Umm el-Umdan

Umm el-Umdan (Arabic for 'Mother of Pillars') or Khirbet Umm el-Umdan (khirbet = ruins of) is a Jewish archeological site within the municipal boundaries of the Israeli city of  Modi'in, between the city of Modi'in and Latrun. Archeological excavations at the site discovered the remains of a Jewish village. The findings show that he place was inhabited during the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Early Muslim periods. The village was destroyed during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Etymology
The Arab name of the site derives from the coloumns and column remains scattered in the area, Umm el-Umdan = Mother of columns. The pillars were visible at the site when Clermont-Ganneau first visited the place in 1874–75.

Archeological findings
The excavations conducted at the site since 2001 revealed mainly the remains of a Second Temple period Jewish village. The village was established in the 4th or 3rd century BC and continued up to the Bar Kokhba revolt, The archeological findings include narrow streets, remains of buildings, ritual baths, rock-cut tombs and a synagogue. After the Bar Kokhba revolts the top part of the site reveals evidence of terraces, winepresses and burial caves from the late Roman and Byzantine periods. The lower part of the site was used as a burial area in the late Muslim period.

Synagogue
The Umm el-Umdan synagogue is the oldest one within modern Israel that has been found to date. It was first built during the Hasmonean period and stood between the end of the 2nd and the late 1st century BCE, when it was rebuilt during the Herodian period. The synagogue of the late Roman period was destroyed in the Bar Kokhba revolt.

The Umm el-Umdan synagogue should not be confused with a second 1st-century BCE synagogue discovered at nearby Qiryat Sefer/Modi'in Illit at the site of Khirbet Badd 'Isa, on the Ascent of Beth-Horon (see here and here).

Findings
Two column rows with 4 columns on each side, whose bases were unearthed, split the later-phase synagogue into three naves. Underneath this late structure, the remains of a Hasmonean-period structure were found, probably also a synagogue and beneath it, the remains of a smaller building from the Hellenistic period.

Mikveh


West of the synagogue a mikve was discovered, dated to the Herodian period (the second phase of the synagogue). During the Hasmonean period (the first phase of the synagogue) there was already a sitting bath in the courtyard; it seems that during the Hasmonean period there was a bath in the courtyard west to the synagogue.

Burial caves
Burial complexes dating to the Second Temple period were found to the east and south of the village. The most notable one was discovered 100 meters east of the village. A luxurious burial complex that was used during the Hasmonean period pre-dating the use of ossuaries up to the 1st century CE when ossuaries were already in use. The finding indicate that burial customs are the same as seen in Hasmonean burial complexes in Jerusalem, Jason's Tomb and even Tomb of Shahin.

Identification
The location of the Hasmonean village of Modi'in was never firmly established. Today, researches suggest that based on the archeological finding at Umm el-Umdan it can be identified as the village of Modi'in. Furthermore, its location almost perfectly matches the location seen in the Madaba map.