Home > Sites > Beit Kerem > Karmi'el > Khirbet Kabra (Qabra)

 

Contents: Background Location History Photos Links Etymology

Background:

 

   Khirbet Kabra (Qabra) is the ruins of a Byzantine site located on a small hill on the north-west side of Karmi'el, near Givat Ram neighborhood.   The site may have been a monastery. 

 

 

Location:

 

   The site is located on a small hill (274M) on the north-west corner of Karmi'el, 50M above the Beit-Hakerem valley. It is close to Katzir street in the neighborhood of Givat Ram. The easiest access to the hill is from this street which is located on its south-west side.

  

   You can point on the purple points to navigate to the selected point.

   

 

 

History:

 

Roman/Byzantine:

   The site was first settled in the Roman period.

   During the Byzantine period the area of western Galilee was mostly populated by Christians. The area within the municipal area of the city of Karmiel was the densest in this region - a total of nine (!) Byzantine monasteries were excavated here or identified as such.  The site of Khirbet Kabra was one of the Byzantine sites, with a possible monastery on top of the hill.

  The Byzantine sites were destroyed in the 7th or 8th C during the Persian or Arabic conquests. According to recent excavations, it was found that this site was resettled during the Arab period, Crusader, Mamlukes and early Ottoman.

 

Ottoman Period:

 

   The site was mapped during the PEF survey (1881-1883), and appears as Kh. Kabra. A road passes near the site, leading to Hilazon creek on the south side. This was probably one of the ancient routes out or into the Beit Hakerem valley, which was difficult to access since it is completely surrounded by high mountains.

 

Modern times:      Karmiel was established in 1964, and has grew since then to a large and beautiful city with over 50,000 residents (2008).      A new neighborhood in Karmiel, named Givat Ram ("the high hill"), was constructed on the south side of Khirbet Madrasah.

 

Excavations (2001):

 

  Edna Stern and her team excavated the site in a salvage excavation in 2001. Her final report included: "Numerous building remains, as well as rock-cut tombs, agricultural installations and many water cisterns, attesting to the extensive occupation of the site, were visible on the hill and along its edges". She concluded: "This excavation––the first at Kh. el-Qabra––revealed a settlement that existed in the Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Early Ottoman periods".

 

 

Photos:

 

 

 

(a) General view

 

   The photo below shows a view of the site from the hills on the north.  Behind the round hill is Givat Ram, a suburb of Karmi'el.  In the right background is a hill (alt 362) called Carmi (aka "Ras edh Dhaher" - Head of the back of the hill - in the PEF maps). Further, in the center background, is the narrow Hilazon creek.

 

Click on the photos to view  in higher resolution...

 

(b) East side

 

Another view, from the east, is seen below.

 

 

   On the east side is a modern water pump  station which supplies water to the area, and was probably built on earlier period springs.

 

 

(c) Foothills

 

   The photo below shows the foothills on the north side, where a large cave is seen on the left side. The hills in the background are called Matlul-Zurim  ("Steep Cliffs", alt. 567M) which close on the valley of Beit Kerem on the north side.

 

 

 

(d) Ancient roads

 

   A view of the area from the north side is seen below, with the hill of Khirbet Kabra in the center. The modern road to the city passes to the east of it.

 

   There were two ancient roads that passed at this site -

• the north-south road passed to the right (west) of the hill, between Kabra and the adjacent site (Khirbet Madrasah), towards Hilazon (snail) creek.
• The west-east road passed before the hill in the path of the modern road from Acre to Zefat, seen in the center of the photo crossing from right to left.

 

 

 

Links and references:

 

Archaeological sites around Karmiel - Power point (Hebrew)   Conservation in Urban areas - Karmiel as a test case (Hebrew)   Conservation in Urban areas - Karmiel as a test case (English)   Aviam M.  2004:  Jews, Pagans and Christians in the Galilee (Land of Galilee 1). Rochester. Pp. 181-204. Excavations 2001 - Edna Stern

 

Etymology (behind the name):

 

Kabra (Qabra), el Kabra (el-Kabra) - The site's name; maybe a form of Arabic word Kabr (Great) .   Beit Kerem (Beth Cerem) - Hebrew: House of  vineyard (or olive grove). In Jeremiah 6:1 there is reference to another site near Jerusalem with the same name"... and set up a sign of fire in Beth Haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction".   Karmi'el (Carmiel) - Hebrew: Olive grove (Kerem) of God (-EL). Kerem means also vineyard, so the name also can mean "Vineyards of God". The city's name was based on the name of the valley - Beit Kerem.

 

   Khirbet Kabra is seen in the photo below, behind a modern garden in Givat ram - one of many beautifully designed landscapes in the city.

 

 

 

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