Horvat Burgin

Horvat Burgin, or Burgin, is an archaeological site in the Judaean Lowlands, near Nehusha, Israel. Settlement at the site began in the Iron Age. During the Second Temple period, it was a Jewish settlement, which was abandoned in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. In the Byzantine period it was populated by Christians, likely including Georgian monks. In the modern period, it was a small Arab hamlet named Khirbat Umm Burj, which was depopulated in 1948.

The ruin is located about 7.5 km northeast of Beit Guvrin and about 17 km northwest of Hebron. It occupied an extensive site, stretching about 30 dunams (7.4 acres) on the crest of a hill, rising some 430 m above sea level, and commanding a good prospect of the surrounding region.

Surrounding the ruin are wide valleys that were used in ancient times and even today for agriculture, and to the northwest of it is the Burgin well, next to which is a system of pools for collecting water. The ruin has dozens of underground installations, including water cisterns, columbarium installations, storerooms, underground oil presses, and a necropolis. In addition, Bar Kokhba hiding complexes were discovered, one of which had an inscription from the Second Temple period in fluent Hebrew script - Shlmtzin, probably referring to Shlomtzion, a common Jewish female name at that time.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the site, then known as Khirbet Umm Burj,  was described as half-ruined, and both it and the Arab village in the Hebron Subdistrict established after 1926 severely damaged the ancient remains. Ashlar stones and designed architectural elements were incorporated into the walls of the modern village and the sheep fences and were found scattered around the site and on the northern and western slopes. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on October 28, 1948, during the third stage of Operation Yo'av under the command of Yigal Allon.

Etymology
Due to the proposal to identify Kfarata (ΚαΦεθρα) mentioned in the history of the Jewish War against the Romans as a village that was first conquered and destroyed by the Fifth Legion under the command of Cerialis in his campaign in Upper Idumea, with the remains of the Jewish settlement from the Second Temple period discovered at Horvat 'Ethri about a kilometer and a half north of the site, it was proposed to identify Horvat Burgin as Kfar Bish (καφαραβις) mentioned as the next place conquered by the legion units on their way to Hebron. Kfar Bish is also mentioned in the destruction legends in the Talmud as a large and fortified village. Until today, researchers believed it should be identified with Khirbet el-Bish, located about two and a half kilometers south of Horvat Burgin. However, Khirbet Bish is a small site of about 3 dunams that does not fit the description in the sources of a large and fortified village. It is quite possible that the name migrated from the site now called Horvat Burgin to Khirbet el-Bish. The current proposal claims that the Arabic name Umm Burj - (Mother of Towers) preserves the memory of the strong fortification that protected καφαραβις during the revolt and destruction. It can be assumed that the Jewish settlement at the site was destroyed following the failure of the revolt, similar to other sites in the area at that time, such as Horvat 'Ethri, Horvat el-'Umda, Khirbet Bad 'Isa, and Horvat Burnat.

Archaeological findings
The site was occupied from the Iron Age. A large ancient necropolis was here, including a synagogue or church, residential buildings, numerous agricultural installations and underground caveties.

The settlement was mentioned by researchers Guerin, and Clermont-Ganneau in the 19th century as a semi-built settlement. Ancient findings, ashlar stones, designed architectural elements, tile fragments, marble lattice fragments, and pottery shards were incorporated into the walls of the Ottoman village and the sheep fences and were found scattered around the ruin and on its northern and western slopes.

On the surface, evidence was found of a large and fortified settlement with a public building. On the southern side of the ruin, dozens of underground installations were carved into the slopes of the ruin, serving various purposes, including water cisterns, columbarium installations, hiding complex, one of which had an inscription from the Second Temple period in fluent Hebrew script – Shlmtzin, probably referring to Shlomtzion, a common Jewish name at that time, storerooms, underground oil presses, and a necropolis surrounding the site from the east, north, and west. 16 burial caves were dated to the Second Temple period, 3 to the late Roman period, and one cave to the Byzantine period. The burial caves were divided into three types: Judean-style burial caves, Alexandrian-style burial caves, and Jerusalem-style burial caves.

After the Bar Kokhba revolt, the settlement was probably abandoned and resettled in the Byzantine period. During this period, a Christian settlement existed at the site, as evidenced by the remains of the Byzantine church discovered at the site, architectural elements found in secondary use in the houses of the Arab village, the Byzantine burial cave with crosses engraved in it, and several underground spaces decorated with crosses. The settlement likely had a population of Georgian monks, as indicated by the Georgian inscriptions found in one of the cisterns, which served as a hermitage.

The main water source for the settlements throughout the periods was the Burgin well, as well as several wells around it. Near the Burgin well, a hewn pool was discovered, dating from the Byzantine period to the British Mandate period. Today, Horvat Burgin is part of the Adullam Grove Nature Reserve.

In the late 19th century, extensive Christian remains were noted in the area surrounding Umm Burj. Finnish scholar, Aapeli Saarisalo, visited the site of Umm Burj in the early 20th-century, and described its ruins as being of Byzantine and Arab origin.

Late Ottoman period
In 1838 Um Burj was noted as village, located in the area between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of el-Khulil.

In 1863, Victor Guérin passed north of Khirbat Umm Burj, and described the village as being on a mountain, dominating the surroundings.

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that um-burdsch had a population of 150, in 25 houses, though the population count included men, only.

French orientalist and archaeologist, Charles Clermont-Ganneau, visited the site in 1874 where he noticed a well situated nearby, called Bîr Hârûn, surmounted with a rude structure, near which were troughs hollowed out in large stone blocks.

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Umm Burj as: "A ruined village, with a central tower; apparently not ancient; caves and cisterns round it, and a well". Khalidi believed that the SWP assumption that the tower was not ancient might have been wrong.

The village was settled in the 19th century by the Al-Husayni family, who purchased the land, that was initially proposed for purchase by Jews.

British Mandate period
In the 1931 census of Palestine, Umm Burj and Sanabra, listed in the sub-district of Hebron, had a joint population of 119 Muslims, in a total of 26 houses.

In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 140 Muslims, with a total of 13,083 dunums of land. Of this, 28 dunums were irrigated or used for plantations, 3,546 were for cereal, while 15 dunams were built-up (urban) areas.

The villagers used to obtain drinking water from three wells on the northern outskirts of the village.

1948 and aftermath
After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the ruin of Umm Burj came under Israeli control under the terms of the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and Jordan. Today, the site lies in the Adullam-France Park.

The moshav of Nehusha was established in 1955 on land that had belonged to the village, west of the village site, but collapsed in 1968. It was re-established in 1981.