Al-Qaryatayn, Palestine

Khirbet al-Qaryatayn (also spelled el-Qaryatein in the southern Hebron Hills) is a ruin c. 20 km south of Hebron and a few kilometres southeast of as-Samuʿ.^[1][2][3]

It is identified with Biblical Kerioth, allotted to Judah in the Negeb (Joshua 15:25).^[4] Some traditions connect the epithet "Iscariot" with "man of Kerioth," though this remains debated in scholarship and is not decisive for locating the site.^[4][5]

Toponymy and identification

The Arabic name al-Qaryatayn ("the two villages/townships") and Hebrew Qeriyyot ("towns/cities") reflect the same Semitic root (Q-R-Y), supporting the long-noted identification of Judah’s Kerioth-Hezron with Khirbet al-Qaryatayn/Tel Qeriyyot in the southern Hebron Hills.^[1][3][2]

History

The ruin at Khirbet al-Qaryatayn/Tel Qeriyyot preserves multi-period remains (rock-cut installations, building foundations, cisterns, tombs; Byzantine-period architecture has been reported).^[6] It is identified with קְרִיּוֹת (Hebrew: Qərîyyōṯ, "cities/towns"), mentioned in the Bible as town allotted to Judah in the Negeb (Joshua 15:25).^[4][7]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted el-Kuryetein as a ruin located south of Jabal al-Khalil.^[8]

Kereiten appears on Van de Velde's map of Palestine, charted in 1851-1852, and published in 1858.

According to the 1870s Survey of Western Palestine, Khurbet el Kureitein comprised "traces of a large ruin and caves," and was "apparently a large town." The surveyors recorded ruins extending at least 180 metres in circumference, with houses, caves, cellars cut in the rock, and the remains of a Christian church. Numerous stone heaps and marked cisterns were also noted, along with the remains of a large square structure measuring 37 paces each side.^[9]

Local and regional gazetteers (e.g., Mustafa al-Dabbagh) describe ruins at the site, including remains of walls, a broken column, caves and cisterns; the nearby "Khirbet Umm al-Qaryatayn" (also called Khirbet Maʿid) preserves additional foundations and enclosures.^[10]

Former residents of al-Qaryatain and their descendants continue to maintain traditions of cave dwelling and agriculture, which are seen as an important part of the intangible heritage of the South Hebron Hills.^[11]

1948 and depopulation

Al-Qaryatain was destroyed in 1948 during the Arab–Israeli War. According to survivors interviewed in later oral history projects, Israeli tanks bulldozed the village’s houses and displaced its inhabitants, who subsequently sought refuge in nearby caves in Susya.^[11]

Subsequent decades saw limited re-use of the lands (forestation and agricultural activities in the wider area); the site itself remains a ruin (khirbet).^[12][10] See also on-site photographs and satellite views documenting the remains and surroundings.^[13][14][10]

See also

• As-Samu
• Hebron Hills