Har Senaim

Har Senaim or Senaim (Hebrew: הר סנאים, romanized: Har Senaʾim, lit. 'Mount of squirrels'; Arabic: Hafur el-Qurn,[1] or Tell el-Hafur,[2] or Arabic: جبل الحلاوة, romanized: Jabal Halawa, lit. 'Mountain of Sweetness'[3][4]), is an archaeological site that sits on a peak near Mount Hermon in the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north east of Kiryat Shmona and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Banias.[5][6]

Har Senaim
Alternative nameSenaim
RegionGolan Heights
Coordinates33.271202°N 35.729458°E / 33.271202; 35.729458
TypeRoman temple, Greek temple and ancient settlement
History
PeriodsAncient Rome, Ancient Greece
Site notes
ArchaeologistsShim'on Dar
ConditionRuins

History

The site features a Roman temple and settlement that has been included in a group of Temples of Mount Hermon.[7] The ruins of a second Ancient Greek temple were also found nearby. The Roman temple featured an altar carved with a relief of Helios, the sun god.[8] The shrine at Har Senaim was carved out of solid bedrock.[9] The settlement measures approximately 5,000 square metres (0.50 ha).[5] Various ancient Greek inscriptions were found at the site.[10][11] One inscription found on the altar called upon the great Gods in an appeal for the salvation of the Emperor Hadrian.[12] Other finds included a basalt animal muzzle and a brass ring that was decorated with the image of a merman.[13] Several coins were found dating to Byzantine and Mamluk periods. The complex at Har Senaim has been suggested to be a cult site or funerary garden and compared to the high places mentioned in the Books of Kings.[14]

References
  1. Reshumot. .Yalkut HaPirsumim, 13.7.1988, p.2767 (in Hebrew and English).
  2. Har Senaim – Archaeological Survey of Israel (Hebrew)
  3. Dar, S (2017). "Hermon, Mt.". The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 641-643. ISBN 978-0-8028-9016-0.
  4. Wright. Religion in Seleukid Syria: gods at the crossroads (301-64 BC). 2010. p. 248. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/166503.
  5. Book Review of "Archaic Cyprus: A Study of the Textual and Archaeological Evidence" by A.T. Reyes, Diana Buitron-Oliver, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 303, pp. 98-100, The American Schools of Oriental Research, August 1996.
  6. John Joseph Collins (2001). Hellenism in the land of Israel. University of Notre Dame. ISBN 978-0-268-03051-3. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  7. S. Dar & J. Mintzker., "A Roman Temple at Senaim, Mt. Hermon", Eretz-Israel, 19, pp. 30-45, Jerusalem, 1987.
  8. Joan E. Taylor (27 May 1993). Christians and the Holy Places: The Myth of Jewish-Christian Origins. Oxford University Press. pp. 72–. ISBN 978-0-19-814785-5. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  9. Ted Kaizer (2008). The Variety of Local Religious Life in the Near East In the Hellenistic and Roman Periods. BRILL. pp. 77–. ISBN 978-90-04-16735-3. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  10. S. Dar and N. Kokkinos, "The Greek Inscriptions from Senaim on Mt. Hermon", Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 124, 9-25. 35, 1992.
  11. Di Segni, Leah., On a dated inscription from Rakhle and the eras used on the Hermon Range, in Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphic 117, pp. 277-280, 1997.
  12. Eric M. Meyers; Mark A. Chancey (25 September 2012). Alexander to Constantine: Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. Yale University Press. pp. 255–. ISBN 978-0-300-14179-5. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  13. Shimʻon Dar (1993). Settlements and cult sites on Mount Hermon, Israel: Ituraean culture in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Tempus Reparatum. ISBN 978-0-86054-756-3. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  14. Israel. Agaf ha-ʻatiḳot ṿeha-muzeʼonim; Ḥevrah la-ḥaḳirat Erets-Yiśraʼel ṿe-ʻatiḳoteha; Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim. Makhon le-arkheʼologyah (1997). Israel exploration journal. Israel Exploration Society. Retrieved 22 September 2012.

Further reading
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