Bir Haram ar Rameh (Ramet al-Khalil)

Located on the northern edge of Hebron city, 3 kilometers north of the old city of Hebron, this site is located on a mountain 915 meters above sea level. Even though the environment of the site is spoiled by the urban expansion of the city, the ruins of the excavated church which constitute the site still remain untouched, even though the site boundaries are somewhat vague. The site was first mentioned by Josephus Flavius. He wrote about the legend of an oak named Ogyges not far from the city of Hebron, near where Ibrahim (Abraham) lived. Hyrcanus conquered the place in 128 BC. King Herod built a huge construction with a massive wall as a place to live for the Edomites. A marble statue of Dionysus and an altar bearing the name of the Edomite god Qos were found. Massive stone altars were used for the building.

In 130 AD Hadrian destroyed the site and the wall but rebuilt the wall using the same stones. He also built a temple which was transformed into a Christian basilica during the period of the Emperor Constantine in the 4 century AD. This basilica was so important that it was shown on the 6 century Madaba map. The basilica of Constantine is the earliest of its kind in Palestine. The church was probably destroyed during the Persian invasion in 614 AD, but it has been rebuilt. Large quantities of Roman Byzantine pottery have been recovered including hundreds of coins.

Source: Endangered cultural heritage sites, Palestinian ministry of planning and international cooperation, February 1999.