A maior rede de túneis da Galileia

Hiding in the Romans' Underground

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An impressive 2,000-year-old underground labyrinth of tunnels has been revealed in Huqoq, a well-known Jewish archaeological site located north of Tiberias with a stunning view of the Sea of Galilee. The shelters were excavated in preparation for the First Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire in 66 CE and the subsequent Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132-136 CE.

The network was dug “so that families could hide while the Romans were here, because they feared for their lives, for their children,” said Uri Berger, excavation director of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). “We were surprised to see how large this complex is.”

In recent months, hundreds of students, soldiers, and local residents have assisted in the excavation effort led by the IAA. The underground hideout is the largest of its kind discovered to date and sheds light on the debate about how far the Jewish Revolts reached outside of Judea and central Israel.

Connection Tunnel Labyrinth

The ongoing excavation has revealed eight hiding cavities so far with “connection tunnels… dug at 90 degrees, to make it difficult for heavily armed Roman soldiers who were pursuing the rebels,” the IAA said in a statement announcing the discovery in March. This is “the most extensive hideout complex discovered to date in Galilee.”

The underground shelters were strategically located beneath ancient rural properties, with direct links to the village houses. A refuge for hiding was created from a bell-shaped water cistern, typical of the Second Temple period.

Another hideout was made using a nearby mikveh (public bath), whose walls were broken to dig narrow tunnels connecting it to the other cavities. The stairs to the former mikveh were hidden, with the complex about 16 feet below. Times were desperate, and survival outweighed ritual purification.

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An iron knife from the Roman period, apparently from the days of the Bar Kochba rebellion, found in the shelter complex at the excavation site of Huqoq. (credit: Uri Berger/IAA)

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The underground complex was used for concealment, not for combat. The excavation co-director, Prof. Yinon Shivtiel, from Zefat Academic College, explained: “If you enter them, they are like mamadim underground,” referring to the contemporary Hebrew word for “safe rooms.”

“They destroyed the public water system,” said Berger. “But the chambers were equipped to allow people to stay there for long periods of time. They brought lamps, pots, and other things.”

The excavation revealed hundreds of broken ceramic and glass dishes, utensils, remnants of non-perishable food, and other small artifacts, including a knife and an impressive ring, believed to have belonged to someone seeking refuge in the shelters.

A ring discovered in the hiding complex of Huqoq. (credit: Dafna Gazit/IAA)

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Survival of Huqoq

The excavations at present-day Huqoq reveal a story of survival for its Jewish people. “The hideout complex provides a glimpse into a difficult period for the Jewish population in Huqoq and Galilee in general,” the archaeologists said.

“However, the story that the site tells is also an optimistic story of an ancient Jewish town that managed to survive historical tribulations. The residents, even after losing their freedom and after many difficult years of revolts, emerged from the hideout complex and established a prosperous village, with one of the most impressive synagogues in the area,” they added.

Uri Berger, of the IAA, in the hiding complex from the time of the Jewish revolt at the archaeological site of Huqoq. (credit: Emil Aladjem/IAA)

Three Major Jewish Revolts Against Rome

There were three major rebellions of the Jewish people against the Roman Empire.

• The First Jewish-Roman War broke out in 66 CE, during the 12th year of Emperor Nero's reign and resulted in the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 CE.
• The second revolt was the Kitos War (115-117 CE), which began when Roman armies were engaged in Trajan's Parthian War on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. Jewish rebels took advantage of the situation and massacred some of the remaining Roman garrisons, many Roman citizens, and destroyed Roman temples in various parts of the eastern Mediterranean region.
• The third rebellion, the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136 CE), was against the religious restrictions imposed by the Romans, as well as their decision to build a Roman city called Aelia Capitolina over the ruins of Jerusalem, including a pagan shrine where the Temple once stood.

Aerial view of the Huqoq site. (credit: Emil Aladjem/IAA)

Debates on the Extent of the Revolts

The discovery of the Huqoq hideout complex contributes to a decades-long debate among researchers about whether the Bar Kochba Revolt reached Galilee or remained within the boundaries of Judea and central Israel, the archaeologists said.

“In Galilee, there are 83 underground shelters, found in most Jewish settlements from the Second Temple period,” explained Shivtiel. “Huqoq is the largest and most impressive. In all of them, we found pottery that testifies to the presence of Jews during the revolts against the Romans.”

The tunnels “were not for living; they were like small underground shelters against bombs,” he said. During the revolts, when Roman patrols were in the area, Jews could hide certain people or items underground.

Excavations of the tunnels show that the internal parts date from the time of the outbreak of the Second Revolt, but several of the ancient facilities were initially used during the First Revolt, according to the IAA announcement.

Records from the Roman-era historian Josephus state that the First Jewish Revolt was active in the Galilee area. Recent discoveries of tunnels support Josephus by providing additional archaeological evidence that the caves were "clearly in use" at that time, according to Shivtiel.

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Hiding complex from the time of the Jewish revolt at the archaeological site of Huqoq. (credit: Emil Aladjem/IAA)

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Until now, there had been no archaeological indication that the Bar Kochba revolt had actually reached Galilee. But small artifacts and remains recently discovered in Huqoq suggest that it may have happened. “We cannot say that the Bar Kochba revolt was physically here, but the hideout complex was certainly involved in the preparations,” said Shivtiel.

The First Jewish Revolt and the Bar Kochba Revolt were nationalist rebellions aimed at reclaiming Judea's sovereignty from the Romans, but both ended in defeat for the Jewish people. The Bar Kochba Revolt resulted in a significant Roman suppression of Jewish religious life in the region, including a ban on Jews living in the Jerusalem area.

However, Huqoq persisted as a Jewish town and is mentioned centuries later in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, along with the names of Rabbi Pinhas and Rabbi Hezekiah, sages from the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, who were based in the area.

Prof. Yinon Shivtiel in the hiding complex from the time of the Jewish revolt at the archaeological site of Huqoq. (credit: Emil Aladjem/IAA)

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Byzantine Era Synagogue

Atop a hill near the hiding complex, a Byzantine-era synagogue with an impressive and distinct mosaic floor was discovered in 2011 by an expedition from the University of North Carolina led by Professor Jodi Magness. The mosaics include the earliest representations of the biblical heroines Deborah and Jael.