When I blogged two years ago about Tel Shikmona―the ancient port on the Mediterranean west of Mount Carmel, first inhabited in the late Bronze age and continuing through the Israelite, Persian, Phoenician, Hellenistic, and Roman/Byzantine periods―I hadn't managed to visit the associated necropolis to its east, which is today separated from the site by the coastal road and railway. Having an hour to spare recently, I completed my mission!
Today this necropolis sits on the edge of the coastal road, in the residential district of Ein ha'Yam, whose symbol is an ancient anchor found off the coast at Shikmona, now sited on the hill at the northern edge of the necropolis.
Roman/Byzantine burial cave, beneath the ancient anchor, symbol of Ein ha'Yam
So first something about Ein ha'Yam ("spring of the sea"). The first modern settlement was founded in 1937, when the Latin Church―which held the land―decided to sell lots at a reduced price to young couples starting out. At first the lots were sold exclusively to Christian families but, after the establishment of the State of Israel, the neighborhood became a mixed community of Jews and Arabs in nearly equal proportions. The original name of the neighborhood—Wadi al-Jemal ("the wadi of camels")—recalls its location on the north-south coastal road, where merchant convoys would stop with their camels laden with goods, and refresh themselves at the spring referred to in the modern Hebrew name of the place. Today there are some 700 mixed families living in harmony in the neighborhood―Jews and Arabs, ultra-orthodox, religious and secular. The ancient anchor and necropolis had signage installed in 2011 as part of the Ein ha'Yam Circular Trail, with the aim of highlighting the model of coexistence between Arabs and Jews in the neighbourhood.
Southern entrance to Ein ha'Yam (left); Recreation area adjacent to the necropolis (right)
This blog is dedicated to Baruch Oren z"l, an 11-year-old who died in tragic circumstances in 1989, and to whom there is a simple memorial near the place where he died at Ein ha'Yam/Shikmona.
Memorial to Baruch Oren, an 11-year-old who died in 1989 in a cruel youth game - Road Roulette.
The tragedy of Baruch Oren stirred impacted the entire country. He was run over and killed by a 27-year-old resident of Ramleh, was charged with causing death by negligence. However the story was not so simple, as the driver was acquitted. Judge Yagiv Fuchs wrote in his ruling that "the child went into the road as a challenge, full knowing the danger to which he subjected himself." The court heard how a group of children were playing a "game" of road roulette. They waited by the main road, and when a car approached, one of the children was selected to run to the middle of the road and stand in front of a vehicle with his arms folded, as a test of courage witnessed by the rest of the children. The goal was to hold his ground until the last moment, but in this way Brauch was killed.
With this salutary and sad tale in mind, we return to ancient history. Immediately adjacent to the modern coastal road, and just below the ancient anchor, are the remains of a mosaic floor of a Byzantine chapel, 6th-7th century CE. The floor, left in situ, was uncovered during the first excavations around Tel Shikmona, carried out by the Department of Antiquities of the British Mandate, in 1939.
Mosaic floor of a Byzantine chapel
The necropolis includes a system of 22 hewn burial complexes, 21 of which date to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with one dated to the Late Bronze Age. The burial caves are spread over the shallow incline of the Carmel as it rises from sea level. A few are set into cliff-faces no more than a few metres tall, but the majority are buried in the nearly-flat rock, entered via entrance pits approached by steps. Most had circular, roll-stone doors with niches into which they rolled, and some of the burial caves still retain their doors nearby, though no stone remains in its grooves today. Most of the caves contain several loculi and rock-hewn burial troughs, and some are inter-connected.
In the slideshow below, hover your cursor to see the captions.
