Khirbat Khuwweikha (Kafr Kanna): Hiding Complexes from the Roman and Early Byzantine Periods in the Jewish Galilee

Decades of research on Roman-period hiding complexes in the Galilee have identified 85 such complexes to date. Like the hiding complexes found in Judea, they were used as places of refuge during periods of distress under Roman rule in the country. Extensive archaeological excavations conducted in the hiding complex at Khirbat Khuwweikha, near Kafr Kanna and northwest of Nazareth, have yielded impressive finds, including pottery, glassware, metal items, coins, an ostracon and bones. Such a large quantity of diagnostic finds is rare in Galilean hiding complexes, and the assemblage attests to the use of the complex by Jews during three different periods of distress: the Great Revolt (66–70 CE), the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136 CE) and the Gallus Revolt (351–352 CE). This article presents new archaeological evidence for the use of hiding complexes during the final period of Jewish resistance to Roman rule, thus shedding light on an event for which written evidence is sparse.