חלוצה -الخلصة | |
 | |
  Haluza Shown within Israel | |
| Alternative name | Halasa Chellous al-Khalasa Elusa |
|---|---|
| Location | Southern District,Israel |
| Region | Negev |
| Coordinates | 31°05′49″N34°39′07″E / 31.097°N 34.652°E /31.097; 34.652 |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Cultures | Nabataean,Roman |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | In ruins |
| Official name | Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev (Haluza,Mamshit,Avdat andShivta) |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iii, v |
| Designated | 2005(29thsession) |
| Reference no. | 1107 |
| Region | Europe and North America |
The ancient city ofHalasa orChellous (Greek:Χελλοὺς),Elusa (Ελουϲα) in theByzantine period, was a city in theNegev near present-day KibbutzMash'abei Sadeh that was once part of theNabataeanIncense Route. It lay on the route fromPetra toGaza.[1] Today it is known asHaluza (Hebrew:חלוצה), and during periods of Arab habitation it was known asal-Khalūṣ (Arabic:الخلوص; Early Muslim period) andAl-Khalasa (الخلصة; 20th century).[2]
In the 5th century it was surrounded byvineyards and was famous for its wines.[1]
Due to its historic importance,UNESCO declared Haluza aWorld Heritage Site along withMamshit,Avdat andShivta.
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The city is called 'Chellous' (Χελλοὺς) in theGreek text ofJudith, i, 9 (seeJdt 1:9 inNABRE), a work probably dating to the 1st century BCE. It is also mentioned in the 2nd century CE byPtolemy,[3]Peutinger's Table,Stephanus Byzantius (fl. 6th century; as being formerly in the province ofArabia Petraea, but "now" inPalaestina Tertia),Jerome (c. 342–47 – 420),[4][full citation needed]the pilgrim Theodosius (early 6th century),the anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza (around 570), andJoannes Moschus (c. 550 – 619).[5][full citation needed] On the 6th-centuryMadaba Map the town appears asΕΛΟΥϹΑ, "Elusa".
InSaadia Gaon's 10th-centuryJudeo-Arabic translation of thePentateuch, the biblical town ofGerar is associated with Haluza, whom he callsal-Khalūṣ (Judeo-Arabic:'אלכ'לוץ).[6]
The ancient site was founded by theNabateans, probably in the late 4th or early 3rd century BCE.[2]Roman historianPtolemy (d. c. 150 CE) identifies Elusa as a town inIdumea west of theJordan River.[2]
After the Roman annexation of Nabataea in 106 CE, Elusa grew to become the principal city of the central Negev, at the time part of the westernArabia Petraea province.[2]
Elusa became one of the firstNegev towns to have a largeChristian population, and Christians and pagans lived side by side.[2] While the bishops of Elusa participated in the church councils 431 and 451 CE, tombstones found in the local cemetery indicate that there were pagans living in Elusa as late as the early 5th century, when the city belonged toPalaestina Tertia.[2] It was the birthplace of Zenobius, a prominent 4th-centuryrhetorician in Antioch[7] and a teacher of the influentialpagansophist,Libanius.Jerome mentions in his life ofSt. Hilarion a great temple ofAphrodite in 4th-century Elusa.[8] Hilarion is supposed to have introduced Christianity to Elusa in the fourth century.[9][full citation needed]
Early in the fifth century, a bishop of Elusa, after redeeming the son ofNilus of Sinai, who had been carried off fromMount Sinai by the Arabs, ordained both him and his father.[10] Other bishops known are Theodulus, 431; Aretas, 451; Peter, 518; and Zenobius, 536.[11] The bishopric of Elusa still is included in theCatholic Church's list oftitular sees.[12]
TheNessana papyri, dating to the 6th and 7th centuries, are showing that after the Muslim conquest of Palestine, thepolis retained its prominence as an administrative center during theEarly Muslim period at least until the late 7th century - this in spite of the fact that none of the findings made by archaeologists up until the 1997 campaign could be firmly dated to this period.[2] The Nessana papyri are showing that after the Arab conquest, the name of the city took theArabic form of al-Khalus.[2] Eventually the town declined and the place was abandoned for centuries, becoming a place where mainlyGazans came to loot the ruins of construction stones, an activity which continued into the 20th century (Mandate Palestine).[2]
In 1838,Edward Robinson identified Al-Khalasa as the old Elusa based on its Arabic name.[2] In 1905, the Ecole Biblique of Jerusalem studied remains and discovered the cemetery of Elusa, and in 1914C.L. Woolley andT. E. Lawrence (the soon-to-be "Lawrence of Arabia"), during their survey of the Negev, made an attempt of drawing a site plan, but could distinguish little more than traces of a wall and two gates.[2]
The constant interest of Western archaeologists in the remains of Elusa, encouraged the al-AzizmaBedouin tribe of the Negev to resettle the site.[13] They built their small village, which they called Al-Khalasa, among the ancient ruins and next to the wells, between twowadis, with houses constructed of mud and stone.[13] An elementary school was established in the village in 1941, and there were several shops.[13] Most of the inhabitants earned their living through animal husbandry and commerce, and used a well for drinking water.[13] Al-Khalasa was taken during the1948 Arab-Israeli War by theIDF in October 1948.[14]
Excavations revealed traces of Late Ottomaninfantjar-burials, commonly associated withnomads oritinerant workers ofEgyptian origins.[15]
The ruins of Halusa are located in a large plain 20 km (12 mi) southwest ofBeersheba,Israel. Many inscriptions have been found there.[16]
In 1980, theCobb Institute of Archaeology atMississippi State University sponsored an archaeological excavation at the site, in a partnership with theHebrew University of Jerusalem. Jack D. Elliott, Jr. subsequently published an excavation report in 1982 through the Cobb Institute titled "The Elusa Oikoumene: A Geographical Analysis of an Ancient Desert Ecosystem".[17]
In 2014, two archaeological survey-excavations were conducted at Haluza on behalf of theUniversity of Cologne in Germany andHaifa University.[18]Archaeological surveys of the area are partly hampered by the presence of shifting sands. However, Nabataean streets have been found, along with two Byzantine-periodchurches, a theatre, wine press and tower.[19]
A Greek inscription bearing the name of the city was discovered at Elusa, tentatively dated to the time of EmperorDiocletian around 300 CE. The announcement was made in March 2019 by the excavating German–Israeli team.[20]
By analysing rubbish removed from the city, it has been determined that it underwent a major decline around the middle of the sixth century, about a century before the Islamic conquest.[21] The excavators propose that their findings call for a reevaluation of the settlement history of the Negev region in the late Byzantine period.[21] One possible cause for the crisis is raised as theLate Antique Little Ice Age, a cold snap believed to have been caused by "volcanic winter".[22]
According to a 1906 article from theRevue Biblique written byAntonin Jaussen, in the vicinity, according to theTargums, was the desert ofSur with the well at which the angel foundHagar (Genesis 16:7).[23][clarification needed]
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913)."Elusa".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.Authority control databases: Geographic |
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