Kfar Aziz

Kfar Aziz (Hebrew: כפר עזיז‎) was a Jewish village from the period of the Mishna. It is identified with Hurbat al Aziz, in the southern part of Yatta in the southern West Bank.[3]

Kfar 'Aziz

  • خربة عزيز‎
  • כפר עזיז‎

Khurbet 'Aziz[1]
Ruin
Etymology: The Ruin of Aziz;[2] "Strong Village"
Kfar 'Aziz
Coordinates: 31°26′12″N 35°05′01″E
Palestine grid163/094
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictHebron
Date of demiseunknown
Current LocalitiesYatta, Hebron

Identification

The Mishnah tells the following story:

Once Rabbi Yehoshua went to Rabbi Yishmael in Kfar Aziz... and brought him up from there to Beit Hamaganiah...[4]

Elsewhere in the Mishnah, it is stated that Rabbi Yishmael lived "near Edom".[5] The Jerusalem Talmud explains as follows: "What does 'near Edom' mean? – To the south."[6] These descriptions fit the southern Hebron hills region, which is the southernmost part of the Holy Land before the desert, and the closest inhabited place to Edom.

Archaeology

Lieut. H. H. Kitchener of the Palestine Exploration Fund visited the site in 1874 and gave a thorough description of its ruin and cave-like dwellings.[7] Kitchener made note of the fact that the local people of Yatta village would go into the ruin and retrieve masonry from the old buildings on the site to be used in their own village construction. An archaeological survey at Hurbat al Aziz in 1968 revealed remains from the Roman/Byzantine period, the era of the Mishnah. Olive and wine presses and ossuary fragments were found. Burial caves in the region indicated the presence of a Jewish settlement in the 2nd–3rd century, indicating a revival of Jewish life in the region after the Bar Kochba revolt. In addition, a large public building with pillars was found, apparently a church, indicating the presence of a Christian settlement in the region in the late Byzantine period. No archeological dig was performed (only a survey), and the exact period of the building is unknown.

Today, a modern Arab neighborhood has been built on the site, causing extensive damage to the ruins.

References
  1. Conder & Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 348
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 397
  3. Daat: Encyclopedia Yehudit, Kfar Aziz
  4. Mishnah Kilaim 6:4
  5. Mishnah Ketuvot 5:8
  6. Jerusalem Talmud Ketuvot 5:9
  7. Conder & Kitchener (1883), pp. 348–350

Bibliography
  • Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H. H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
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