Har Senaim

Har Senaim
Alternative name Senaim
Region Golan Heights
Coordinates 33°16′16″N 35°43′46″E / 33.271202°N 35.729458°E / 33.271202; 35.729458
Type Roman temple, Greek temple and ancient settlement
History
Periods Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece
Site notes
Archaeologists Shim'on Dar
Condition Ruins

Har Senaim or Senaim is an archaeological site that sits on a peak near Mount Hermon in the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north east of Kiryat Shmona and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Banias.[1][2]

History

The site features a Roman temple and settlement that has been included in a group of Temples of Mount Hermon.[3] The ruins of a second Ancient Greek temple were also found nearby. The Roman temple featured an altar carved with a relief of Helios, the sun god.[4] The shrine at Har Senaim was carved out of solid bedrock.[5] The settlement measures approximately 5,000 square metres (0.50 ha).[1] Various ancient Greek inscriptions were found at the site.[6][7] One inscription found on the altar called upon the great Gods in an appeal for the salvation of the Emperor Hadrian.[8] Other finds included a basalt animal muzzle and a brass ring that was decorated with the image of a merman.[9] Several coins were found dating to Byzantine and Mamluk periods. The complex at Har Senaim has been suggested to be a cult site or funerary garden and compared to the high places mentioned in the Books of Kings.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 Book Review of "Archaic Cyprus: A Study of the Textual and Archaeological Evidence" by A.T. Reyes, Diana Buitron-Oliver, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 303, pp. 98-100, The American Schools of Oriental Research, August 1996.
  2. ↑ John Joseph Collins (2001). Hellenism in the land of Israel. University of Notre Dame. ISBN 978-0-268-03051-3. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  3. ↑ S. Dar & J. Mintzker., "A Roman Temple at Senaim, Mt. Hermon", Eretz-Israel, 19, pp. 30-45, Jerusalem, 1987.
  4. ↑ Joan E. Taylor (27 May 1993). Christians and the Holy Places: The Myth of Jewish-Christian Origins. Oxford University Press. pp. 72–. ISBN 978-0-19-814785-5. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  5. ↑ Ted Kaizer (2008). The Variety of Local Religious Life in the Near East In the Hellenistic and Roman Periods. BRILL. pp. 77–. ISBN 978-90-04-16735-3. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  6. ↑ S. Dar and N. Kokkinos, "The Greek Inscriptions from Senaim on Mt. Hermon", Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 124, 9-25. 35, 1992.
  7. ↑ Di Segni, Leah., On a dated inscription from Rakhle and the eras used on the Hermon Range, in Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphic 117, pp. 277-280, 1997.
  8. ↑ Eric M. Meyers; Mark A. Chancey (25 September 2012). Alexander to Constantine: Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. Yale University Press. pp. 255–. ISBN 978-0-300-14179-5. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  9. ↑ Shimʻon Dar (1993). Settlements and cult sites on Mount Hermon, Israel: Ituraean culture in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Tempus Reparatum. ISBN 978-0-86054-756-3. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  10. ↑ Israel. Agaf ha-ʻatiḳot ṿeha-muzeʼonim; Ḥevrah la-ḥaḳirat Erets-Yiśraʼel ṿe-ʻatiḳoteha; Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim. Makhon le-arkheʼologyah (1997). Israel exploration journal. Israel Exploration Society. Retrieved 22 September 2012.

Further reading

  • Shim'on Dar., "The History of the Hermon Settlements", Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 120, pp. 26–44, 1988.
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