Biblical Archaeology Review

I thank Joseph Patrich for the use of his metal detector.

Ludolph Von Suchem, Description of the Holy Land, (London: Palestine Pilgrims Text Society, 1895), p. 115. My thanks to Nitzan Price for helping identify the coin.

Meinardus, “Notes on the Laurae and Monasteries,” p. 312.

For the history of this monastery see Otto Meinardus, “Notes on the Laurae and Monasteries of Wilderness of Judaea,” III, Liber Annus 19 (1969), pp. 305–327.

These events are described in 1 Maccabees 16:11–16, and in Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War 1.2:3–4 and Antiquities of the Jews 13.8:1. In Maccabees the citadel is named Dok, but Josephus calls it Dagon.

See Möller and Schmitt, Siedlungen Palästinas, p. 188, for other identifications.

Scholars disagree over the identification of this site. Samuel Klein and Michael Avi-Yonah thought that the designation was Ein Fara, but this conclusion must be dismissed because of topographical considerations. It is also not strictly apparent from the text. For a summary of the various opinions in the literature, and for the suggestion of Khirbet Ein Eina in Samaria (reference point 179.165), see C. Möller and G. Schmitt, Siedlungen Palästinas nach Flavius Josephus (Weisbaden: Reichart, 1976).

In this group, we also include some caves from Wadi el-Habibi, a northern tributary of Nahal Mikhmas. See Patrich, Beny Arubas and Eyal Naor, “Jewish Caves of Refuge in the Cliffs of Nahal Mikhmas,” Qadmoniot XIX (73–74) (1986), pp. 45–50 (in Hebrew).

See Amos Kloner, “Name of Ancient Israel’s Last President Discovered on Lead Weight,” BAR 14:04, and Ehud Netzer, “Jewish Rebels Dig Strategic Tunnel System,” BAR 14:04.