Khirbet Jamjum

The site appears to have been a planned, compact village that covered roughly 10 dunams, including 7 on the summit and 3 on the southeastern saddle.^[4] Numerous wall stubs, some built of dressed stones, suggest multi-room domestic units and at least one possible public building.^[4] Later, terraces were built across the ruins for agricultural activities.^[4]

Inhabitation at the site appears to have begun in the second half of the second century BCE, when the region was part of Hasmonean Judea, and continued intermittently until the Ottoman period.^[5] Evidence suggests that substantial occupation occurred primarily between the Hasmonean period and the early Byzantine era, and then again during the Mamluk period.^[5] Findings from the early phases indicate that Khirbet Jamjum was a Jewish settlement, featuring Jewish ritual baths (mik'vaot), kokhim tombs, and fortification-like elements.^[6] The identity of the inhabitants after the Bar Kokhba revolt—when the site may have been among the villages destroyed by the Romans and later resettled^[7][8]—remains uncertain.^[8]

In the Late Roman/Early Byzantine period, the site hosted a pottery production complex alongside rural habitation.^[9] During the Mamluk period, a vaulted structure was constructed on the summit.^[9]

The site contains an unusually large concentration of water systems, including rectangular plastered cisterns similar to those found in Second Temple-era fortresses in the Judaean Desert and others in ancient settlement sites in the Judaean Mountains.^[4] Additionally, two stepped, plastered installations were found, and are believed to be mik'vaot.^[4] One of these baths was later converted into a refuse pit, into which broken vessels were discarded.^[10]

During the 1948 Palestine war, members of the now-depopulated Jewish kibbutz Masuot Yitzhak used one of the cisterns as an arms cache.^[5]

Additionally, several underground systems were documented. Among them are large caves connceted by narrow crawl-spaces which were probably used for storage or refuge (resembling Bar Kokhba refuge caves and also featuring pottery from the revolt period), and a columbarium (dovecote) cave on the northeastern slopes.^[6] In addition, an underground hall was found, featuring an entrance shaft sealed in antiquity, later accessible via the hillside. Finds included an ossuary fragment, a large stone basin, and a small olive-oil extraction installation (a bodeda).^[11]

South of the summit, a long retaining wall dating to the first century CE was uncovered.

East of the saddle several burial caves were found: one of them features kokhim, indicating Second Temple-era Jewish burial, while another features arcosolia, pointing to a date in the Late Roman/Byzantine period.^[4]

A pottery kiln was discovered at the site, seemingly dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries CE.^[12] It was found preserved in its lower half.^[12] Fragments of over-fired vessels were found there, alongside misfired pieces, unbaked clay items, and stones burned at high temperature.^[12]

On the summit, a structure was found, consisting of two barrel-vaulted rooms whose arches were supported by massive walls and a central partition. The building appears to date to the Mamluk period, based on ceramic evidence. It collapsed graudally rather than violently, as no signs of destruction by fire were found.^[9] Its function remains uncertain, though its prominent location suggests a communal or administrative use. Beneath the floors was an entrance shaft into an earlier subterranean system which was sealed when the vaulted structure was built.^[9]

A bronze mirror-handle fitting, showing the figures of deities Serapis and Isis, was found deliberately defaced, paralleling finds from other hideout systems in Judea.^[8]

• Maeir, A. M.; Zissu, Boaz (2010). Billig, M. (ed.). "Archaeological Excavations at Khirbet Jamjum (Gush Etzion): A Fortified Settlement and Remains of Pottery Production from the Roman and Byzantine Periods – 2008 Season". Judea and Samaria Research Studies. 19. R&D Center, Ariel University: 113–124.
• Raviv, Dvir; Ben David, Chaim (2021). "Cassius Dio's figures for the demographic consequences of the Bar Kokhba War: Exaggeration or reliable account?". Journal of Roman Archaeology. 34 (2): 593. doi:10.1017/S1047759421000271. ISSN 1047-7594.