Summary: The largest and most impressive network of tunnels and hideouts in Galilee was recently found at the archaeological site of Huqoq.
You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. – Psalms 32:7 (ESV)
Hiding Underground from the Romans
An impressive 2,000-year-old underground labyrinth of tunnels has been revealed at Huqoq, a known Jewish archaeological site located just north of Tiberias with a striking view of the Sea of Galilee. The shelters were dug in preparation for the First Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire in AD 66 and the later Bar Kokhba Revolt of AD 132-136.
The network was dug “for families to hide while the Romans were here, because they feared for their lives, for their children,” said Uri Berger, excavation director of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). “We were amazed to see how big this complex is.”
For the past few months, hundreds of students, soldiers and local residents have helped with the excavation effort, conducted by the IAA. The underground hideout is the largest of its kind discovered to date and sheds light on the debate about how far the Jewish Revolts reached outside of Judea and central Israel.
Maze of Connecting Tunnels
The ongoing excavation has revealed eight hiding cavities so far with “connecting tunnels…dug at 90 degrees, to hamper the heavily armed Roman soldiers chasing the rebels,” said the IAA in a statement announcing the find in March. This is “the most extensive hiding complex discovered to date in the Galilee.”
The underground hiding spaces were strategically located beneath ancient homesteads, with direct links to the houses in the village. One hiding refuge was created out of a bell-shaped water cistern, typical of the Second Temple period.
Another hideout was made using a nearby mikveh (public bath) whose walls were broken to dig narrow tunnels connecting it to the other cavities. The stairs to the ex-mikveh were concealed, with the complex about 16 feet below. Times were desperate and survival trumped ritual purification.
The underground complex was used for concealment, not combat. Excavation co-director Prof. Yinon Shivtiel of the Zefat Academic College explained, “If you go into them, they are just like underground mamadim,” referring to the contemporary Hebrew word for “safe rooms.”
“They destroyed the public water system,” Berger said. “But the chambers were equipped to enable the people to stay there for long periods of time. They brought down lamps, cook pots and other things.”
The excavation yielded hundreds of broken ceramic and glass dishes, utensils, traces of non-perishable food and other small artifacts, including a knife and an impressive ring, believed to have belonged to a person seeking refuge in the shelters.
Survival of Huqoq
The excavations in present-day Huqoq reveal a story of survival for its Jewish people. “The hiding complex provides a glance at a tough period of the Jewish population in Huqoq and in the Galilee in general,” said the archaeologists.
“However, the story that the site tells is also an optimistic story of an ancient Jewish town that managed to survive historical tribulations. Residents, even after losing their freedom and after many hard years of revolts, came out of the hiding complex and established a thriving village, with one of the most impressive synagogues in the area,” they added.
Three Main Jewish Revolt Against Rome
There were three major rebellions by the Jewish people against the Roman Empire. The
First Jewish-Roman War broke out in AD 66, during the 12th year of Emperor Nero’s reign and resulted in the destruction of the Jewish Temple in AD 70.
The second revolt was the Kitos War (AD 115-117) which started when Roman armies were fighting Trajan’s Parthian War on the eastern border of the Roman Empire. Jewish rebels took advantage of the situation and slaughtered some of the remaining Roman garrisons, many Roman citizens, and destroyed Roman temples in various parts of the eastern Mediterranean region.
The third rebellion, the Bar Kokhba Revolt (AD 132-136), was against religious restrictions imposed by the Romans, as well as their decision to build a Roman city named Aelia Capitolina over the ruins of Jerusalem, including a pagan sanctuary where the Temple had stood.
Debates about the Extent of the Revolts
The discovery of the Huqoq hiding complex contributes to a decades-long debate among researchers on whether the Bar Kochba Revolt reached as far as Galilee or remained within the confines of Judea and central Israel, said the archaeologists.
“In the Galilee there are 83 underground shelters, found in most of the Jewish settlements from the Second Temple period,” explained Shivtiel. “Huqoq is the largest and most impressive. In all of them, we found pottery that testifies to the presence of Jews during the revolts against the Romans.”
The tunnels “weren’t for living, they were like small, underground bomb shelters,” he said. During the revolts, when Roman patrols were in the area, Jews could conceal certain people or items underground.
Excavations of the tunnels show that the inner parts date to the time of the outbreak of the Second Revolt but several of the ancient facilities were initially in use during the First Revolt, according to the IAA announcement.
Records from Roman-era historian Josephus state that the First Jewish Revolt was active in the area of Galilee. The recent tunnel findings support Josephus by providing additional archaeological evidence that the caves were “clearly in use” at that time, according to Shivtiel.
Before now, there was no archaeological indication that the Bar Kochba revolt had actually reached Galilee. But small artifacts and remnants recently uncovered at Huqoq suggest that it may have. “We can’t say that the Bar Kochba revolt was here physically, but the hiding complex was for sure involved in the preparations,” said Shivtiel.
The First Jewish Revolt and the Bar Kochba Revolt were nationalist rebellions aimed at retaking Judean sovereignty from the Romans, but both ended in defeat for the Jewish people. The Bar Kochba Revolt resulted in major Roman suppression of Jewish religious life in the region, including a ban on Jews living in the Jerusalem area.
Nevertheless, Huqoq persisted as a Jewish town and is mentioned centuries later in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, along with the names of Rabbi Pinhas and Rabbi Hezekiah, sages from the third and fourth centuries AD, who were based in the area.
Byzantine-Era Synagogue
On a hilltop near the hiding complex, a Byzantine-era synagogue with an impressive and distinct mosaic floor was discovered in 2011 by an expedition from North Carolina University headed by Professor Jodi Magness. The mosaics include the earliest depictions of biblical heroines Deborah and Jael.
“This discovery is significant because only a small number of ancient (Late Roman) synagogue buildings are decorated with mosaics showing biblical scenes, and only two others have scenes with Samson (one is at another site just a couple of miles from Huqoq),” said Magness.
“Our mosaics are also important because of their high artistic quality and the tiny size of the mosaic cubes. This, together with the monumental size of the stones used to construct the synagogue’s walls, suggest a high level of prosperity in this village, as the building clearly was very costly,” she said.
The presence of the synagogue and other finds show a continuity of Jewish presence at Huqoq and give “a bit of perspective,” said Berger. “It’s a long-term human story. We see times of routine and peace, and also otherwise, but people live their lives. We can see from the ancient synagogue here that they continued a communal Jewish life here in the Galilee, even after a time of danger.”
Community Involvement
The archaeological work at Huqoq village was carried out with the aid of volunteers, schools and local residents. “We turned the excavation in the hiding complex into a community excavation as part of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s vision of connecting the public to its heritage,” said Dr. Einat Ambar-Armon, director of the IAA Archeological-Educational Center in the Northern Region.
This community excavation brought together “students studying the Land of Israel and archaeology, students from the Zefat Academic College, volunteers from the Israel Cavers Club, local volunteers, and even soldiers from the IDF Samur Unit of underground operations, who utilize their skills for this important goal,” said Ambar-Armon.
The communal aspect of the dig “is a great experience,” he said, noting that while working directly underground is “only for experts, we bring out the earth and the volunteers sift through it. Every day we have surprises.”
Conclusion
The excavations in present-day Huqoq confirm the Jewish ancestral relationship with ancient Israel.
“The Israel Antiquities Authority considers the Huqoq site and its various discoveries as part of a flagship project that will draw visitors from all over Israel and the world,” IAA Director Eli Eskosido said. “Along with our partners in the Ministry of Heritage and KKL-JNF, the site will be made accessible to the public.” The archaeologists hope to learn more about this remarkable site as projects continue.
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TOP PHOTO: Entrance to a hiding complex at the Huqoq excavation site. (credit: Emil Aladjem/IAA)
