| Beit Hilkia | |
| Foundation: | 1953 |
| Founded By: | Former Jerusalem and ma'abarot residents |
| District: | center |
| Council: | Nahal Sorek |
| Affiliation: | Poalei Agudat Yisrael |
| Pushpin Map: | Israel center ta#Israel |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Coordinates: | 31.7908°N 34.8122°W |
Beit Hilkia (Hebrew: בֵּית חִלְקִיָּה, lit. House of Hilkia) is a Haredi moshav in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah near Gedera, it falls under the jurisdiction of Nahal Sorek Regional Council. In it had a population of .
The village was established in 1953 by former residents of Jerusalem and ma'abarot who wanted to combine a Haredi and agricultural lifestyle. It is named after Hilkia, the father of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:1).[1] [2] [3]
It was established on land that had belonged to the depopulated Palestinian village of Al-Mukhayzin.
In 2015, a salvage excavation brought to light a prehistoric site near Beit Hilkia and the Revivim quarry, with findings from the Pottery Neolithic (Yarmukian), Late Chalcolithic, and the Middle Bronze Age IIA–IIB.[4] Somewhat surprising was the discovery of a typical Yarmukian-style fired clay figurine of a fertility goddess, the southernmost such finding.[4] Of 163 found up to that date, the vast majority had been discovered in the main area known for its Yarmukian settlements, in and around the northern type-site of Sha'ar HaGolan, with just two exceptions further to the south.[4] This new finding led to speculations that much of the Southern Levant might have been inhabited by a contiguous civilization during the time (c. 6400–6000 BCE), with differences in pottery types being more significant to today's archaeologists than to people living back then.[4]