Kiryat Arbaya

Kiryat Arbaya is an ancient settlement mentioned in two letters written by Simon Bar Kokhba, discovered in the Cave of Letters in Nahal Hever. The settlement has been proposed to be identified with the Arab village of Al-Arroub south of Gush Etzion or with Khirbet Arbaya nearby, close to the road between Bethlehem and Hebron. This area is located between Ein Gedi and Betar, where Bar Kokhba's main camp was likely situated. The literal meaning of the name is 'City of the Arabs' or – what might be more plausible in light of the letter's content – 'City of the Willows'. Additionally, some have suggested identifying Kiryat Arbaya from Bar Kokhba's letters with the legend of the birth of the Messiah that appears in the Jerusalem Talmud and in Lamentations Rabbah.

The Letter of Four Species

The letter is one of Bar Kokhba's letters and was sent to a man named Yehuda Bar Menashe, who resided in Kiryat Arbaya. In the letter, Bar Kokhba instructed Yehuda Bar Menashe to send two men on his behalf to Yonatan Ben Be'aya and Masbala Ben Shimon, commanders of Ein Gedi, along with two donkeys provided by Bar Kokhba himself, to load them with palm branches and citrons, and prepare for Bar Kokhba's camp the four species – palm branches, citrons, myrtles, and willows – needed for the upcoming Sukkot holiday. The letter was written in the midst of the fierce fighting against the Romans, apparently towards the end of the revolt, and Bar Kokhba made great efforts to obtain the four species. This letter testifies to the meticulousness of Bar Kokhba's men in observing the commandments. The letter was probably written close to the Sukkot holiday of the year 134 CE, as according to the Mishnah (Taanit, 4, 6) Betar was destroyed on the ninth of Av, and therefore Bar Kokhba was no longer alive during Sukkot of the year 135.

Following Prof. Yadin, other researchers saw this document as evidence of Bar Kokhba's men's adherence to commandments and tithes. Another thing Yadin learned from this letter is about the scarcity of transportation means in Bar Kokhba's army and his lack of confidence in the fulfillment of his orders, which may indicate a loose level of discipline. Aharon Oppenheimer rejected this interpretation, and according to his interpretation, "Bar Kokhba simply sends a transport unit." This interpretation assumes that Bar Kokhba organized the transportation in his army based on a central pool of donkeys. The letter reads as follows:

ליהודה בר מנשה לקרית ערביה. שלחת לך תרי חמרין די תשלח עמהן תרי גברין לות יהונתן בר בעין ולות מסבלה די יעמרן, וישלחן למחניה לותך ללבין ואתרגין. ואת שלח אחרנין מלותך וימטון לך הדסין וערבין. ותקן יתהן ושלח יתהן למחניה בדיל די אכלסה סגי. הוא שלם. 

The letter is written in Aramaic, and this is its Hebrew translation:

שורה א: ליהודה בר מנשה מקריית ערביה. שלחתי לך שני חמורים כדי שתשלח

שורה ב: עמהם שני אנשים אצל יהונתן בן בעיה ואצל מסבלה כדי שיעמיסו

שורה ג: וישלחו למחנה אצלך לולבים ואתרוגים. ואתה שלח אחרים מאצלך

שורה ד: ויביאו לך הדסים וערבות והתקן אותם ושלח אותם למחנה מפני

שורה ה: שהצבא רב(.) היה שלום

Letter P. Yadin 58

This letter was sent from Bar Kokhba to Yonatan and Masbala. They were ordered to send to the camp four loads of salt. According to Yardeni, Kiryat Arbaya is mentioned in the fourth line: "[and] to the men of Kiryat Arbaya" (but even according to Yardeni, this reading is not certain). The letter states:

[מן] שמ[ע]ון לינתן ולמשבלה. שלם די תעמרון ותשלחן למחניה. טענן די מלח ארבעה הוה שלם. [ו]לגברי קרית ערביה 

The scroll is written in Aramaic, and this is its Hebrew translation:

שורה א: שמעון ליונתן ומסבלה

שורה ב: שלום. העמיסו ושלחו למחנה

שורה ג: ארבעה כורי מלח, היו שלום

שורה ד: ולאנשי קריית ערביה

Talmudic Legend

A hint to the site's name may be found in two versions in the Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot, 2, 5, p. A) and in the Midrash (Lamentations Rabbah 1, 16): According to this legend, a Jewish man was plowing his field and his cow mooed. An Arab (one Arab) passed by and told him to untie his ox and plow, for the Temple had been destroyed. After the cow mooed a second time, he told him to tie his ox and plow, for at that moment the Messiah king was born. When the plower asked the name of the Messiah and his birthplace, the Arab replied that his name was Menachem Ben Hezekiah, and he was born in 'Bira Malka of Bethlehem Judah' (according to the Jerusalem version) or in 'Bira Arava' according to the Midrash to Lamentations. In the discussion of the entry "Bira Malka of Bethlehem Judah," Samuel Klein discusses the legend of the Sages and suggests that the two names appearing in the two versions were preserved side by side, and Bira Malka should be identified with Khirbet al-Bira, and Bira Arabia with Khirbet Arub. According to Mazar, Kiryat Arabia should be identified with Bira Arava of Bethlehem Judah, mentioned in the Messiah legend, which may be located at Khirbet 'Arib or nearby, between Artas, Bethlehem and Al-'Arrub, near Bethlehem.

Hiding Complex near Ein 'Arrub

In the early 1970s, a large hiding complex was discovered near the village of Al-'Arrub. The site was excavated by Yaakov Meshorer and Yoram Tsafrir. In the hiding complex, findings from the time of the Bar Kokhba revolt were found, including Bar Kokhba coins. Near the village are several springs, and therefore willows and myrtles probably grew there in abundance. Following the discovery of the hiding complex in the village of Al-'Arrub, it was proposed to identify the place with Kiryat Arbaya. Another possibility is that the location of the ancient settlement is in "Khirbet Arbaya" north of the village of Bani Na'im, mentioned in the British Survey of Western Palestine map, and which is closer to Ein Gedi.

Destruction of the Archaeological Site

In September and October 2015, Palestinians destroyed the archaeological site of the hiding complexes in Al-'Arrub south of Gush Etzion with heavy machinery. The destruction was condemned and compared to the destruction of antiquities carried out by ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Further reading

• Ada Yardeni, Collection of Aramaic, Hebrew, and Nabatean Documents from the Judean Desert, and Related Material, Jerusalem, 2000, pp. 177-179
• Yoram Tsafrir, "A Cave from the Time of Bar Kokhba near Ein 'Arrub", Qadmoniot 8, (1975), pp. 24-26
• Yigael Yadin, "Bar-Kokhba Letters (from Camp D)", in: Aharon Oppenheimer (ed.), The Bar Kokhba Revolt, 1980, pp. 156-158
• Yigael Yadin, The Search for Bar-Kokhba: The Story of the Discoveries in the Caves of the Judean Desert and the Letters of the Leader of the Revolt against Rome, 1977, 129
• Y. Tsafrir, B. Zissu, A hiding complex of the Second Temple period and the time of the Bar-Kohkba revolt at ‛Ain-‛Arrub in the Hebron hills, The Roman and Byzantine Near East 3, ed. J. H. Humphrey (Journal of Roman Archaeology. Supplementary Series 49), (Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 2002), pp. 7–36.