Bersabe

There are no surviving written records on the fate of the town's defenders, although Josephus alludes to it in his ''Life's Autobiography (§ 65) where he writes: “...I was in the power of the Romans before Jerusalem was besieged, and before the same time, Jotapata was taken by force, as well as many other fortresses, and a great many of the Galileans fell in the war.” Elsewhere, Josephus writes (The Jewish War'' 4.7) that after the fall of Tarichaea, all but two of the rebel fortresses and strongholds surrendered to the Roman army. This would have happened in the second year of the war, in the 13th year of Nero's reign, sometime between the capture of Jotapata (in the lunar month of Tammuz) and the capture of Tarichaea (in the month of Elul that same year), and which effectually brought an end to the war in Galilee. The usual Roman procedure in cases involving open rebellion was to kill the able-bodied men who rose up in rebellion, but to sell into slavery all captive women and children. == Archaeological finds ==

Potsherds from the Iron Age, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Arab periods have been found on the site. Mordechai Aviam who excavated the site has noted that the ancient ruin has yielded large quantities of "Galilean Coarse Ware" (GCW) and other Hellenistic and Early Roman shards and coins. Coins found at the site date from the fourth century BCE to the second century CE. Unidentified razed structures and rock-cut cisterns are scattered across the hilltop. The site also abounds with karstic caves. Another discovery consists of a fragmented bronze base along with the preserved foot of a statuette depicting the Egyptian bull deity Apis. The base features a trilingual inscription in Hebrew/Aramaic, Hieroglyphic, and Greek. Pottery found at the site proves the continuation of the settlement deep into the 3rd century CE. == Further reading ==

File:Hill of Bersabe as seen from West side.jpg|The hill of Bersabe (Kh. Abu esh-Sheba) from western side File:Hill of Bersabe - from the north.jpg|Khirbet Abu esh-Sheba (Bersabe) seen from northern side File:General view as seen from Kh. Abu esh-Sheba (Bersabe).jpg|View from Bersabe in Galilee File:Slope of Hill Bersabe (Kh. Abu esh-Sheba).jpg|Steep ascent to Khirbet Abu esh-Sheba (Bersabe) File:Cave at Bersabe (Kh. Abu Sheba).jpg|Cave at Bersabe (Kh. Abu esh-Sheba) File:Stone Wall - Bersabe.jpg|Old wall in Bersabe File:Stone wall at Bersabe.jpg|Ruins of Bersabe File:Tomb at Bersabe.jpg|Tomb carved from rock at Bersabe File:Pit at Bersabe (Kh. Abu Sheba).jpg|Pit at Bersabe (Khirbet Abu esh-Sheba) File:Khirbet Abu Sheba (Bersabe).jpg|Ruins at Bersabe File:House in Farradiyya with Kh. Abu Sheba in background.jpg|Hilltop ruin of Khirbet Abu esh-Sheba as seen from Farradiyya File:Earthenware relic from Bersabe.jpg|Loom weight discovered in Khirbet Abu esh-Sheba File:Bersabe seen from Old Kefar Hananiah.jpg|Hilltop ruin of Bersabe as seen from Kafr 'Inan == References ==