Horvat Rimmon (Hebrew: חורבת רימון, lit. 'ruin of the pomegranate'), or simply Rimmon, alternatively Khirbet Umm er-Ramanin (Arabic: خربة أمّ الرمانين, lit. 'ruin of the mother of the pomegranates'), is an archaeological site in the southern Judean Lowlands in Israel. Located on a low hill about 500 metres (1,600 ft) south of Lahav, it preserves the remains of a Jewish village occupied from the late Second Temple period into the early Islamic era. The site is home to a large synagogue complex, which went through three main construction phases from the 3rd to the 7th century CE, as well as a cemetery of rock-cut tombs, a subterranean hiding complex, a mikveh (ritual bath) and domestic structures, and several late Roman and Byzantine coin hoards. The site is commonly identified with En-Rimmon (Eremmon/Rimmon), a sizeable Jewish village mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, by Eusebius, in rabbinic literature, and in a document from the Bar Kokhba revolt. The biblical settlement itself is usually placed at nearby Tel Halif, and the name Rimmon appears to have shifted to the site in later centuries. Excavations have uncovered a synagogue paved with flagstones decorated with rosettes and a menorah. They also revealed a funerary inscription reading "Jacob son of Rabbi", as well as a ceramic amulet inscribed with a love charm whose formula and "magic signs" closely parallel medieval Jewish texts.
Geography Rimmon is located in the southern Judean Lowlands (Shephelah), approximately 28 km southwest of Hebron and 54 km south-southwest of Jerusalem, on a natural hill rising to 470 m (1,540 ft) above sea level. In late antiquity, this area formed part of the territory of Beit Guvrin–Eleutheropolis. The contemporary Kibbutz Lahav is situated about 500 m to the north.
Identification While early explorers identified the ruin with the biblical town of En-Rimmon (Nehemiah 11:20, Joshua 15:32), the absence of Iron Age and Persian-period remains had led most scholars to relocate the biblical-era town to Tel Halif, about 500 m to the north, where Iron Age and Persian-period remains indicative of Israelite presence have been found. The name Rimmon appears to have shifted from Tel Halif to Horvat Rimmon during the later Second Temple period. Eusebius of Caesarea, a Church historian and theologian (known as one of the Church Fathers) active in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries CE, places En-Rimmon sixteen Roman miles from Eleutheropolis, describing it as a "very large village of Jews ... in the Daroma," a late antique term for the southern Hebron Hills. The site is also mentioned in rabbinic texts, including the Tosefta and Genesis Rabbah, and appears once in the Muraba'at papyri, texts dating from the Bar Kokhba revolt found in caves of Wadi Murabba'at in the Judaean Desert. In the Byzantine era, Rimmon was situated among several Christian villages, including Thella at Tel Halif and Khirbet Abu Hoff, where churches have been excavated.
Synagogue The synagogue occupies the hill's summit and underwent three major construction phases, built atop earlier Second Temple-period structures. These phases are conventionally termed Synagogue I, II, and III, and correlate to Strata IV–VII of the settlement.
Phase I of the synagogue was probably built in the late 3rd century CE. The layout is poorly preserved due to later construction. Features include a crushed limestone floor, a rectangular plastered niche high in the north wall (possibly for Torah storage), and an eastern stylobate with three column pedestals, suggesting a broad-house plan with an eastern portico. Fragmentary architectural decorations (floral and geometric) may belong to this phase as well, though this remains uncertain.Phase II involved a substantial redesign that created a basilical synagogue, which contained a hall measuring 13.5 × 9.5 m, with a nave and two aisles. A triportal southern façade fronted by a roofed narthex, a long western room parallel to the main hall, and a plastered floor were all part of the new design. Pillars were added later, during a renovation. The western room was later filled with various artifacts: bronze, glass, stone, lamps, roof tiles, and possibly fragments of a chancel screen. A final major renovation, Phase III of the synagogue, introduced flagstone pavement laid in cement bedding and a central 3 × 3 m "carpet" of pavers engraved with five rosettes and a seven-branched menorah. Additionally, a bema was built along the north wall, measuring 5 × 1.7 m, likely supporting a wooden Torah shrine. Coins of the Byzantine Emperor Phocas (r. 602–610 CE) found beneath the pavement indicate construction no earlier than the early 7th century CE. The synagogue was likely abandoned in the mid-7th century CE, followed by domestic reuse, as indicated by the presence of a tabun oven and ash layers.
Coin hoards Three coin hoards were recovered from the western room, seemingly buried during the synagogue's last phase. Two were gold hoards (12 and 35 coins), ranging from Valentinian I (r. 364–375 CE) to Anastasius I Dicorus (r. 491–518 CE). One bronze hoard included 64 coins, ranging from the 3rd to the 5th centuries CE. These were discovered inside sealed vessels, inverted and deliberately burned.
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