place · L0102
Beitar ביתר
Fortified hilltop town southwest of Jerusalem, Bar Kokhba's last stronghold. Its fall (traditionally on 9 Av, 135 CE) ended the revolt; rabbinic tradition mourns Beitar alongside the destruction of the Temple.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- ביתר
- Also known as
- Betar, Beththera, Khirbet el-Yahud
III. Where
- Modern location
- Khirbet el-Yahud, beside the village of Battir, southwest of Jerusalem, West Bank
IV. What
- Events
- Bar Kokhba Revolt
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient Beitar is identified with Khirbet el-Yahud ("ruin of the Jews") beside the village of Battir, which preserves the name; the small tell carries a hastily built fortification wall of the revolt period. | archaeology | ★★★★☆ | |
| Remains of the Roman siege of Beitar survive: a circumvallation wall with siege camps around the hill, ballista stones and arrowheads, and a rock-cut Latin inscription near the spring of Battir naming detachments of the legions V Macedonica and XI Claudia. | archaeology | ★★★★☆ | |
| The Mishnah counts the capture of Beitar among the calamities of the Ninth of Av, and Talmudic aggadah mourns its fall and the slaughter of its inhabitants at the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt. | rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| Eusebius records that the war reached its climax at Beththera, a strongly fortified town not far from Jerusalem, besieged in the eighteenth year of Hadrian. | external | ★★★★☆ |
Referenced by: Bar Kokhba Revolt