At Khirbet el-Maqatir in the northern Judean highlands, archaeologists discovered a monumental fortification tower and military equipment from the Late Hellenistic and Early Roman periods. The tower’s megaliths, thick walls and massive base made it one of the largest towers in Israel during the late Second Temple period. The military equipment at the village emerged gradually throughout the archaeological project, and included hobnails, slingstones and ballista balls, a sling pellet, arrowheads, a javelin head, metal blades, and equestrian fittings. All these elements fit within their historical and cultural milieu, and reinforce the excavators’ conclusion that the settlement was founded in the second century BCE, demolished by the Romans in 69 CE during the First Jewish Revolt, temporarily occupied by Roman soldiers soon thereafter, and then resided in by a small Jewish population that reused the hiding complex during the Second Jewish Revolt (132–135 CE), before being abandoned until the Late Roman and Byzantine periods.
View entire article via PDF: A Monumental Fortification Tower & Militaria: Late Hellenistic & Early Roman Military Architecture & Equipment Discovered at Khirbet el-Maqatir, Israel PDF
These scholars are staff members of the ABR excavation team. View their author pages on the Academia website:
Mark Hassler: https://vbts.academia.edu/
Katherine Streckert: https://unwsp.academia.edu/
Boyd Seevers: https://unwsp.academia.edu/
