# Ain el-Ghuweir

Ain el-Ghuweir (Arabic: Ain Al-Ghuwair) is an archaeological site located about 15 km south of Khirbet Qumran on the western shore of the Dead Sea. Here, a marshy area fed by numerous springs extends for about 2 km, which in the northern part has the Arabic name ʿAin el-Ghuweir, and in the southern part ʿAin at-Turaba. The modern Hebrew names are ʿEinot Qaneh (for Ghuweir) and ʿEinot Samar (for Turaba). The short gorge that opens into the valley of the Dead Sea at ʿAin el-Ghuweir is called Wadi Ghuweir in Arabic, and Naḥal Qaneh in modern Hebrew.
Nearby to the north, between Ain el-Ghuweir and Qumran, is also located a similar site of Ein Feshkha.

## Investigations

The archaeological sites on the western shore of the Dead Sea, including the ruins of Ayn el-Ghuweir, were investigated by Ian Blake from 1964 to 1966 on behalf of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem. Blake described a 350 m long wall parallel to the shoreline, and between the wall and the shore a building with a floor area of 7.5 × 10 m, which he interpreted as having three rooms and a courtyard. It had already been destroyed by fire in ancient times. In one of the rooms, Blake found household pottery, and in the fire debris of the doorway, he found the metal door knocker.
Between 1967 and 1976, the Israel Antiquities Authority carried out a comprehensive excavation of ʿAin el-Ghuweir under the direction of Pessah Bar-Adon.

## Iron Age period

Bar-Adon found remains of a settlement from the Iron Age II (8th/7th century BC), which he identified with the biblical place Nibshan. The most prominent feature was a 600 m long wall with 18 rooms attached to both sides, but mostly on the east side. One building with a floor area of 8 × 11 m (five rooms and an inner courtyard) served commercial purposes; the excavator suspected a perfume production site here.
The Iron Age ʿAyn al-Turaba in the southern part of the oasis was a fortified tower with a base area of 15 × 13 m, with a courtyard to the north. According to Bar-Adon, all buildings in the oasis were abandoned in the context of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Neo-Babylonians in 587/586 BC.
Since only one construction phase is known, but late Hellenistic-early Roman pottery was also found on the ground floor, Yizhar Hirschfeld argues that the entire structure should be dated to this later period.

## Hasmonean and Herodian periods

In the Hasmonean and Herodian periods (Khirbet Qumran, construction phases Ib and II), the oasis of ʿAin el-Ghuweir was inhabited again. A new settlement was built in addition to the reconstruction of the Iron Age ruins. This new complex comprised a walled area measuring 43 × 19.5 m. Inside was located a large rectangular courtyard (described by Bar-Adon as a hall) and a porch with a narrow rectangular ground plan, the roof of which was supported by wooden columns on stone bases. The walls were preserved to a height of up to 1.4 m, with an average height of about 70 cm. The finds included sack-shaped storage vessels, jars, household pottery, and lamps (including two of the Herodian type). Seven bronze coins were found on the floor: five coins of Herod, one of Herod Archelaus and one of Herod Agrippa I (i.e., between 37 BC and 44 AD).
Hirschfeld describes the building complex of ʿAyn el-Ghuweir during this period as a fortified estate with a characteristic combination of residential quarters and agricultural facilities. According to Bar-Adon, this was a communal building for meetings and ritual purposes of the Qumran Essenes, who themselves lived in tents, huts, and caves.
About 800 m north of the settlement, Bar-Adon examined a mound littered with pottery shards, where pottery and skeletal remains had been located. It was an ancient cemetery that bore a strong resemblance to the complex of Khirbet Qumran: the dead had been buried supine in a north–south orientation in shaft graves. In the graves of the northern group, skeletons of 12 men aged between 18 and 60/70 years and 6 women aged between 18 and 34 years were found; in the south there was the grave of a man and a child. A colored (red or purple) dust was often found on the bones. Next to the handle of a jar from Grave 18, the name was found in Hebrew letters. This made it clear to Bar-Adon that it was an ancient Jewish cemetery.
The settlement was destroyed by the Roman army during the Jewish War around 68 AD.