Betar (ancient village)

Betar (בֵּיתַּר), also spelled Beitar, Bethar or Bether, was an ancient Jewish town in the Judean Mountains. Continuously inhabited since the Iron Age, it was the last standing stronghold of the Bar Kokhba revolt, and was destroyed by the Imperial Roman Army under Hadrian in 135 CE. Ancient Betar's ruins can be found at the archeological site of Khirbet al-Yahud (خربة اليهود), located about southwest of Jerusalem. It is located in the modern Palestinian village of Battir, which preserves Betar's ancient name. Excavations at the site have uncovered evidence of the Roman siege and destruction, such as defensive walls and arrowheads. The Israeli settlement and city Beitar Illit, named after the ancient city, is also located nearby. Bet tar in ancient Hebrew might mean the place of the blade, based on the variant spelling found in the Jerusalem Talmud (Codex Leiden), where the place name is written בֵּיתתֹּר, the name may have simply been a contraction of two words: בית + תר, 'bet + tor', meaning "the house of a dove." Alternatively, the name may have originated from a contraction of בית + יתר, ‘bet + Jether’, meaning “the house of Jether”; Jether was a Judean clan living in this area of the Judean Hills during the First Temple period. Betar was perched on a hill about southwest of Jerusalem. Deep valleys to the west, north, and east of the hill surround it. It was situated on a declivity that rises to an elevation of about above sea-level. The Roman road that connected Jerusalem with Beit Gubrin before going on to Gaza passed through the Valley of Rephaim, which is to the north. It connects by a saddle to another hill to the south, where the remains of the ancient Roman camps can still be seen from the air. The origins of Betar are likely in the Iron Age Kingdom of Judah. It is not mentioned in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, but is added in the Septuagint (Codex Sinaiticus) as one of the cities of the Tribe of Judah after Joshua 15:59.