonian captivity . The vita of Epiphanius of Salamis , born into

738-478: A lower city of 320 dunams during its heydays, which surrounded the tell (mound) . It covers the southern part of the Beit Guvrin-Maresha archaeological park. Bet Gabra or Betogabris grew around a hill c. 1.5 km north of Tel Maresha, after the demise of Marissa in 40 BCE. The Crusader colony of Bethgibelin stood at what had been the northern margin of the classical city, with its castle built over

820-428: A medical clinic, a bus and a police station. The town's inhabitants cultivated grain and fruit, and residents from nearby towns flocked to its weekly market or souk . During the winter of 1920-1921 there was a severe outbreak of malaria. 157 villagers (one-sixth of the population) died with the mortality rate in the district reaching 68 per 1,000. Crops remained unharvested due to lack of people strong enough to work in

902-542: A north-westerly direction, bypassing Idhna on the north, for a total distance of about 25 kilometres (16 mi). Remnants of the aqueduct are still extant. The territory under the administration of Eleutheropolis encompassed most of Idumea, with the districts of Bethletepha, western Edom and Hebron up to Ein Gedi , and included over 100 villages. Bayt Jibrin is mentioned in the Talmud (redacted 5th–6th century CE) under

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984-530: A number of letters of correspondence. In 2022, a large number of knucklebones were found. Some were used to play games (for example, knucklebones ) and others to contact the gods ( astragalomancy ). Those that bear writing were in Greek. Today Maresha is part of the Israeli national park of Beit Guvrin . Many of the ancient city's olive presses, columbaria and water cisterns can still be seen. Furthermore,

1066-682: A planned and fortified Hellenistic city encircled by a town wall with towers. Two Hellenistic and one Israelite stratum were identified by them on the mound. Between 1989 and 2000, large-scale excavations were held by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) under the direction of Prof. Amos Kloner and conducted mainly in the Lower City of Maresha, concentrating both on the surface and on the subterranean complexes. Excavations continued in several subterranean complexes between 2001 and 2008. The largely preserved remains of

1148-469: A population of 508, with a total of 147 houses, though the population count included men, only. Bayt Jibrin's status began to decline throughout the 19th century. According to Western travelers it was "a small and insignificant village". The primary factors that contributed to the decline were the Bedouin raids on Bayt Jibrin's countryside villages, the 'Azza revolt, tribal warfare among the inhabitants of

1230-500: A prosperous city, and confirm the presence of Jews and Christians in the area. It was described as one of Palestine's five "Cities of Excellence" by 4th-century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus . During the Roman-Byzantine era, water was brought into Beit Gubrin (Bayt Jibrin) via an aqueduct that passed through Wādi el-ʻUnqur , a watercourse that originates from a natural spring to the south-west of Hebron , and running in

1312-564: A share of property looted from the Muslims. It was on the itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela , who found three Jews living there when he visited the country. The Ayyubid army under Saladin sacked Bethgibelin in 1187, after most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem came under Muslim control as a consequence of his victory at the Battle of Hittin . Soon after its capture Saladin ordered the demolition of

1394-485: A walled city with three towers, a curving street with a colonnade in the central part and an important basilica . In the centre is a building with a yellowish-white dome on four columns. Eleutheropolis was last mentioned in the ancient sources by the near contemporary itinerarium of the Piacenza Pilgrim , about 570. In the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, Christianity penetrated the city due to its location on

1476-470: A well-known British archaeologist, was killed by a group of armed Arabs on the track leading from Bayt Jibrin to Hebron. In the 1945 statistics , Bayt Jibrin had 2,430 Muslim inhabitants, with a total of 56,185 dunams or 56.1 km (13,900 acres) of land. Of this, 2,477 dunams were irrigated or used for plantations, 31,616 dunams used for cereals , while 287 dunams (0.28 km (69 acres)) were built-up (urban) areas. Bayt Jibrin

1558-600: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Maresha Excavations revealed that Maresha was inhabited (not necessarily continuously) during the Iron Age , the Persian period, and the Hellenistic period . The Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus seized Maresha in 113/112 BCE, leading to its decline and eventual desertion. The city faced its ultimate destruction at

1640-429: Is now protected as part of Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park and its burial caves are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site . The location of Maresha in relation to Eleutheropolis (Beit Gubrin) has been noted by Eusebius in his Onomasticon , who wrote: Maresa ( Joshua 15:44) . Tribe of Judah. It is now a deserted site about 2 milestones from Eleutheropolis. C.R. Conder and H.H. Kitchener of

1722-480: The ius italicum and exempting them from taxes. Coins minted by him, bearing the date 1 January 200, commemorate its founding and the title of polis . Eleutheropolis, which covered an area of 65 hectares (160 acres) (larger at the time than Aelia Capitolina - the Roman city built over the ruins of Jewish Jerusalem ), flourished under the Romans, who built public buildings, military installations, aqueducts and

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1804-536: The nahiya (subdistrict) of Hebron (al-Khalīl), which was part of the sanjak ("district") of Gaza . The Ottomans did not exercise strict control over their territories and tended to keep local leaders in their traditional positions as long as they complied with the higher authorities and paid imperial taxes. During Suleiman the Magnificent 's reign, in 1552, the destroyed Crusader castle in Bayt Jibrin

1886-509: The 1948 Arab–Israeli War . It was preceded by the Iron Age Judahite city of Maresha , the later Hellenistic Marissa, located slightly south of Beit Jibrin's built-up area; and the Roman and Byzantine city of Beth Gabra , known from the Talmud as Beit Guvrin (also Gubrin or Govrin, Hebrew : בית גוברין , romanized :  Beit Gubrin ), renamed Eleutheropolis ( Greek , Ἐλευθερόπολις, "Free City") after 200 CE. After

1968-658: The Book of Joshua . Later, in the second Book of Chronicles , it is named as one of King Rehoboam 's fifteen fortified cities. In 2 Chronicles it is the site of a battle against an invading Ethiopian army. According to the Madaba Map , Maresha was the place "whence came Micah the Prophet". In the 6th century BCE, as result of Zedekiah 's rebellion against the Babylonian kingdom and its king Nebuchadnezzar II ,

2050-810: The Hasmonean dynasty assumed power. Among the major archaeological finds at this site is the Heliodorus Stele. This stele recounts events in Judaea prior to the Maccabean revolt and offers important historical evidence for events that would precede events which modern day Jews commemorate during the holiday of Chanukah. Approximately 500 ostraca were found in Tell Maresha alone, 400 of which discovered since 2000. Included among these are both dated and undated dockets , tags with personal names and

2132-776: The Israeli Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park . Furthermore, the Archaeological Seminars Institute, under the license of the Israel Antiquities Authority , conducts excavations of Maresha's many quarried systems, and invites visitors to participate. In 1838, the American Bible scholar Edward Robinson visited Bayt Jibrin, and identified it as ancient Eleutheropolis. The remains of the city of Maresha on Tell Sandahanna/Tel Maresha were first excavated in 1898-1900 by Bliss and Macalister , who uncovered

2214-600: The Israeli Army (IDF) launched Operation Yoav , which differed from operations three months earlier, as the IDF was now equipped with aircraft, artillery, and tanks. On October 15–16, the IDF launched bombing and strafing attacks on a number of towns and villages, including Bayt Jibrin. According to Morris, the towns caught in the fighting were neither psychologically nor defensively prepared for aerial strikes, and Israeli Air Force bombing of Bayt Jibrin on October 19 set off

2296-716: The Kingdom of Jerusalem . In 1135, King Fulk of Jerusalem erected a castle on the lands of Bayt Jibrin, the first of a series of Crusader fortifications built at this time to ensure control over the ports of Caesarea and Jaffa . In 1136, King Fulk donated the castle to the Knights Hospitallers . In 1168, the Hospitallers were granted a charter to establish a Frankish colony, which they named "Bethgibelin". Christian settlers in Beit Jibrin were promised

2378-530: The Maccabees . In 112 BCE, Maresha was conquered and destroyed by the Hasmonean king, John Hyrcanus I, after which the region of Idumea (the Greek name of Edom) remained under Hasmonean control and Idumeans were forced to convert to Judaism . In 40 BCE, the Parthians devastated completely the "strong city", after which it was never rebuilt. After this date, nearby Beit Guvrin succeeded Maresha as

2460-499: The Palestine Exploration Fund surmised that Maresha should be identified with Khurbet Mar'ash , a ruin 3 ⁄ 4 mile south of Beit Jibrin , based on a phonetic similarity of their names. It was not until J. P. Peters and Hermann Thiersch explored the ruins of Khurbet Sandahannah (grid position 140111 PAL ) in 1902 that they discovered a Greek funerary inscription in an adjacent burial cave (known as

2542-526: The Peutinger Table in 393 CE, Bayt Jibrin was called Beitogabri . In the Talmud , compiled between the 3rd and 4th centuries, it was known as Beit Gubrin or Guvrin . To the Crusaders, it was known as Bethgibelin or Gibelin . Another name in medieval times may have been Beit Jibril , meaning "house of Gabriel". In Arabic , Bayt Jibrin or Jubrin ( بيت جبرين ) means "house of

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2624-617: The Qays and Yaman tribo-political factions in southern Palestine. The 'Azza and 'Amr families, part of the Qays confederation, were constantly clashing with the Yaman-aligned Abu Ghosh clan , who were based in the vicinity of Jerusalem. In 1846, the shaykh (chief) of Bayt Jibrin, Muslih al-'Azza (known as the "giant of Bayt Jibrin"), the leader of the 'Amr clan, and other local leaders were exiled, but were allowed to return in

2706-602: The Shfela (Shephelah) in Hebrew. Beit Jibrin's average elevation was of 275 meters (902 ft) above sea level. The region contains a large number of caverns, both natural formations and caves dug in the soft chalk by inhabitants of the region over the centuries for use as quarries, burial grounds, animal shelters, workshops and spaces for raising doves and pigeons. There is estimated to be 800 such caverns, many linked by an underground maze of passageways. Eighty of them, known as

2788-678: The shaykh of Bayt Jibrin, as well as by his "castle" or "manor". At the time, the remains of the Crusader fortress still served for defensive purposes in the village. According to Bayt Jibrin's shaykh , in 1863, he was in command of 16 villages in the area and pledged "to provide as many as 2,000 men to the government if necessary." In 1864, however, Muslih's brother told a traveler that Muslih and his property had been seized on "false charges of treason," and that he had been banished to Cyprus and then beheaded . Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that Bayt Jibrin had

2870-533: The 3rd and 4th centuries, indicating a revival of the Jewish community around that time. The tanna Judah b. Jacob and the amora Jonathan (referred to in the Talmud as "Yonatan me-Bet Guvrin" or Jonathan of Bet Guvrin) were residents of the city. The Talmudic region known as Darom was within the area of Eleutheropolis ("Beit Guvrin"), later known by its Arabic corruption ad-Dārūm . Excavations at Eleutheropolis show

2952-749: The 7th-century Arab conquest of the Levant , the Arabic name of Beit Jibrin was used for the first time, followed by the Crusaders ' Bethgibelin , given to a Frankish colony established around a Hospitaller castle. After the Muslim reconquest the Arab village of Beit Jibrin was reestablished. During the days of Herod the Great , Bet Gabra was the administrative center for the district of Idumea . In 200 CE, after

3034-567: The Arabs following the Muslim conquest ) as one of ten towns in Jund Filastin (military district of Palestine) conquered by the Muslims under Amr ibn al-As during the mid-630s' Muslim conquest. Amr enclosed a domain to Bayt Jibrin, which he named Ajlan, after one of his freemen. The 1904 Analecta Bollandiana recounts that in 638 the Muslim army beheaded fifty soldiers in Bayt Jibrin from

3116-520: The Archaeological Seminars Institute, under the license of the Israel Antiquities Authority , conducts excavations of Maresha's many quarried systems, and invites visitors to participate. Bayt Jibrin Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibrin ( Arabic : بيت جبرين ) was an Arab village in the Hebron District of Mandate Palestine , in what is today central Israel , which was depopulated during

3198-552: The Bell Caves, are located on the grounds of the Beit Guvrin National Park . Beit Jibrin stood 21 kilometers (13 mi) northwest of Hebron , the district capital during Mandate times. Other settlements near Beit Jibrin included the now depopulated villages of Kudna to the north, al-Qubayba to the southwest, and al-Dawayima to the south, as well as the existing Palestinian towns of Beit Ula to

3280-577: The Byzantine garrison of Gaza who refused to abandon Christianity and who were then buried in a church built in their honor. In the beginning of the power struggle between Ali and Mu'awiya for the position of caliph , Amr left Medina in the Hejaz and took up residence at his estate called Ajlan in Bayt Jibrin with his sons Muhammad and Abdallah. The latter died there. The Umayyad prince and governor of Palestine, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik , received

3362-620: The Crusader castle. From 1191 to 1192, the town was held in probate by Henry of Champagne , as lord of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, while Saladin and Richard the Lionheart negotiated a ceasefire. However, the Crusaders remained in control of Bethgibelin until 1244, when the Ayyubids reconquered it under Sultan as-Salih Ayyub . By 1283, the Mamluks had taken control and it was listed as a domain of Sultan Qalawun . The city prospered under

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3444-742: The Egypt-based Mamluk Sultanate and served as a postal station. During Mamluk rule, Bayt Jibrin administratively belonged to Hebron and was under the jurisdiction of the Shafi'i (a school of law in Sunni Islam ) qadi (head judge) of that city. Bayt Jibrin and all of Palestine was conquered by the Ottomans after their victory over the Mamluks during the 1516 Battle of Marj Dabiq . Bayt Jibrin subsequently became part of

3526-474: The Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion . Less than 10 percent of the caves surrounding Tel Maresha have been excavated. Located some 400 meters above sea level, the bedrock is soft chalk, lending itself to the hewing of caves which were used as quarries, cisterns, tombs, animal mangers, olive presses and dovecots ( columbaria ). Many of

3608-532: The Sidonian burial Cave) which explicitly identified the site as Maresha. Today, Khurbet Sandahannah is an archaeological tell comprising 24 dunams (5.9 acres), with its "lower city" incorporating into it an additional 400 dunams (98 acres). Maresha was one of the cities of Judah during the time of the First Temple and is mentioned as part of the inheritance of the biblical tribe of Judah in

3690-556: The archaeologically important areas of ancient Maresha and Beit Guvrin/Eleutheropolis are now part of the Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park . Archaeological excavations have been conducted at the site from 1972 to 2002 by Amos Kloner and from 2002 until 2014, by Bernie Alpert and Ian Stern, initially on behalf of the Archaeological Seminars Institute and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). From 2014 excavation and publication work continued on behalf of

3772-545: The capital ( Ar Ramlah ). It is an emporium for the neighbouring country, and a land of riches and plenty, possessing fine domains. The population, however, is now on the decrease...." There is no marble quarry anywhere in Israel/Palestine, but al-Muqaddasi probably referred to the underground chalkstone quarries known today as " bell caves ". Surface nari (local name for caliche ) is harder than chalk. In 1099, Crusaders invaded Palestine and established

3854-494: The caves are linked by an underground maze of passageways. During excavations at Tel Maresha, archaeologists uncovered a lead weight with a Greek inscription that read: "Year 170 (corresponding to 143/2 BCE), the agoranomos [= "market inspector"] being Antipater, son of Heliodorus, and Aristodamus, son of Ariston (?)." The calendar year is written according to the Seleucid era counting, during which same year Simon Thassi of

3936-609: The center of an administrative district in the Ptolemaic empire , while from 200 BCE onward the center of a Seleucid administrative district. The city began its decline during the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (2nd century BCE) when the city was used as base to combat the rebels. The Book of Maccabees reports that Judas Maccabeus and his forces marched through Marisa in around 163/2 BCE when

4018-481: The chief center of the area. In the Jewish War (68 CE), Vespasian slaughtered or enslaved the inhabitants of Betaris . According to Josephus : "When he had seized upon two villages, which were in the very midst of Idumea , Betaris [ sic ] (corrected to read Begabris ), and Caphartobas, he slew above ten thousand of the people, and carried into captivity above a thousand, and drove away

4100-537: 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. It remains unclear where the city of Marissa was located after Hyrkanus captured it and apparently forbade its inhabitants from living in

4182-454: The city was burnt during Judas' conquest of the Idumaean region, from Hebron to Azotus ( Ashdod ). Following the rebellion and its success, John Hyrcanus conquered the city in c. 112 BCE, forcibly converting its inhabitants to Judaism. 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 to Idumea. In 47 BCE Julius Caesar then annexed

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4264-407: The demise of Maresha, the neighbouring Idumean /Jewish town of Beth Gabra or Beit Guvrin succeeded it as the main settlement in the area. Shaken by two successive and disastrous Jewish revolts against Roman rule in the 1st and 2nd centuries, the town recovered its importance only at the beginning of the 3rd century when it was re-established as a Roman city under the new name of Eleutheropolis . By

4346-550: The early 1850s. In 1855, the newly appointed Ottoman pasha ("governor") of the sanjak ("district") of Jerusalem, Kamil Pasha , attempted to subdue the rebellion in the Hebron region. Kamil Pasha marched towards Hebron with his army in July 1855, and after crushing the opposition, he ordered the local shaykhs to summon to his camp. Several of the shaykhs , including the leader of the 'Amr clan and Muslih al-'Azza, did not obey

4428-444: The east and Idhna to the southeast. In 1945 , Bayt Jibrin's total land area was 56.1 km (21.7 sq mi), 98% of which was Arab-owned. The town's urban area consisted of 287 m (0.071 acres), with 33.2 km (8,200 acres) of cultivable land and 21.6 km (5,300 acres) of non-cultivable land. 54.8% of the town's land was planted with cereal crops, 6.2% with olives and 4.4% with irrigated crops. The settlement

4510-448: The fields. The British authorities began a program of sealing open wells, improving drainage and distributing quinine across Palestine. In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities , Bayt Jibrin had a population of 1,420, all Muslim, increasing the 1931 census to 1,804, still all Muslim, in a total of 369 houses. On 10 January 1938, during the Palestinian Arab revolt of 1936-1939 , J. L. Starkey ,

4592-453: The former Arab village of Bayt Jibrin was first inhabited by Canaanites . After the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE, the city of Maresha became part of the Edomite kingdom. In the late Persian period a Sidonian community settled in Maresha, and the city is mentioned three times in the Zenon Papyri (259 BCE). During the Maccabean Revolt , Maresha was a base for attacks against Judea and suffered retaliation from

4674-428: The hands of the Parthians in 40 BCE. Maresha was first excavated in 1898–1900 by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) and again after 1989 by Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). Most of the artifacts of the British excavation are to be found today in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums . This site

4756-407: The latter occupied the Judean kingdom and sent many of its inhabitants into exile. This marked the end of Maresha as a Judahite city. Following these events, Edomites who had lived east and south of the Dead Sea migrated to the area and Maresha emerged as a major Idumean city. Hence, from the Persian rule and throughout the Hellenistic kingdoms' rule in the region (6th – 1st century BCE), Maresha

4838-434: The name Betaris mentioned by Josephus should either be identified with Bittir , or else the 't' amended to gamma , so as to read Begabrin . In the year 200 CE, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus gave it the status of a city under a new Greek name, Eleutheropolis (Ἐλευθερόπολις), meaning 'City of the Free', and its inhabitants were given the rank of Roman citizens under the laws of ius italicum . In

4920-484: The name Beit Gubrin. In the Peutinger Tables (393 CE), the place is called Beto Gabra , and shown as 16 Roman miles from Ascalon . The true distance is 20 English miles. The Midrash Rabba (Genesis Rabba, section 67) mentions Beit Gubrin in relation to Esau and his descendants (Idumaeans) who settled the region, and which region was renowned for its fertile ground and productivity. The 9th-century historian al-Baladhuri mentions Bayt Jibrin (the name given to it by

5002-403: The news of his becoming caliph in 715 during his stay in Bayt Jibrin. In 750 Palestine came under Abbasid rule. Bayt Jibrin may have already been devastated in 788, but in any event, in 796, it was destroyed by Bedouin tribesmen in an effort to combat Christian influence in the region during a civil war between the Arab tribal federations of the area. According to a monk named Stephen, "it

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5084-493: The powerful", reflecting its original Aramaic name, and the town was probably called Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibril throughout its rule by various Muslim dynasties. The excavations have revealed no remains older than the Iron Age , a time when the Judahite town of Maresha rose on the tell to the south of Bay Jibrin known in Arabic as Tell Sandahanna and in Hebrew as Tel Maresha. This corresponds to several Hebrew Bible mentions of Maresha. However, local folklore tells that

5166-485: The remains of the Roman amphitheatre. Its ruins now stand adjacent to and north of the regional road. The built-up area of the modern Arab village of Beit Jibrin was largely south of the Crusader castle, adjacent to and mainly south of the regional road. Kibbutz Beit Guvrin was built north of the Bethgibelin Castle and former Beit Jibrin. Historically, the site was located on the main road between Cairo and Hebron via Gaza , in an area of plains and soft hills known as

5248-421: The rest of the multitude, and placed no small part of his own forces in them, who overran and laid waste the whole mountainous country." However, it continued to be a Jewish-inhabited city until the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 CE). Septimius Severus , Roman Emperor from 193 to 211, granted the city municipal status, under a new Greek name, Eleutheropolis , meaning "City of the Free", and giving its citizens

5330-421: The route between Jerusalem and Gaza . The city's first bishop , Justus , was one of the 70 Disciples . Eleutheropolis was a "City of Excellence" in the fourth century and a Christian bishopric with the largest territory in Palaestina. In 325 CE, Eleutheropolis was the seat of Bishop Macrinus , who in that year attended the First Council of Nicaea . Epiphanius of Salamis , Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus ,

5412-399: The successive Judahite, Hellenistic, Roman-Byzantine and Crusader towns have been included in a large Israeli national park with major points of attraction for tourists. There is little focus on any traces of Arab presence within the park, the period from the 7th century onward receiving little attention. Today many of the excavated areas of Maresha and Beit Guvrin can be visited as part of

5494-448: The summons. Kamil Pasha then requested that the British consul in Jerusalem, James Finn , serve as an envoy and arrange a meeting with Muslih. Finn sent his vice-consul to assure Muslih of his safety in Hebron and convinced him to meet with Kamil Pasha. Muslih was well received in Hebron and returned to Bayt Jibrin escorted by twenty of the governor's men. Soon after, the Kamil Pasha paid a visit to Bayt Jibrin to settle affairs and collect

5576-443: The time of Eusebius of Caesarea (d. 340 CE), Maresha itself was already a deserted place: he mentions the city in his Onomasticon , saying that it was at a distance of "two milestones from Eleutheropolis ". The Palestinian Arab village Bayt Jibrin , standing on the site of ancient Eleutheropolis, was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war . In 1949 Kibbutz Beit Guvrin was established on part of Bayt Jibrin's lands. Most of

5658-451: The town's overdue taxes. Kamil Pasha took an oath of loyalty from all the local shaykhs in the Hebron region, including those under the rule of Muslih al-'Azza. In 1838, American archeologist Edward Robinson identified Bayt Jibrin as the site of both ancient Eleutheropolis and ancient Bethgebrim. He cited William of Tyre's reference to the Arabic name. Later travelers who visited Bayt Jibrin during that time were very impressed both by

5740-400: The towns and villages throughout Palestine and epidemics which struck the town and the nearby area. In 1896 the population of Bet dschibrin was estimated to be about 1,278 persons. After the British Army captured Palestine from the Ottomans in 1917–1918, Bayt Jibrin resumed its role as an important town in the District of Hebron. The population was entirely Muslim, and had two schools,

5822-417: The turmoil of the First Jewish–Roman War (64-70) and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135), the town became a thriving Roman colony , a major administrative centre and one of the most important cities in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina under the name of Eleutheropolis. The city was then inhabited by Jews , Christians and pagans . Under the British Mandate of Palestine , Bayt Jibrin again served as

5904-405: The upper city, where a garrison was stationed. Very meager remains from the time up to 40 BCE were found in one corner of the upper city, and almost none in the large lower city surrounding it, which once covered an area of 320 dunams . If indeed neither the upper nor the lower city were reinhabited at least in part, the one remaining possibility mentioned by Amos Cloner is that the name of Maresha

5986-469: Was born at Eleutheropolis; at Ad nearby he established a monastery which is often mentioned in the polemics of Jerome with Rufinus and John, Bishop of Jerusalem. Epiphanius also mentions that Akouas , a disciple of Mani , had been the first to spread Manichaeism in Eleutheropolis and the rest of Palestine during the reign of Aurelian (270-275 AD). Beit Guvrin is mentioned in the Talmud in

6068-427: Was eight months old at the time of the raid, described his family's ordeal as follows: In the 1948 war, the village was attacked by Israeli military units and bombed by Israeli aircraft. By that time, Beit Jibreen already hosted many refugees from neighboring villages. The fighting and bombing frightened the people. They escaped the fighting and sought shelter in the surrounding hills. [My] family found protection in

6150-495: Was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan . The First Battalion of the Egyptian Army were ordered to take up position in Bayt Jibrin during the second half of May during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War . At the same time, The New York Times correspondent reported that thousands of Jaffa 's inhabitants had fled inland, including "large numbers" to the Bayt Jibrin area. In October 1948,

6232-493: Was laid waste, and its inhabitants carried off into captivity". However, by 985, Bayt Jibrin seemed to have recovered, judging by the writings of the Jerusalemite geographer al-Muqaddasi : "[Bayt Jibrin] is a city partly in the hill country, partly in the plain. Its territory has the name of Ad Darum (the ancient Daroma and the modern Dairan), and there are here marble [ sic ] quarries. The district sends its produce to

6314-462: Was part of the area known as Idumea , a Hellenised form of Edom. During the period of Persian rule, Phoenician colonies were encouraged to spread out along the coastal regions of Palestine and in the adjacent hill country of Judea , whence their early settlement in Maresha took its rise. With the conquest of the region by Alexander the Great the city was settled by retired Greek soldiers as

6396-421: Was partially rebuilt in order to protect the main road between Gaza and Jerusalem. In 1596, the inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin, consisting of 50 Muslim families, paid taxes on wheat, barley and sesame seeds , as well as goats and beehives. In the 17th century, Bayt Jibrin may have absorbed residents from Khursa, whose village had been destroyed in an attack by the people of Dura. In the 19th century, Bayt Jibrin

6478-534: Was renamed over the centuries. The Aramaic name Beth Gabra , attested from at least the Early Roman period, was preserved by the geographer Ptolemy in the Greek variation of Βαιτογάβρα, Baitogabra , translates as the "house of the [strong] man" or "house of the mighty one". The antecedent might be seen in the name of an Edomite king: Ḳaus-gabri or Kauš-Gabr, found on an inscription of Tiglathpileser III . According to historical geographer A. Schlatter ,

6560-529: Was the seat of the 'Azza family, who had ruled the area since migrating to Palestine from Egypt. In the 1840s, after the Ottomans attempted to crush local leaders in the Hebron Hills for their refusal to pay taxes, the 'Azza family joined a revolt against Ottoman rule. They had aligned themselves to the 'Amr clan of the Hebron-area village of Dura . Between 1840 and 1846, hostilities were raging between

6642-408: Was then custom. Thus Maresha reached its zenith, developing as a Hellenistic city encompassing a multitude of Greek and oriental cultures including Sidonians and Nabataeans . With the advent of Hellenisation, the settlement pattern changed, as most everywhere in the region, and the city expanded far beyond the constraints of the fortified, raised tell or mound of Iron Age Maresha. Maresha became

6724-484: Was transferred to the nearby hill of Bet Guvrin, which could have been used as the main settlement of the district for several decades, from the end of the second century BCE until its destruction by the Parthians. A first-century BCE coin, presumed to have been minted by the citizens of Maresha, was discovered during excavations at Bet Guvrin, which can be interpreted as an argument in favour of this suggestion. After

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