Har Senaim Explained
Har Senaim or Senaim (Hebrew: הר סנאים|Har Senaʾim|Mount of squirrels; Arabic: Hafur el-Qurn,[1] or Tell el-Hafur,[2] or Arabic: جبل الحلاوة|Jabal Halawa|Mountain of Sweetness[3] [4]), is an archaeological site that sits on a peak near Mount Hermon in the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights, 15km (09miles) north east of Kiryat Shmona and 4km (02miles) from Banias.[5] [6]
History
The site features a Roman temple and settlement that has been included in a group of Temples of Mount Hermon.[7] 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.[8] The shrine at Har Senaim was carved out of solid bedrock.[9] The settlement measures approximately 5000m2.[5] Various ancient Greek inscriptions were found at the site.[10] [11] One inscription found on the altar called upon the great Gods in an appeal for the salvation of the Emperor Hadrian.[12] Other finds included a basalt animal muzzle and a brass ring that was decorated with the image of a merman.[13] 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.[14]
Further reading
Notes and References
- [Reshumot]
- http://survey.antiquities.org.il/index.html#/MapSurvey/2177/site/24028 Har Senaim – Archaeological Survey of Israel
- Book: Dar, S. The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology. 2017. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 978-0-8028-9016-0. 641-643. en. Hermon, Mt.. https://books.google.com/books?id=8DAyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA642.
- Wright. Religion in Seleukid Syria: gods at the crossroads (301-64 BC). 2010. p. 248. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/166503.
- https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1357474?uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21101241332727 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.
- Book: John Joseph Collins. Hellenism in the land of Israel. 22 September 2012. 2001. University of Notre Dame. 978-0-268-03051-3.
- S. Dar & J. Mintzker., "A Roman Temple at Senaim, Mt. Hermon", Eretz-Israel, 19, pp. 30-45, Jerusalem, 1987.
- Book: Joan E. Taylor. Christians and the Holy Places: The Myth of Jewish-Christian Origins. 22 September 2012. 27 May 1993. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-814785-5. 72–.
- Book: Ted Kaizer. The Variety of Local Religious Life in the Near East In the Hellenistic and Roman Periods. 22 September 2012. 2008. BRILL. 978-90-04-16735-3. 77–.
- S. Dar and N. Kokkinos, "The Greek Inscriptions from Senaim on Mt. Hermon", Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 124, 9-25. 35, 1992.
- http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zpe/downloads/1997/117pdf/117277.pdf 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.
- Book: Eric M. Meyers. Mark A. Chancey. Alexander to Constantine: Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. 22 September 2012. 25 September 2012. Yale University Press. 978-0-300-14179-5. 255–.
- Book: Shimʻon Dar. Settlements and cult sites on Mount Hermon, Israel: Ituraean culture in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. 22 September 2012. 1993. Tempus Reparatum. 978-0-86054-756-3.
- Book: Israel. Agaf ha-ʻatiḳot ṿeha-muzeʼonim. Ḥevrah la-ḥaḳirat Erets-Yiśraʼel ṿe-ʻatiḳoteha. Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim. Makhon le-arkheʼologyah. Israel exploration journal. 22 September 2012. 1997. Israel Exploration Society.
