Sinn en-Nabra | |
.JPG) | |
  Shown within Israel | |
| Alternative name | Sennabris, Sinnabris |
|---|---|
| Location |  |
| Coordinates | 32°43′05″N 35°34′19″E / 32.717958°N 35.571864°E |
| History | |
| Periods | Hellenistic - Crusader period |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Na'im Makhouly, Benjamin Mazar, Michael Avi-Yonah, Moshe Sheteklis, Emanuel Dunayevsky, Pesach Bar-Adon, P.L.O. Guy, Ruth Amiran, Rafi Greenberg |
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.[1] The ancient site lay on a spur from the hills that close the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, next to which towards its south being the tell, Khirbet Kerak or Bet Yerah,[2] one of the largest in the Levant, spanning an area of over 50 acres.[3][4][5] Bet Yerah was the Hellenistic era twin city of Sennabris (Hebrew: צינבריי, סנבראי),[6][7] as al-Sinnabra was known in Classical antiquity, and its remains are located at the same tell.[8][9]
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).[10][11][12] 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.[13][14] This thesis was questioned by Ronny Reich in 1993.[15] Donald Whitcomb suggested the complex was the qasr of al-Sinnabra in 2002,[11][16][17] and excavations carried out in 2010 showed his analysis to be correct.[12][13][18] 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.[14][19][20]
- ^ Josephus Flavius; Mason, Steve (2003). Life of Josephus (Reprint, illustrated ed.). Brill. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-391-04205-6.
- ^ Conder, C.R.; et al. (1881), p. 403, writes: "In Bereshith Rabba c. 98 Senabrai and Beth Joreach are mentioned as near each other." H.H. Kitchener, in the 1878 Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, p. 165, describes Sinn en-Nabra: "During the survey of the shores [of the Sea of Galilee] we made one considerable discovery: the site of Sennabris, mentioned by Josephus as the place where Vespasian pitched his camp when marching on the insurgents of Tiberias. The name Sinn en Nabra still exists, and is well known to the natives; it applies to a ruin situated on a spur from the hills that close the southern end of the Sea of Galilee; it formed, therefore, the defence against an invader from the Jordan plain, and blocked the great main road in the valley. Close beside it there is a large artificially-formed plateau, defended by a water-ditch on the south, communicating with Jordan, and by the Sea of Galilee on the north. This is called Kh. el Kerak, and is, I have not the slightest doubt, the remains of Vespasian's camp described by Josephus."
- ^ Geoffrey W. Bromiley (1982). G. W. Bromiley (ed.). International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J (Revised ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802837820.
- ^ Ian Shaw; Robert Jameson (2002). Ian Shaw; Robert Jameson (eds.). A dictionary of archaeology (6th, illustrated, reprint ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 335. ISBN 978-0-631-23583-5.
- ^ The Holy Land: An Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700, Jerome Murphy O'Connor, Oxford University Press, 1980, p.159
- ^ Midrash HaGadol (Genesis Rabba 98:22)
- ^ Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah 1:1 (2b)
- ^ Ugarit-Forschungen, Volume 8. Verlag Butzon & Bercker. 1977. p. 179. ISBN 9783766689931.
- ^ Kenneth M. Setton; Marshall W. Baldwin (2006). Kenneth M. Setton; Marshall W. Baldwin (eds.). A History of the Crusades: The First Hundred Years (2nd, illustrated, reprint ed.). University of Wisconsin Press. p. 658. ISBN 978-0-299-04834-1.
- ^ Whitcomb in Schuzman, 2009, p. 241.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Whitcombwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "Ruins thought to be synagogue was Umayyad palace: 7th century Arab palace identified in Israel". Al-Arabiya. 16 March 2010. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Israeli archaeologists identified Caliph Mu'awiya's Lakeside Palace". Tel Aviv University: Division for Press Relations, Spokesperson & Communication Guidelines. March 15, 2010. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^ a b "Tibériade: identification des vestiges d'un palais omeyyade". RTBF.be. March 16, 2010. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ^ Ronny Reich (1993). "The Bet Yerah Synagogue Reconsidered". Atiqot: 139–144.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Chancey, Mark A. (2005). Greco-Roman culture and the Galilee of Jesus (Illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 110, footnote #74. ISBN 978-0-521-84647-9.
- ^ Whitcomb in Schuzman, 2009, p. 246.
- ^ Agence France Presse (March 16, 2010). "Ruins of 7th century Arab palace identified in Israel". Zimbio. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
TBYwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Identifican el palacio de los primeros omeyas en el mar de Galilea". European Press Photo Agency. March 16, 2010. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved 2010-03-16.