Tel Rosh (, "''mound of the head''"), also known in Arabic as Khirbet Tell ‘er-Ruwesah is an archaeological site located in the

Upper Galilee The Upper Galilee (, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; , ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Part of the larger Galilee region, it is characterized by its higher elevations and mountainous terra ...

in northern

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 ...

, about 1 km SE of

Fassuta Fassuta (, ) is a Christian Arab local council in the Northern District of Israel. It is located in the Upper Galilee on the northwestern slopes of Mount Meron, south of the Lebanese border. In it had a population of , nearly all of whom are ...

, and north of the modern

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

Elkosh Elkosh () is a moshav in northern Israel. Located near Ma'alot-Tarshiha and the Lebanese border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The village was established in 1949 by immi ...

Site

The site is an artificial mound, known as a " Tell", with an area of , located on top of a hill The excavation has revealed that in some period, the settlement at the site has extended to the slopes of the mound. The site is located between the western highlands of the Galilee, characterized by moderate plateaus sloping towards the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coast in the east, and the ridge of

Mount Meron Mount Meron (, ''Har Meron'', renamed after ancient Meiron; , ''Jabal al-Jarmaq'') is a mountain in the Upper Galilee region of Israel. It has special significance in Jewish religious tradition and parts of it have been declared a nature reserv ...

to the east. The areas to the west are suitable for agriculture. A water source is available at the Elkosh Spring, some 500 meters south of the site. The site is located next to the ancient road which connects the city of

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

with

Tebnine Tibnin ( ''Tibnīn'', also Romanized ''Tibnîn'', ''Tebnine'' etc.) is a municipality spread across several hills (ranging in altitude from 700m to 800m (2,275 ft to 2,600 ft) above sea level) located about east of Tyre, in the heart ...

. These features have allowed the site to become a significant settlement throughout its long history.

History

Surveys at the site have shown that it was inhabited throughout almost every archaeological and historical period from the Early Bronze Age to the

Ottoman Period The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

, spanning roughly 5,000 years. During the Iron Age II period contemporary with the Kingdom of Israel and

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

, it was a regional center. The site was identified with "Beit-Shemesh", mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Tribe of Naphtali The Tribe of Naphtali () was one of the northernmost of the twelve tribes of Israel. It is one of the ten lost tribes. Biblical narratives In the biblical account, following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, Joshua a ...

(not to be confused with Beit-Shemesh in

Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...

). A minor excavation was conducted at the site by Israeli archaeologists and a new study has suggested identifying the site with another settlement known in the biblical texts as "Rehob", in the territory of the

Tribe of Asher According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Asher was one of the Tribes of Israel descended from Asher (), the eighth son of Jacob. It is one of the ten lost tribes. Biblical narrative According to the biblical Book of Joshua, following the comp ...

.Katz and Levin, 2020, pp. 1–2 In the Crusader era it was known as ''Roeis'', and in 1183 it was noted that '' Godfrey de Tor'' sold the land of the village to

Joscelin III Joscelin III (c. 1139 – after 1190) was the titular count of Edessa, who during his lifetime managed to amass enough land to establish a lordship in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Early life Joscelin III was the son of Joscelin II and Beatr ...

. In 1220 Jocelyn III's daughter

Beatrix de Courtenay Beatrix de Courtenay (died after 1245) was a Titular Countess of Edessa and Countess consort of Henneberg as the wife of Otto von Botenlauben. She was the eldest daughter of Agnes of Milly and Joscelin III, Count of Edessa, who sold Chastel Ne ...

and her husband

Otto von Botenlauben Otto von Botenlauben or Botenlouben (1177, Henneberg – before 1245, near Bad Kissingen), the Count of Henneberg from 1206, was a German minnesinger, Crusader and monastic founder. Otto von Botenlauben was the fourth son of Count Poppo VI ...

, Count of Henneberg, sold their land, including ''Roeis'' and the nearby ''Cassie'' (

Dayr al-Qassi Dayr al-Qassi or Deir el-Qasi (), was a Palestinian Arab village located 26 km northeast of the city of Acre, which was depopulated during 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Geography The village was located 26 km northeast of the city of Acre, ...

), to the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

Research

The site was explored in the late 19th century by European researchers

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...

and by Conder and Kitchener of the

Palestine Exploration Fund The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Royal Engineers of the War Department. The Fund is the oldest known organization i ...

. The site, which had no proper access, remained overlooked until Israeli archaeologists

Ruth Amiran Ruth Amiran (; ; December 8, 1914 – December 14, 2005) was an Israeli archaeologist whose book ''Ancient Pottery of the Holy Land: From Its Beginnings in the Neolithic Period to the End of the Iron Age'' which was published in 1970 is a standa ...

and

Yohanan Aharoni Yohanan Aharoni (; 7 June 1919 – 9 February 1976) was an Israeli archaeologist and historical geographer, chairman of the Department of Near East Studies and chairman of the Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University. Life Born to the Ar ...

surveyed the site between 1948 and 1953, thanks to new roads that were paved. The region was believed to have been sparsely populated because of the harsh terrain and the lack of ancient sources, but the surveys of Amiram and Aharoni have revealed the long occupation record of the site and its archaeological potential. An excavation was planned by Amiram in 1952 but it was never conducted. The site was excavated in 2017 and 2018 by the

Kinneret College The Kinneret Academic College on the Sea of Galilee (Hebrew language, Hebrew: המכללה האקדמית כנרת בעמק הירדן), also known as Kinneret College and Academic Kinneret (As part of rebranding in February 2019), is a michlala, ...

in collaboration with the

Open University of Israel The Open University of Israel (, ''Ha-Universita ha-Ptuha'') is a distance education, distance-education university in Israel. It is one of ten public universities in Israel recognized by the Council of Higher Education (CHE). Open University ...

. Four areas were studied, two on the peak of the mound and two in its slopes. The excavation yielded assemblages of pottery from many different periods, remains of architecture, agricultural tools, and more. Hayah Katz, who headed the excavation, and Yigal Levin, have written in an article that Tel Rosh is the most likely candidate for "Rehob", mentioned in the

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile. It tells of the ...

19:28, between Ebron, Hammon and Kanah.Katz and Levin, 2020, pp. 12–13

References

Bibliography

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External links