Overview

Bibliography

Horvat ‘Eleq is one of several sites located on the Ramat ha-Nadiv ridge south of Mount Carmel. It is located on the eastern edge of the ridge. The site is approximately 7.5 acres in size, located above ‘Ein Tsur, a small spring at the base of the hill. The site was first explored by Victor Guérin in 1870, who noted that it was inhabited by a small hamlet of fellahin. C. R. Conder and H. H. Kitchener surveyed the site in 1873 and reported only ruined walls. G. Schumacher found a Greek inscription at the Muslim cemetery near the site, and notes that the site had granaries and small stone huts. Graf von Mülinen notes that a large farmstead was erected by the el-Khouri family from Haifa. The farmstead known as Beit Khouri was purchased by an organization funded by Baron Rothschild in 1913.

The excavations of Horvat ‘Eleq were conducted by Yizhar Hirschfeld from 1989-2002 on behalf of Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Although material remains from the Middle Bronze and Iron Age was discovered in pits, the earliest habitation appears to be the Hellenistic period, which left a few scattered walls. The primary occupation is the Early Roman period – the Herodian period. To this occupation belongs a large tetrapyrgion-type palace. It is a square fortress-like structure with towers in the corners. Inside the structure are a villa, which served the primary residents; a central building that house the servants; multiple rooms in the northern, eastern, and southern wings; and a large free-standing fortified tower in the northwest. Near the spring, the excavators uncovered a columbarium tower, aqueducts to the spring water, a swimming pool, and a bathhouse.

The site was re-excavated from 2007–2010 by Orit Peleg-Barkat and Yotam Tepper. They were able to uncover Hellenistic walls abutting the southeastern tower indicating that the tower and the rest of the fortifications were built prior to those walls. Persian floors beneath the fortress wall indicated that the fortifications were constructed later than the Persian period. Thus, they conclude that the fortification walls and towers were built early in the Hellenistic period and other evidence suggested that the fortifications had gone out of use before the Roman period. They also contest that the complex was a palace, since it lacks any of the typical luxuries of a palace. They suggest that the complex was a village or farm during the early Roman period, though the zenith of the complex was during the Hellenistic period.

The archaeological strata uncovered at the site, as illustrated in the site plan, date to the following periods:

	Herodian Period
	Hellenistic Period