Horvat Sumaqa
Horvat Sumaqa (alternatively Khirbet Sumaqa or Kh. Semmaka) is an archaeological site located in the Mount Carmel region of northern Israel. It preserves the remains of an ancient Jewish town that flourished during the Roman and Byzantine periods (corresponding to the Rabbinic period in Jewish history). The site includes the remains of a synagogue, domestic buildings, workshops, agricultural installations, an extensive water system, and more than twenty rock-cut tombs, among them tombs decorated with menorah reliefs and carvings of a lion and a bull. The town, probably founded toward the end of the Early Roman period, reached its peak in the 3rd–4th centuries CE. It relied on highland agriculture and local industry, likely including tanning and other crafts linked to the sumac bush from which its name derives. Archaeology shows that the synagogue went through several phases: an original 3rd-century basilica, a smaller rebuilt phase in the late Byzantine period, and later medieval reuse of the structure for domestic purposes. Industrial and agricultural installations around the site include wine and oil presses, a large water reservoir, and workshops with grooved stone pillars whose function remains uncertain. Sumaqa seems to have suffered decline and partial abandonment in the 5th century, possibly connected to Byzantine persecution of Jews or the impact of the Samaritan revolts, before being resettled and then abandoned again around the 7th century. The village was resettled again and its workshop sites used into the Crusader and Mamluk periods, and then appears to have been deserted in Ottoman times. The ruins were first described by 19th-century explorers such as Victor Guérin and the PEF Survey of Western Palestine, and were excavated between 1983 and 1993 under the direction of archaeologist Shimon Dar. At present, the site lies within a closed military zone and is accessible to the public on weekends.
Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Horvat Sumaqa (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).Horvat Sumaqa
672, Megido Regional Council
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| Latitude | Longitude |
|---|---|
| N 32.670555555556 ° | E 35.039722222222 ° |
Address
חרבת סומק
672
2069208 Megido Regional Council
Haifa District, Israel
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