Ancient Qasrin: A Late Antique and Medieval Village in the Golan

Anne Killebrew
Ancient Qasrin (Arabic: Kisrin) is located in the central Golan Heights, approximately 8 miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee (32° 59' 15" N, 35° 42' 15" E). It was first identified as an archaeological site during surveys of the region in 1967. Subsequent excavations directed by Dan Urman, Zvi Ma‘oz, Rachel Hachlili and Ann E. Killebrew in the 1970s and early 1980s uncovered a 4th – 8th century CE synagogue and a later medieval mosque that had been erected in the ruins of the synagogue. Salvage excavations in the village directed by Ann E. Killebrew from 1985 – 1990 revealed a Late Roman — Early Islamic settlement (Strata VI-III) overlaid by Mamluk (Stratum II) and Ottoman (Stratum I) period villages constructed on top of the earlier remains. Traces of Hellenistic (Stratum VII), Iron II (Stratum VIII) and Middle Bronze (Stratum IX) Age occupation were found resting on bedrock. This grant is being requested for the publication of the village excavations.

Qasrin is one of dozens of villages — Jewish, Christian and pagan — that appear in the Golan Heights beginning in the 3rd – 4th centuries CE. These settlements, often identified by visible remains of synagogues and churches, increase in number during the Byzantine period. Since 1967, several Byzantine period synagogues and churches have been excavated in the Golan Heights. What distinguishes Qasrin from other sites is the extensive excavation of the 4th – 8th century CE Jewish village that provides previously undocumented insights into domestic architecture, daily life and economic realities along the fringes of the Roman and Byzantine Empires.

The Qasrin village excavations exposed three domestic structures, or insulae, that housed extended multi-generation families. The excavations are noteworthy for the careful attention and documentation of all stratified remains (spanning the modern period through the Middle Bronze Age) and field methodology that included a 100% sift of all debris removed from the site. The result is a near total recovery of faunal remains and one of the most complete assemblages of coins from stratified contexts in Israel today. An ethnological investigation of traditional Druze villages in the northern Golan and experimental archaeology studies conducted during the reconstruction of the village compliment the archaeological findings.

The final publication will include a complete stratigraphic and architectural account of all periods represented at the site; a comprehensive pottery report; a petrographic analysis of representative local and imported pottery; a detailed report on the coins including the 9,000-coin hoard; small finds reports (glass, metal etc.); and a full publication of the faunal remains. An additional chapter will be devoted to an interdisciplinary analysis of the functional use of space in the village. A final chapter will reconstruct daily life during the Byzantine period based on archaeological evidence, contemporary written sources (especially the Rabbinic literature), and ethnographic studies in the region.