Al-Sinnabra
Encyclopedia
Al-Sinnabra or Sinn en-Nabra, is the Arabic
place name for a historic site on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee
in modern day Israel
. The tell upon which al-Sinnabra was situated, Khirbet Kerak
or Bet Yerah, is one of the largest in the Levant
, spanning an area of over 50 acres. Bet Yerah was the Hellenistic era twin city of Sennabris, as al-Sinnabra was known in Classical antiquity, and its remains are located at the same tell.
The city or village was inhabited in the Hellenistic, Roman-Byzantine, and early Islamic periods. An Arab
Islamic palatial complex or qasr located there was also known as al-Sinnabra and served as a winter resort to caliphs in Umayyad
-era Palestine
(c. 650-704 AD). By the Crusader period, the qasr of al-Sinnabra was in ruins. Though the date of destruction for the village itself is unknown, by the Ayyubid period descriptions of the area mention only the "Crusader Bridge of Sennabris", constructed over the Jordan river which at the time ran to the immediate north of the village.
For decades, part of the palatial complex of al-Sinnabra was misidentified as a Byzantine
era (c. 330-620 CE) synagogue
because of a column base engraved with a seven-branched candelabrum. This thesis was questioned by Ronny Reich
in 1993. Donald Whitcomb suggested the complex was the qasr of al-Sinnabra in 2002, and excavations carried out in 2010 showed his analysis to be correct. Constructed in the 7th century by Mu'awiya and one of his successors, Abdel Malik, who also commissioned the building of the Dome of the Rock
in the Old City of Jerusalem, it likely represents the earliest Umayyad complex of this type yet to be discovered.
. In Greek sources the name is transcribed as Sennabris, while in the Aramaic
used in Talmud
ic sources it is referred to as Sinnabri, and is described as sitting alongside Bet Yerah.
Though described in the writings of early Arab historians, the precise location of al-Sinnabra had long been unknown. Josephus
, the 1st century Jewish historian, described Sennabris as the northernmost point of the Jordan valley
, situating it some 30 stadia
from Tiberias. In Buldan
, Yaqut al-Hamawi
(1179–1229), the Syria
n geographer, situated al-Sinnabra opposite aqabat Afiq (meaning "the Afeq pass"), 3 miles (4.8 km) from Tiberias.
Josef Schwarz, a rabbi who came to reside in Jerusalem in the 19th century, transliterated its name as it appears in the Talmud as Senabrai, and citing Josephus for its location, he noted that "Even at the present day there are found in this vicinity traces of ruins called by the Arabs Sinabri." A map of the area produced by the Palestine Exploration Fund
around this time depicted Khirbet Sinn en-Nabrah to the immediate northwest of Khirbet Kerak, in an area occupied in the present day by the settlement of Kinneret.
Al-Sinnabra's location is now confirmed to have been off the main Ramla
-Beisan-Damascus
highway about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of Tabariyya (the Arabic name for Tiberias), a city that served as the capital of the el-Urdunn province
under the Umayyad dynasty. It is situated on the tell of Khirbet Kerak
(Arabic: Khirbet al-Karak, "the ruins of the castle") or Beth Yerah "), which lies where the Sea of Galilee
empties into the Jordan river and rises 15 meters above sea
level. The Jordan river runs to the south, although it previously (until the medieval period at the earliest) ran north and west of it.
. A portion of the town discovered in the southern part of the mound included a street along which houses were built, one of which had a paved court around which were eleven rooms. Some of the houses facing the lake have survived to the height of the window sills.
According to Josephus, Vespasian
encamped with three Roman legions in Sennabris. He describes it as a "village," but given the size of the Roman force stationed there, this seems to be an understatement. A fort was constructed at this time, probably by the builders of the Sixth Legion
, as well as a road connecting Tiberias to Sennabris, via Bethsaida
and Hippos
.
A large Byzantine
era church was constructed in the village in 450 CE and underwent several renovations, the last of these dated to 529 CE. The church shows signs of renewed habitation in the early Islamic period, when it possibly served as a dar, or manor house.
empire, A qasr (Arab Islamic palatial complex) located in al-Sinnabra and known by the same name, served as a winter resort to Mu'awiya, Marwan I
, and other caliphs in Umayyad-era Palestine
(c. 650-704 AD). Mu'awiya (602-680), the first caliph, settled in al-Sinnabra, dividing his time in Palestine between his residence there and Jerusalem. Innovations he introduced to the palace structure at al-Sinnabra include the maqṣura, "a columned bay ... enclosed by a railing or screen" against which the caliph would lean to hear petitions from his subjects, and a mihrab
associated with the apsidal form.
According to Whitcomb, the qasr is likely the earliest Umayyad complex of this type yet to be discovered. It differs from other qusur (p. of qasr) in that there are no buyūt ("houses") arranged around a central courtyard, suggesting either a more urban design, such as that found at 'Anjar, or a more palatial one, like that at Qasr ibn Wardan
. It is similar to other qusur in that it exhibits characteristics associated with the pre-Islamic building techniques used by Arab chieftains of the Byzantine era.
Later caliphs also came to al-Sinnabra. Abdel Malik, the fifth Caliph, who emulated many of Mu'awiya's practices, resided part of the year in Damascus
and Baalbek
, and would spend the winter season in al-Sinnabra and in al-Jabiya in the Golan
, making it one of the four Marwanid capitals of the Umayyad dynasty. He died in al-Sinnabra in 705.
In 744, an army headed by Suleiman ibn Hisham
, a general of the Umayyad caliphate sent by the new caliph Yazid III
to quell resistance to his rule, reached al-Sinnabra, where the tribes of Urdunn came to pledge their loyalty to the caliph before him.
The site was apparently still in use in the 10th century; in 979 a meeting between Abu Taghlib (Fadlallah b. al-Hasan) of the Hamdanid dynasty
, and Fadl, son of Salih, a Jew who headed the Fatimid
forces took place there.
, the army of Baldwin I
, one of the leaders of the First Crusade
, was defeated there in the Battle of Al-Sannabra
in 1113 by the armies of Mawdud
, the atabeg
of Mosul
who had formed an alliance with forces from Damascus. In the lead up to the Battle of Hittin in 1187, Saladin
and his forces passed through and set up camp near the village, before moving on to command the roads around Kafr Sabt
. The Umayyad qasr was in ruins by this time. In the dried out river bed where the river used to flow at this time, the remains of the "Crusader Bridge of Sennabris" were found.
Between 1950 and 1953,
P.L.O. Guy and Pesach Bar-Adon, two Israeli archaeologists
excavated the compound, falsely identifying a building there as a 5th-6th century Palestinian synagogue, because of the presence of a column base engraved with a seven-branched candelabrum. The "synagogue" was incorporated into the Beth Yerah National Park which served as a popular tourist destination during the 1950s and 1960s, but has since been closed.
Excavations by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in 1960 uncovered the Byzantine church (to the north of the compound). Questions were repeatedly raised about the identification of the structure to the south as a synagogue within a Roman era fort with attached bathhouse. Ronny Reich
, a prominent Israeli archaeologist, disproved that thesis in 1993, without offering an alternate explanation as to its identity.
The compound, until 2002 identified as "Roman-Byzantine", was hypothesized to be the palace of al-Sinnabra by Donald S. Whitcomb of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago
, after re-examining the plan and architectural features provided in the descriptions made by Israeli excavators. Noting the similarities between the features of the complex and those of Khirbat al-Mafjar, another Islamic era palace, he suggested the site was one of the so-called desert castles (p. qusur; s. qasr) of the early Islamic Levant
. By comparing this information against the descriptions provided in historical geography texts, Whitcomb determined that the complex at Khirbet Kerak was the Arab Islamic palace of al-Sinnabra.
Whitcomb's thesis was confirmed following research conducted by Taufik Deadle of Hebrew University and excavations undertaken by Israeli archaeologists headed by Raphael Greenberg from Tel Aviv University
's Institute of Archaeology in 2010. Coins found at the site and its foundations indicate that the central building was built no earlier than 650 CE and that the bathhouse attached to the outer wall dates to the end of the 7th century. The foundations of the compound are made up of thick wall-stubs over two meters deep and provide an idea of the layout of the palace, the bathhouse and the wall and towers that surrounded them. The remains of water conduits and ceramic pipes from the bathhouse attest to the existence of a sophisticated water-distribution system, fed by an aqueduct
.
Greenberg said that al-Sinnabra and other sites that are in the process of being similarly re-dated indicate an architectural continuity between the Roman and early Arab empires.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
place name for a historic site on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...
in modern day Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. The tell upon which al-Sinnabra was situated, Khirbet Kerak
Khirbet Kerak
Khirbet Kerak or Beth Yerah ") is a tell located on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee in modern day Israel. The tell spans an area of over 50 acres and contains remains dating from the Early Bronze Age and from the Persian period through to the early Islamic period...
or Bet Yerah, is one of the largest in the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
, spanning an area of over 50 acres. Bet Yerah was the Hellenistic era twin city of Sennabris, as al-Sinnabra was known in Classical antiquity, and its remains are located at the same tell.
The city or village was inhabited in the Hellenistic, Roman-Byzantine, and early Islamic periods. An Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
Islamic palatial complex or qasr located there was also known as al-Sinnabra and served as a winter resort to caliphs in Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
-era Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
(c. 650-704 AD). By the Crusader period, the qasr of al-Sinnabra was in ruins. Though the date of destruction for the village itself is unknown, by the Ayyubid period descriptions of the area mention only the "Crusader Bridge of Sennabris", constructed over the Jordan river which at the time ran to the immediate north of the village.
For decades, part of the palatial complex of al-Sinnabra was misidentified as a Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
era (c. 330-620 CE) synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
because of a column base engraved with a seven-branched candelabrum. This thesis was questioned by Ronny Reich
Ronny Reich
Ronny Reich is an Israeli archaeologist, excavator and scholar of the ancient remains of Jerusalem.-Education:Reich studied archaeology and geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His MA thesis Ronny Reich (born 1947) is an Israeli archaeologist, excavator and scholar of the ancient...
in 1993. Donald Whitcomb suggested the complex was the qasr of al-Sinnabra in 2002, and excavations carried out in 2010 showed his analysis to be correct. Constructed in the 7th century by Mu'awiya and one of his successors, Abdel Malik, who also commissioned the building of the Dome of the Rock
Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock is a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The structure has been refurbished many times since its initial completion in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik...
in the Old City of Jerusalem, it likely represents the earliest Umayyad complex of this type yet to be discovered.
Name and location
The name al-Sinnabra or Sinn-en-Nabra is ArabicArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
. In Greek sources the name is transcribed as Sennabris, while in the Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
used in Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic sources it is referred to as Sinnabri, and is described as sitting alongside Bet Yerah.
Though described in the writings of early Arab historians, the precise location of al-Sinnabra had long been unknown. Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, the 1st century Jewish historian, described Sennabris as the northernmost point of the Jordan valley
Jordan Valley (Middle East)
The Jordan Valley forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. It is 120 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide, where it runs from Lake Tiberias in the north to northern Dead Sea in the south. It runs for an additional 155 kilometer south of the Dead Sea to Aqaba, an area also known as Wadi...
, situating it some 30 stadia
Stadion (unit of length)
The stadion, Latinized as stadium and anglicized as stade, is an ancient Greek unit of length. According to Herodotus, one stade is equal to 600 feet. However, there were several different lengths of “feet”, depending on the country of origin....
from Tiberias. In Buldan
Mu'jam Al-Buldan
Mu'jam al-buldan is a book by Yaqut al-Hamawi, a Muslim scholar who is famous for his encyclopedic books.Al-Hamawi started the book in 1224 and finished in 1228, one year before he died....
, Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt ibn-'Abdullah al-Rūmī al-Hamawī) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" refers to his Greek descent; "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah...
(1179–1229), the Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n geographer, situated al-Sinnabra opposite aqabat Afiq (meaning "the Afeq pass"), 3 miles (4.8 km) from Tiberias.
Josef Schwarz, a rabbi who came to reside in Jerusalem in the 19th century, transliterated its name as it appears in the Talmud as Senabrai, and citing Josephus for its location, he noted that "Even at the present day there are found in this vicinity traces of ruins called by the Arabs Sinabri." A map of the area produced by the Palestine Exploration Fund
Palestine Exploration Fund
The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society often simply known as the PEF. It was founded in 1865 and is still functioning today. Its initial object was to carry out surveys of the topography and ethnography of Ottoman Palestine with a remit that fell somewhere between an expeditionary...
around this time depicted Khirbet Sinn en-Nabrah to the immediate northwest of Khirbet Kerak, in an area occupied in the present day by the settlement of Kinneret.
Al-Sinnabra's location is now confirmed to have been off the main Ramla
Ramla
Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
-Beisan-Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
highway about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of Tabariyya (the Arabic name for Tiberias), a city that served as the capital of the el-Urdunn province
Jund al-Urdunn
Jund al-Urdunn was one of the five districts of Bilad ash-Sham during the period of the Arab Caliphates. It was established under the Rashidun and its capital was Tiberias throughout its rule by the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. It encompassed southern Mount Lebanon, the Galilee, the southern...
under the Umayyad dynasty. It is situated on the tell of Khirbet Kerak
Khirbet Kerak
Khirbet Kerak or Beth Yerah ") is a tell located on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee in modern day Israel. The tell spans an area of over 50 acres and contains remains dating from the Early Bronze Age and from the Persian period through to the early Islamic period...
(Arabic: Khirbet al-Karak, "the ruins of the castle") or Beth Yerah "), which lies where the Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...
empties into the Jordan river and rises 15 meters above sea
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...
level. The Jordan river runs to the south, although it previously (until the medieval period at the earliest) ran north and west of it.
Hellenistic period
In Hellenistic times, the city was known as Sennabris. Parts of the city walls from this period have been identified, and it is estimated that the wall (on the south and west of the tel) was at least 1600 meters long. The wall was built of piles of basalt, with bricks at the top and was strengthened by alternating rectangular and rounded towers with spiral staircases. Similar towers from this period have been found at Tel ZerorTel Zeror
Tel Zeror is an archaeological tel, approximately four km east of Hadera, SE of Kibbutz Gan Shmuel and south of Moshav Talmei Elazar. The tel, unconventionally, has two peaks, and between them is a field...
. A portion of the town discovered in the southern part of the mound included a street along which houses were built, one of which had a paved court around which were eleven rooms. Some of the houses facing the lake have survived to the height of the window sills.
Roman-Byzantine period
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
encamped with three Roman legions in Sennabris. He describes it as a "village," but given the size of the Roman force stationed there, this seems to be an understatement. A fort was constructed at this time, probably by the builders of the Sixth Legion
Legio VI Ferrata
Legio sexta Ferrata , was a Roman Legion formed in 65 BC, and in existence up to at least 3rd century. A Legio VI fought in the Roman Republican civil wars of the 40s and 30s BC...
, as well as a road connecting Tiberias to Sennabris, via Bethsaida
Bethsaida
Bethsaida is a place mentioned in the New Testament.- Bethsaida Julias :...
and Hippos
Hippos
Hippos is an archaeological site in Israel, located on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Between the 3rd century BC and the 7th century AD, Hippos was the site of a Greco-Roman city. Besides the fortified city itself, Hippos controlled two port facilities on the lake and an area of the...
.
A large Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
era church was constructed in the village in 450 CE and underwent several renovations, the last of these dated to 529 CE. The church shows signs of renewed habitation in the early Islamic period, when it possibly served as a dar, or manor house.
Early Islamic period
The village gained importance under the rule of the UmayyadUmayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
empire, A qasr (Arab Islamic palatial complex) located in al-Sinnabra and known by the same name, served as a winter resort to Mu'awiya, Marwan I
Marwan I
Marwan ibn al-Hakam was the fourth Umayyad Caliph, who took over the dynasty after Muawiya II abdicated in 684. Marwan's ascension pointed to a shift in the lineage of the Umayyad dynasty from descendants of Abu Sufyan to those of Hakam, both of whom were grandsons of Umayya...
, and other caliphs in Umayyad-era Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
(c. 650-704 AD). Mu'awiya (602-680), the first caliph, settled in al-Sinnabra, dividing his time in Palestine between his residence there and Jerusalem. Innovations he introduced to the palace structure at al-Sinnabra include the maqṣura, "a columned bay ... enclosed by a railing or screen" against which the caliph would lean to hear petitions from his subjects, and a mihrab
Mihrab
A mihrab is semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla; that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...
associated with the apsidal form.
According to Whitcomb, the qasr is likely the earliest Umayyad complex of this type yet to be discovered. It differs from other qusur (p. of qasr) in that there are no buyūt ("houses") arranged around a central courtyard, suggesting either a more urban design, such as that found at 'Anjar, or a more palatial one, like that at Qasr ibn Wardan
Qasr ibn Wardan
Qasr ibn Wardan is a sixth-century military complex located in the Syrian desert, approximately northeast from Hama....
. It is similar to other qusur in that it exhibits characteristics associated with the pre-Islamic building techniques used by Arab chieftains of the Byzantine era.
Later caliphs also came to al-Sinnabra. Abdel Malik, the fifth Caliph, who emulated many of Mu'awiya's practices, resided part of the year in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
and Baalbek
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
, and would spend the winter season in al-Sinnabra and in al-Jabiya in the Golan
Golan
Golan was a biblical city in Land of Israel. It was in the territory of Manasseh in the Bashan.Golan was the most northerly of the three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River . Manasseh gave this city to the Gershonite Levites .According to the Bible, the Israelites conquered Golan from the...
, making it one of the four Marwanid capitals of the Umayyad dynasty. He died in al-Sinnabra in 705.
In 744, an army headed by Suleiman ibn Hisham
Sulayman ibn Hisham
Sulayman ibn Hisham was an Arab general, the son of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik . He is known for his participation in the expeditions against the Byzantine Empire as well as his prominent role in the civil wars that occurred during the last years of the Umayyad Caliphate. Defeated...
, a general of the Umayyad caliphate sent by the new caliph Yazid III
Yazid III
Yazid ibn al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik or Yazid III was an Umayyad caliph. He reigned for six months, from April 15 to October 3 or 4, 744; and died in that office....
to quell resistance to his rule, reached al-Sinnabra, where the tribes of Urdunn came to pledge their loyalty to the caliph before him.
The site was apparently still in use in the 10th century; in 979 a meeting between Abu Taghlib (Fadlallah b. al-Hasan) of the Hamdanid dynasty
Hamdanid dynasty
The Hamdanid dynasty was a Shi'a Muslim Arab dynasty of northern Iraq and Syria . They claimed to have been descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib Christian tribe of Mesopotamia....
, and Fadl, son of Salih, a Jew who headed the Fatimid
Fatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...
forces took place there.
Crusader period
During the CrusadesCrusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, the army of Baldwin I
Baldwin I of Jerusalem
Baldwin I of Jerusalem, formerly Baldwin I of Edessa, born Baldwin of Boulogne , 1058? – 2 April 1118, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, who became the first Count of Edessa and then the second ruler and first titled King of Jerusalem...
, one of the leaders of the First Crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
, was defeated there in the Battle of Al-Sannabra
Battle of Al-Sannabra
In the Battle of Al-Sannabra , a Crusader army led by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem was defeated by a Muslim army sent by the Sultan of the Seljuk Turks and commanded by Mawdud ibn Altuntash of Mosul.-Background:...
in 1113 by the armies of Mawdud
Mawdud
Mawdud ibn Altuntash was a Turkic military leader who was atabeg of Mosul from 1109 to 1113...
, the atabeg
Atabeg
Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince...
of Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
who had formed an alliance with forces from Damascus. In the lead up to the Battle of Hittin in 1187, Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
and his forces passed through and set up camp near the village, before moving on to command the roads around Kafr Sabt
Kafr Sabt
Kafr Sabt was a Palestinian Arab village of nearly 500 situated on a sloping plain in the eastern Lower Galilee located southwest of Tiberias.-History:While Palestine was part of the Roman Empire, Kafr Sabt was known as Kafar Shabtay...
. The Umayyad qasr was in ruins by this time. In the dried out river bed where the river used to flow at this time, the remains of the "Crusader Bridge of Sennabris" were found.
Ayyubid period
The exact date of the village's destruction is unknown, but it is thought that it did not survive beyond the period of Ayyubid rule (c. late 12th-early 13th centuries) as references to al-Sinnabra from this time mention only the bridge of the same name, without recalling the village.Excavations and identification
In 1946, in the northern quadrant of the tell, a fortified compound consisting of a series of large structures, including a bathhouse adjoined to large apsidal hall decorated with colorful mosaics, was discovered just above the granary (AKA the Circles Building), an Early Bronze Age structure uncovered in previous excavations.Between 1950 and 1953,
P.L.O. Guy and Pesach Bar-Adon, two Israeli archaeologists
Archaeology of Israel
The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultural centers of Mesopotamia and Egypt...
excavated the compound, falsely identifying a building there as a 5th-6th century Palestinian synagogue, because of the presence of a column base engraved with a seven-branched candelabrum. The "synagogue" was incorporated into the Beth Yerah National Park which served as a popular tourist destination during the 1950s and 1960s, but has since been closed.
Excavations by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in 1960 uncovered the Byzantine church (to the north of the compound). Questions were repeatedly raised about the identification of the structure to the south as a synagogue within a Roman era fort with attached bathhouse. Ronny Reich
Ronny Reich
Ronny Reich is an Israeli archaeologist, excavator and scholar of the ancient remains of Jerusalem.-Education:Reich studied archaeology and geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His MA thesis Ronny Reich (born 1947) is an Israeli archaeologist, excavator and scholar of the ancient...
, a prominent Israeli archaeologist, disproved that thesis in 1993, without offering an alternate explanation as to its identity.
The compound, until 2002 identified as "Roman-Byzantine", was hypothesized to be the palace of al-Sinnabra by Donald S. Whitcomb of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, after re-examining the plan and architectural features provided in the descriptions made by Israeli excavators. Noting the similarities between the features of the complex and those of Khirbat al-Mafjar, another Islamic era palace, he suggested the site was one of the so-called desert castles (p. qusur; s. qasr) of the early Islamic Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
. By comparing this information against the descriptions provided in historical geography texts, Whitcomb determined that the complex at Khirbet Kerak was the Arab Islamic palace of al-Sinnabra.
Whitcomb's thesis was confirmed following research conducted by Taufik Deadle of Hebrew University and excavations undertaken by Israeli archaeologists headed by Raphael Greenberg from Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
's Institute of Archaeology in 2010. Coins found at the site and its foundations indicate that the central building was built no earlier than 650 CE and that the bathhouse attached to the outer wall dates to the end of the 7th century. The foundations of the compound are made up of thick wall-stubs over two meters deep and provide an idea of the layout of the palace, the bathhouse and the wall and towers that surrounded them. The remains of water conduits and ceramic pipes from the bathhouse attest to the existence of a sophisticated water-distribution system, fed by an aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
.
Greenberg said that al-Sinnabra and other sites that are in the process of being similarly re-dated indicate an architectural continuity between the Roman and early Arab empires.