The tombs of the Maccabees

The location of ancient Modi’in where the Hasmoneans lived and where their sepulcher was located are puzzles that have not been satisfactorily resolved. In this hike we will examine some of the possibilities. Understandably, this is a popular location on the festival of Chanukah.

First, though, in terms of the sepulcher, what are we looking for? The book of Maccabees describes Simon’s construction of the family’s sepulcher in the following words:

“Then sent Simon, and took the bones of Jonathan his brother and buried them in Modin, the city of his fathers. Simon also built a monument upon the sepulcher of his father and his brethren and raised it aloft to the sight, with hewn stone behind and before. Moreover, he set up seven pyramids, one against another, for his father, and his mother, and his four brethren. And in these he made cunning devices, about the which he set great pillars, and upon the pillars he made all their armor for a perpetual memory, and by the armor ships carved, that they might be seen of all that sail on the sea. This is the sepulcher which he made at Modin, and it stands yet to this day” (I Maccabees 18:25-30).

Clearly, the sepulcher was close to the ancient village of Modi'in and was in a prominent position such that it could be seen from the sea. These are the two major clues we have.

Time: About 1¼ hour total.

Distance: 2.9 Km.

Difficulty: This is an easy hike on gravel and dirt paths. There are no significant inclines.

Directions: Enter into Waze “קבורות המכבים” and click on “קבורות המכבים, Mevo Modi’Im.” This will take you to a parking lot and the start of the hike.

War memorial from Israel's War of Independence.

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THE HIKE:

From the parking lot go in the direction of the gravel path. You will soon notice on a rock on the right the sign קבורות המכבים. Turn to the right by this sign and you will notice a number of rock hewn tombs.

The association of these caves with the Maccabees was popularized by Jewish and Zionist movements in the late Ottoman and British Mandate periods. Hanukkah Pilgrimages were held during the early 20th century, and the site was used for Zionist rallies and ceremonies, emphasizing themes of Jewish resilience and independence. Groups would also hold memorials at the site, honoring the Hasmonean family and their contribution to Jewish history. However, despite the sign and the ceremonies, there is no evidence that these were the Maccabee’s burial sepulcher, although they are probably from the Second Temple period.

Continue on the main path and you will come to a memorial to fighters who lived in this area and died in Israel’s War of Independence. The concrete pillars are shaped like pyramids, as were the tombs of the Maccabees.

[This side-turn is optional, as it is to view some burial chambers that are not related to the Maccabees. Continue along the path at the far left of the plaza. It soon becomes paved. At the T-junction at its end, take the left fork along a path that runs parallel to Route 433. Soon, you will notice a gap in the fence on your right. Go through this gap and descend on the wooden steps. At the bottom are tombs from mainly the Byzantine period.]

Return to the parking lot the way you came.

Turn to the left. As you walk along this path, you will notice an Arab village on your right within the territory of the Palestinian Authority area. It is just beyond the wadi of Nahal Modi'in and the security fence and is called El-Midyeh. The similarity in name could indicate that it is related to the original Modi’in. The ruins of ancient El-Midyeh are a bit beyond this village, and you will soon be visiting them.

When the path comes to a T-junction, turn left and go up the hill. You will eventually come to another T-junction. Turn left here. When you come to a T-junction turn right by a sign in the direction שער דדומים. Despite not being paved in this section, this is Route 4466, which is the entrance road from which you turned into the parking lot. You will soon come to a domed structure on your right. There may be quite a lot of cars parked on the side of the road.

This is a tomb of a sheik, Sheikh Gharbawi (the sheik of the west), and this place is called Horbat Ha-Gardi. It was erected on the ruins of a large building from the Byzantine period, but coins from the Hasmonean period have also been found here. The building was adopted by the Breslov Hassidim and they are the ones who put the tombstone for Matityahu, son of Yochanan the High Priest here. Many people consider this to be no more than an Arab tomb. However, it was built on an impressive Byzantine building in this area, which is even shown on the Madaba map in Jordan as being Modi’in. It is not out of the question that this was built by early Christians on a Hasmonean structure, and this could have been the Hasmonean sepulcher. However, direct proof is still lacking,

Turn back along route 4466 until you come to the turning for the parking lot and your car.

Sheik's tomb adopted by the Breslov Hassidim as the tomb of the Maccabees. It is probably on top of the subterranean Hasmonean sepulcher.

Byzantine tombs which have nothing to do with the Hasmoneans and can be seen on a side-trip.

THE MACCABEAN REVOLT AND THE STORY OF CHANUKAH

The Hellenistic period of Jewish history followed Alexander the Great’s bloodless conquest of Judea in 322 BCE. Alexander died at a young age and his vast empire was split up between his generals. The Ptolemaic kingdom was centered in Egypt and the Seleucid kingdom in Syria and Babylon. Judea was in the middle and the two kingdoms struggled for its control over the next 150 years. Judea was originally under the control of the Ptolemaic Empire, but then passed to the Seleucid Empire. Following his death, Seleucius was succeeded by his brother Antiochus IV, the villain of the Chanukah story.

The story surrounding the Jewish festival of Chanukah is about the struggle of Judea against two enemies – an external enemy, the Seleucid Empire, and an internal enemy, Hellenized Jews, many of whom wished to bring Greek ways into Judea.

The Greek way of life was the antithesis of Judaism, but was attractive to many Jews. Its focus was on the centrality of man and the human body, and included physical sports, nudity, lack of sexual restraint, warfare, and also literature, drama, poetry and architecture. The Greeks believed in a pantheon of squabbling gods, and although this belief was waning among the intelligentsia, the worship of these gods was culturally important.

Antiochus appointed high priests to the Temple and they brought in pagan practices. The Temple riches were raided and Antiochus began a campaign to stamp out Jewish practices and supplant them with pagan worship. Why did he do this? It could be that he considered Judaism a threat to the homogeneity of his empire. An interesting suggestion is that belief in Greek paganism was waning and Judaism was becoming attractive to many people in his empire. Mass conversions would have been a threat to the Greek Empire.

When Greek soldiers approached the village of Modi’in in 166 BCE, Mattisyahu ben Yochanan killed the Jew who was about to worship at the pagan altar set up in the town square and the soldiers sent to the town. With his words “Whoever is for God – let him come to me!” the revolt against the Syrian Greeks and their Hellenist supporters had begun.

An army of 6,000 volunteers gathered in the Judean Desert. Mattisyahu was an old man and he died a year after initiating the rebellion, but his sons continued the struggle. Leadership of the Jewish army passed to Judah Maccabee (Judeus Maccabeus). He was singularly successful in defeating a number of armies sent by the Seleucids despite being outnumbered in these battles. Eventually, he was able to liberate Jerusalem and purify the Temple. However, this was not the end of this struggle and 5 years after liberating the Temple he was killed in battle and Jewish forces were forced to abandon Jerusalem. Leadership of the revolt now passed in turn to his brothers Yochanan, Yonathan and Shimon. It was not until 137 BCE that Shimon was able to assert complete control over Judea. The Maccabean dynasty lasted until Herod the Great came to power in 37 BCE as an agent of Rome as a result of a civil wall between the Hasmonean brothers Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II.

Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, commemorates the miracle of the purified oil which lasted for 8 days following the purification of the Temple, even though there was sufficient for one day only. Chanukah is also the festival of Jewish independence, and commemorates the tenacity of the Jewish people in their fight to gain autonomy and preserve the Jewish faith. The nationalistic aspects of this holiday have understandably been somewhat downplayed during the long Jewish exile when the Jewish people were living among different nations. There are good reasons, though, that this should again be emphasized. It needs to be remembered that military victories, just as flasks of oil, are miraculous happenings.

Is the sepulcher of the Maccabees in Hurbat HaGardi?

The similarity of the name of the Arab village El-Midyah to Modi’in is a clue that we may be close to the ancient Modi’in. However, ancient El-Midya was not here, but to the west of this village and on the other side of the valley in an area known as Hurbat Hammam. This is close to Mevo Modi’in, which is on the other side of Route 443.

Hurbat HaGardi is on an elevation to the north of Hurbat Hammam. This site was excavated in the late 1800s and a sepulcher-like structure was revealed. Victor Guerin, the French archeologist wrote: “The whole plan of the edifice revealed itself to me. It was built east and west and seven sepulchral chambers build side by side, of cut stones, and each contained a grave cut in the rock, the bottom of which was inlaid with mosaic work, were surmounted by a series of seven pyramids arranged in the same line, and standing each on the roof of its own chamber. The rectangle, 91 feet long and 15 feet 6 inches broad, formed by these pyramids, was itself surrounded by a porch sustained on the monolithic columns, all with the same diameter viz 1 foot 6 inches. Here were the remains of the colonnade. . . At daybreak I found that I could see very plainly the ships in the port of Jaffa; consequently, one could see from Jaffa the great mausoleum on this hill, with its seven pyramids and its portico.” Guerin was convinced that he had found the sepulcher of the Maccabees.

In 1871, another French archeologist Clermont-Ganneau, conducted a 6-day excavation, this being the most comprehensive excavation of the site. He found an impressive rectangular structure with four non-communicating chambers. He was unable to identify a definitive pyramid. He found burial troughs, either rock-hewn or built along the walls of the chamber. He also found sections of mosaic pavement. A colorful mosaic in the bottom of the eastern trough was adorned with a cross. Because of this, he considered the entire structure to be Christian and from the Byzantine period. Nevertheless, he could not be ruled out that this Christian building was built on top of a Maccabean structure.

These excavations were not preserved, the site was neglected, and building blocks were plundered by nearby Arab villagers. The site was also used as a outpost during the 1948 War of Independence and trenches disturbing the ruins can still be seen.

The question needs to be asked — why would the Christians have an interest in a Maccabean sepulcher?. The two Books of Maccabees were written in Hebrew, although only the Greek translation is available to us. 1 Maccabees was likely written about 50 to 70 years after the Maccabean revolt (which was from 167 to 160 BCE). It chronicles the details of the revolt, starting with the persecution under Antiochus IV Epiphanes and ending with the consolidation of power by Simon Maccabeus. 2 Maccabees was written a bit after 1 Maccabees. it does not cover the entire revolt, but highlights key events and their religious and theological dimensions. Neither book is part of the canon of Judaism, but they are included in the Apocrypha. However, these books were included in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible, and thereby entered into the Christian canon. The Maccabean Revolt was much admired by the Christians as a victorious battle against a world power, and this might explain their honoring and retiling these Maccabean crypts.

Excavations were carried out again in 2006 by Amit Re’em of the Israel Antiquities Authority and he confirmed earlier excavations. Ground penetrating radar and frequency domain electromagnetism showed the presence of a large subterranean cavity beneath the sheik’s tomb. Testing between the sheik’s tomb and the northern embankment also revealed dense architecture and underground divided cavities. It was appreciated that the dimensions of the structure were much larger than revealed by prior excavations. Re’em concluded that the structure evidences a tomb of “magnificent splendor, built according to the best Jewish traditions i.e., a rock-hewn tomb, a patrimony in which changes were made over the course of the generations, the Hellenistic tradition, i.e., a tomb including exedrae and architectural decorations, and the Egyptian tradition, i.e., it was probably covered with a pyramid that marks the ‘nefesh” or soul.”

Watch a short YouTube movie about his latest excavations by Re’em: