| Rujm el-Hiri رُجم الهِرّي גלגל רפאים |
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| Rujm el-Hiri – Gilgal Refaim | |
| Alternate name | Gilgal Refaim |
|---|---|
| Location | Golan Heights |
Rujm el-Hiri (Arabic: رجم الهرة, Rujm al-Hīrī; Hebrew: גִּלְגַּל רְפָאִים Gilgal Refā'īm) is an ancient megalithic monument consisting of concentric circles of stone with a tumulus at center.[1] It is located in the Golan Heights some 16 kilometres east of the eastern coast of the Sea of Galilee, in the middle of a large plateau covered with hundreds of dolmens.[2][3]
Made up of more than 42,000 basalt rocks arranged in concentric circles, at center is a mound 15 feet (4.6 m) tall.[2] Some circles are complete, others incomplete. The outermost wall is 520 feet (160 m) in diameter and 8 feet (2.4 m) high. The establishment of the site, and other nearby ancient settlements, is dated by archaeologists to Early Bronze Age II (3000–2700 BCE).[3]
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The name Rujm el-Hiri was originally obtained from Syrian maps.[4] Translated from Arabic into English, it means, "the stone heap of the wild cat."[2] The term rujm in Arabic (pl. rujum; Hebrew: rogem) can also refer to a tumulus, a heap of stones underneath which human burial space was located.[3] The name is sometimes romanized as Rujm Hiri or Rujum al-Hiri.
Rogem Hiri is a Hebrew pronunciation of the Arabic name Rujm el-Hiri.[2] Another Hebrew name used for the site is Gilgal Refaim (Gilgal Refā'īm or Galgal Refā'īm, "Wheel of Refaim"). Refa'im in modern Hebrew means "ghosts" or "spirits." The same root underlies the word used in the Tanakh to refer to a race of giants, the "Rephaites", described as the ancient people of the Bashan (modern Golan).[5][6]
The site's dimensions and its location on a wide plateau scattered with hundreds of dolmens, means that an aerial perspective allows for a fuller appreciation of its layout.[3] From above one can see a large circle (slightly oval) of basalt rocks, containing four smaller, concentric circles, that get progressively thinner, with some complete, others incomplete.[7] The walls of the circles are connected by irregularly placed smaller stone walls.[7]
Basalt rocks are common in the Golan Heights, due to the region's history of volcanic activity. Described as the "Stonehenge of the Levant," the site is made up of 37,500 metric tons of partly worked stone stacked up to 2 meters (6.6 ft) high.[8] A central tumulus 65 feet (20 m) in diameter and 15 feet (4.6 m) high is surrounded by concentric circles, the outermost of which is 520 feet (160 m) in diameter and 8 feet (2.4 m) high.[3] Two entrances to the site face the northeast (29 meters (95 ft) wide) and southeast (26 meters (85 ft) wide).[2][3] The northeast entrance leads to an accessway 20 feet (6.1 m) long leading to the center of the circle which seems to point in the general direction of the June solstice sunrise.[2][8] The axis of the tomb discovered at the site's center is similarly aligned.[8] Mount Hermon is almost due north and Mount Tabor is close to December solstice sunrise, providing visual connection of cosmic and geographic planes and reinforcing mystical powers of the temple by design.[7]
The central tumulus (or tomb) is built from smaller rocks and is thought to have been constructed after the surrounding walls were constructed.[8] Connecting to it are four main stone walls. The first wall, shaped like a semicircle, is 50m in diameter and 1.5m wide. That wall is connected to a second one, an almost complete circle 90m in diameter. The third wall is a full circle, 110m in diameter and 2.6m wide. The fourth and outermost wall is the largest: 150m in diameter and 3.2m wide.
The site was cataloged during an Israeli archaeological survey carried out in 1967-1968, after Israel captured and occupied the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War.[3] The site is probably the source of the legends about "a remnant of the giants" or Rephaim for Og.[9] The surveyors used Syrian maps, and a Syrian triangulation post was found on top of its cairn.[4] After this initial study, serious archaeological excavations commenced in the 1980s, under Israeli professors Moshe Kochavi and Yoni Mizrachi.
In 2007, the site was excavated by Yosef Garfinkel and Michael Freikman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Freikman returned in the summer of 2010 for further investigation of the site’s date and function.[11] Freikman believes that the tomb in the center was built at the same time as the rings. Tomb robbers looted the remains, which included jewelry and weapons, but based on the discovery of one Chalcolithic pin dropped in a passageway, Freikman's theory is that the tomb was the centerpiece of the rings.[12]
New Age movements advocating a return to nature gather at the site on the summer solstice and on the equinox to view the first rays of the sun shine though the rocks.
The Golan Trail, a marked 130-kilometer walking trail that stretches along the whole length of the Golan Heights, passes Gilgal Refa'im.[13]