| Popis: |
Khirbet Meṣad (Ḥorvat el-Qasr; Khirbet el-Kusr) is located on a hilltop overlooking Wadi Alaqa, some 3 km west of Neve Ilan, on the ancient Roman road that connects Abu Ghosh and Emmaus, a segment of one of the alternative roads connecting Jerusalem. The history of Ḥorvat Meṣad can be characterized by its longue durée, extending as it did from the Iron Age and more intensively from the Hellenistic period all the way through the Middle Ages and modern times. Out of seven periods of habitation (Strata VII–I) architectural remains of four periods have been unearthed, namely Hellenistic/Hasmonean, Early Roman/Herodian, Byzantine and Early Islamic. All point to a linkage with the strategic segment of the Abu Ghosh–Emmaus road along which it was erected and reflect the importance of the road as a vital artery going back thousands of years, to the time of Joshua, Gorgias, Judas Maccabaeus, Bacchides, Varus, Vespasian, Bar Kokhba, up to the present-day Israeli and Arab armies of the past 60 years. |
