Overview

Bibliography

Khirbet el-Minya (or Horvat Minnim) is located at the northern end of the Ginnosaur plain on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The site consists of a large palace dating to the Umayyad period (an inscription found in the palace attests to the Umayyad caliph el-Walid I [705-715]).

The site was first noticed in the nineteenth century, when some identified it with biblical Capernaum. The site was excavated for five seasons during the 1930s, during which its character as a Umayyad palace was clarified. Excavations of the site were resumed in 2005 under the direction of M. Rosen-Ayalon for the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The Umayyad palace is little understood. It was built early in the eighth century C.E. It was reoccupied again during the Mameluke period. Finally, the site was covered with a few small houses. The occupant and the historical significance of the palace remain unknown. The room numbers of the palace are those of M. Rosen-Ayalon and K. Cytryn-Silverman on their excavation plan.