Rujm el-Hiri (; ) is an ancient stone, or

megalithic A megalith is a large Rock (geology), stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging ...

, structure consisting of concentric circles of stone with a

tumulus A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

, a mound of earth and stone, at center. It is located in the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

some east of the coast of the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

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

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

s, single chamber tombs of stone. Made up of more than 42,000

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, 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 planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

rocks arranged in concentric circles, Rujm al-Hiri 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, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

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 wildcat", was originally taken from Syrian maps.Mizrachi et al. (1996). "Report of the 1988–1991 Exploration...", pp. 167–195. 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 In linguistics, romanization 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, and transcription, ...

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

Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first w ...

phonetic adaptation of the Arabic name Rujm el-Hiri. A modern Hebrew name used for the site is ''Gilgal Refaʾim'', "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 dolmens, 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 activity. It is made from 37,500–40,000 tons of partly worked stone stacked up to high. M. Freikman estimates that the massive monument would have required more than 25,000 working days to build. 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. 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 sunrise. The axis of the tomb discovered at the site's center is similarly aligned.

Exploration and interpretation

1967-1980s

The site was cataloged during an archaeological survey carried out in 1967–1968 by Shmarya Guttman and Claire Epstein. The surveyors used

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n maps, and a Syrian triangulation post was found on top of its

cairn A cairn is a human-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 (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

. 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.

After 2000

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

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. 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.

Purpose

Any astronomical use of the site has been refuted by a study published in November 2024.Mystery unsolved: Ancient Golan stone circle not an astronomical observatory after all
Gavriel Fiske for Times of Israel, posted and retrieved 2 January 2025. By disproving any alignment of the structure with important astronomical phenomena such as sun

solstice A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries ...

s and

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...

es at the time of its construction, this study excludes previous interpretations based on such hypotheses.

Legends

The site is probably the source of the legends about "a remnant of the giants" or Rephaim of Og.

Burial site

Ruggles and others wrote that what appeared to them to have been an astronomy-based place of worship (see next paragraph), has later become 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. They considered at the time that, even if it were a tomb, that was not the site's original function, as they were dating the tomb as being 1,000 years newer than the other structures at the site. Archaeologist Rami Arav suggests the site was used like the

excarnation In archaeology and anthropology, the term excarnation (also known as defleshing) refers to the practice of removing the flesh and organs of the dead before burial. Excarnation may be achieved through natural means, such as leaving a dead body exp ...

structures or '' dakhma''s of the Zoroastrians, in which dead persons were laid out for birds to remove the flesh from their bones.

Astronomical observation and worship

Before the publication of the 2024 study, which refuted any astronomical use of the site (see introduction of this section), several interpretations of Rujm el-Hiri's purpose were based on a presumed alignment of the structure with the sun solstice and equinox. According to one hypothesis, the site was used for special ceremonies during the longest and shortest days of the year (sun solstices). Until the 2024 study, it was thought 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 was assumed this is because the builders did not have sufficiently accurate architectural tools. This interpretation suggests that the residents probably used the site to worship Tammuz and Ishtar, the gods of fertility, to thank them for the good harvest during the year. It was further presumed that after the erection of the tomb in the center, the rays' path was blocked. 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 calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

. At the times of the two equinoxes, 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 an older interpretation presented by 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. There are also suggestions that the site was used for

astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...

observations of the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

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

Hiking

The Golan Trail, a marked 130-kilometer walking trail that stretches along the whole length of the Golan Heights, passes Gilgal Refa'im.

New Age approach

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

movements advocating a return to nature gather at the site on the June solstice and on the equinoxes to view the first rays of the sun shine through the rocks.

References

Bibliography

* * * '' Israel Exploration Journal'' 46 (3–4), 1996, Israel Exploration Society. ** Mizrachi, Yonathan; Zohar, Mattanyah; Kochavi, Moshe; Murphy, Vincent; Lev-Yadun, Simcha (1996). “Report of the 1988–1991 Exploration Efforts at Rogem Hiri, Golan Heights”. pp. 167–195. ** Simcha, Lev-Yadun; Mizrachi, Yonathan; Kochavi, Moshe (1996). “Lichenometric Studies of Cultural Formation Processes at Rogem Hiri, Golan Heights”. pp. 196–207. * * *

External links

Following Nature's Signpoints, Geographical magazine

The wheel of giants, Jerusalem post

GoogleEarth placemark of Rujem el-Hiri Monument

Aerial image
of the site taken by a drone (by Weizmann Institute Ecophysiology Group; 10 November 2018) * {{Authority control Chalcolithic Geoglyphs Former populated places in 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