Umm el-Umdan

Umm el-Umdan

אום אל עומדן
Shown within Israel
Location	Israel
Coordinates	31°53′02″N 34°59′48″E
Type	Settlement, synagogue
History
Periods	Second Temple period (Hellenistic with Hasmonean period, Early Roman period); Late Roman, Byzantine and Early Muslim periods
Cultures	Jewish
Site notes
Excavation dates	2000–2003
Archaeologists	Alexander Onn and Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah
Condition	In ruins
Public access	Yes

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

Etymology

The Arabic name of the site, Khirbet el 'Eumdan or Khirbet Umm el-‘Umdan, means 'mother of columns', named after the remains visible at the site.

Archaeological findings

French archaeologist Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau visited the site in 1873 and suggested the ruins were the remains of a church. Rescue excavations were carried out at the site between 2000 and 2003 ahead of the planned construction of residential buildings for Modi'in.

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 archaeological 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

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

The mikveh at Umm el-Umdan

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 archaeological 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.

See also

• Ancient synagogues in Israel