Rujm el-Hiri ( ar, رجم الهري, ''Rujm al-Hīrī''; he, גִּלְגַּל רְפָאִים ''Gilgal Refā'īm'' or ''Rogem Hiri'') is an ancient

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

ic monument consisting of concentric circles of stone with a

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones bui ...

at center. It is located in the Israeli-occupied portion of the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

, some east of the coast of the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest f ...

, in the middle of a large plateau covered with hundreds of

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were some ...

s. Made up of more than 42,000

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low- viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More tha ...

rocks arranged in concentric circles, it has a mound tall at its center. Some circles are complete, others incomplete. The outermost wall is in diameter and high. The establishment of the site, and other nearby ancient settlements, is dated by archaeologists to the Early Bronze Age II period (3000–2700 BCE). Since excavations have yielded very few material remains,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i archeologists theorize that the site was not a defensive position or a residential quarter but most likely a ritual center featuring ritual activity to placate the gods, or possibly linked to the cult of the dead. However, there is no consensus regarding its function, as no similar structure has been found in the Near East.

Etymology

The name Rujm el-Hiri, "stone heap of the wild cat", was originally taken from

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n maps. The term '' rujm'' in Arabic (pl. ''rujum''; Hebrew: ''rogem'') can also refer to a

, a heap of stones underneath which human burial space was located. The name is sometimes

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, an ...

as Rujm Hiri or Rujum al-Hiri. Rogem Hiri is a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

version of the Arabic name Rujm el-Hiri. A modern Hebrew name used for the site is ''Gilgal Refā'īm'' or ''Galgal Refā'īm'', "Wheel of Spirits" or "Wheel of Ghosts" as ''Refa'im'' means "ghosts" or "spirits".

Structure and description

The site's size and location, on a wide plateau which is also scattered with hundreds of

s, means that an aerial perspective is necessary to see the complete layout. The site was made from Basalt rocks, common in the Golan Heights due to the region's history of

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

activity. It is made from 37,500-40,000 tons of partly worked stone stacked up to high. It was estimated by Freikman that the transportation and building of the massive monument would have required more than 25,000 working days. The site is often referred to as the "

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting h ...

of the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

." The remains consist of a large circle (slightly oval) of

rocks, containing four smaller concentric circles, each getting progressively thinner; some are complete, others incomplete. The walls of the circles are connected by irregularly placed smaller stone walls perpendicular to the circles. The central

is built from smaller rocks, and is thought to have been constructed after the surrounding walls were constructed. Connecting to it are four main stone walls. The first wall, shaped like a semicircle, is 50 m in diameter and 1.5 m wide. That wall is connected to a second one, an almost complete circle 90 m in diameter. The third wall is a full circle, 110 m in diameter and 2.6 m wide. The fourth and outermost wall is the largest: 150 m in diameter and 3.2 m wide. A central tumulus in diameter and high is surrounded by concentric circles, the outermost of which is in diameter and high. Two entrances to the site face the northeast ( wide) and southeast ( wide). The northeast entrance leads to an accessway long leading to the center of the circle which seems to point in the general direction of the

June solstice The June solstice is the solstice on Earth that occurs annually between 20 and 22 June according to the Gregorian calendar. In the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice is the summer solstice (the day with the longest period of daylight), whil ...

sunrise. The axis of the tomb discovered at the site's center is similarly aligned.

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the ...

is almost due north and

Mount Tabor Mount Tabor ( he, הר תבור) (Har Tavor) is located in Lower Galilee, Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, west of the Sea of Galilee. In the Hebrew Bible (Joshua, Judges), Mount Tabor is the site of the Battle of Mount Tabo ...

is close to December solstice sunrise. Geometry and astronomy are visually connected by the temple's design.

History and purpose

The site was cataloged during an archaeological survey carried out in 1967–1968 by Shmarya Gutman and Claire Epstein. The site is probably the source of the legends about "a remnant of the giants" or

Rephaim In the Hebrew Bible, as well as non- Jewish ancient texts from the region, the Northwest Semitic term Rephaite or Repha'im (cf. the plural word in he, רְפָאִים, rəfāʾīm; Phoenician: ') refers either to a people of greater-than-aver ...

for Og. The surveyors used Syrian maps, and a Syrian triangulation post was found on top of its

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehi ...

. After this initial study, serious

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s commenced in the 1980s under Israeli professors Moshe Kochavi and Yoni Mizrachi, as part of the Land of Geshur Archaeological Project.

Hypotheses

; Worship: According to this hypothesis, the site was used for special ceremonies during the longest and shortest days of the year. It seems, that in the year 3000 BCE, on the longest day, the first rays of the sun shone through the opening in the north-east gate, which is 20 by 29 meters. However, they did not shine in a perfect angle. It is assumed this is because the builders did not have sufficiently accurate architectural tools. The residents probably used the site to worship

Tammuz Dumuzid or Tammuz ( sux, , ''Dumuzid''; akk, Duʾūzu, Dûzu; he, תַּמּוּז, Tammûz),; ar, تمّوز ' known to the Sumerians as Dumuzid the Shepherd ( sux, , ''Dumuzid sipad''), is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with shep ...

and

Ishtar Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...

, the gods of fertility, to thank them for the good harvest during the year. After the erection of the tomb in the center, the rays' path was blocked. ; Burial site: It appears that the place of worship later became a burial site for leaders or other important individuals. Supporting this theory was the tomb in the dolmen. However, no human remains were found, only objects pointing to its function as a tomb. Also, even if it were a tomb, that was not the site's original function, as the tomb is 1,000 years newer than the site itself. ; Dakhma: Archaeologist Rami Arav suggests the site was used like the

Dakhma A ''dakhma'' ( fa, دخمه), also known as a Tower of Silence, is a circular, raised structure built by Zoroastrians for excarnation (that is, the exposure of human corpses to the elements for decomposition), in order to avert contaminat ...

s of the Zoroastrians, in which dead persons were laid out for birds to remove the flesh from their bones. ; Calendar: Some believe the site was used as an ancient

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a phys ...

. At the times of the two

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

es, the sun's rays would pass between two rocks, 2 m in height, 5 m in width, at the eastern edge of the compound. According to Anthony Aveni and Yonatan Mizrachi the entrance to the center opens on sunrise of the summer solstice. Other notches in the walls indicate the spring and fall equinoxes. ; Astronomical observations: Perhaps the site was used for

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxie ...

observations of the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the earliest constellation ...

s, probably for

religious Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

calculations. Researchers found the site was built with dimensions and scales common for other period structures, and partly based on the stars' positions.

Today

In 2007, the site was excavated by Yosef Garfinkel and Michael Freikman of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public university, public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein ...

. Freikman returned in the summer of 2010 for further investigation of the site's date and function. Freikman believes that the tomb in the center was built at the same time as the rings. Tomb robbers looted the remains, which included jewelry and weapons, but based on the discovery of one Chalcolithic pin dropped in a passageway, Freikman's theory is that the tomb was the centerpiece of the rings.

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

movements advocating a return to nature gather at the site on the summer

solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countrie ...

and on the equinox to view the first rays of the sun shine through the rocks. The Golan Trail, a marked 130-kilometer walking trail that stretches along the whole length of the Golan Heights, passes Gilgal Refa'im.Hiking tour: The Golan Trail
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References

Bibliography

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External links

Following Nature's Signpoints, Geographical magazine

The wheel of giants, Jerusalem postGoogleEarth placemark of Rujem el-Hiri Monument

Aerial image
of the site taken by a drone (by

Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...

Ecophysiology Group; 10-Nov-2018) * {{Authority control Chalcolithic Former populated places on the Golan Heights Megalithic monuments Megalithic monuments in the Middle East Prehistoric sites on the Golan Heights Burial monuments and structures Stone circles in Asia Geoglyphs