| Khirbet Ghuwein al-Tahta | |||||||||||||||||||
| Native Name: | خربة غويين التحتا | ||||||||||||||||||
| Native Name Lang: | ar | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other Name: | Horvat Anim (חורבת ענים) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Settlement Type: | Ruin / archaeological hamlet | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pushpin Map: | Israel | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within Israel | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates: | 31.3536°N 35.0635°W | ||||||||||||||||||
| Subdivision Type: | Country | ||||||||||||||||||
| Subdivision Name: | Israel | ||||||||||||||||||
| Subdivision Type1: | District | ||||||||||||||||||
| Subdivision Name1: | Southern District | ||||||||||||||||||
| Unit Pref: | metric | ||||||||||||||||||
| Population Total: | Uninhabited (ruins) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Timezone1: | IST | ||||||||||||||||||
| Utc Offset1: | +2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Timezone1 Dst: | IDT | ||||||||||||||||||
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Blank Name Sec1: | Also known as | ||||||||||||||||||
| Blank Info Sec1: | Khirbet Ghuwein et-Taḥta; Lower Ḥorvat Anim | ||||||||||||||||||
| Module: |
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Horvat Anim (Hebrew: Hebrew: חורבת ענים) or Khirbet Ghuwein al-Tahta (Arabic: Arabic: خربة غويين التحتا, “Lower Ghuwein”) is a ruined hamlet and archaeological locality in the southern fringes of the Hebron Hills, within Israel’s Southern District, inside the Yatir Forest. The site is identified with the lower of the two historical settlements known as Anim/Anaia from Biblical times and Late Antiquity and preserves the remains of the Anim Synagogue.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Lower Anim lies on a rocky hill within the Yattir uplands at the northern edge of the Negev. The ruins area is studded with caves, water cisterns, stone fences, and rock-cut installations typical of dry-farming landscapes in the southern Judean hills.[6]
Scholars identify Lower Anim with the Jewish settlement mentioned by Eusebius as Anaia, pairing it with a Christian counterpart at Upper Anim (Arabic: Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa) nearby.[7] The site preserves caves, cisterns and architectural remains that 19th-century explorers described in detail.[8]
Nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century surveys record the location as an Arab hamlet/ruin known as Khirbet Ghuwein et-Tahta (Lower Ghuwein). In 1838, Edward Robinson and noted al-Ghuwein as a ruin located southwest of el-Khulil.[9] In the 1870s, Survey of Western Palestine recorded Khurbet el Ghuwein et Taḥta as consisting of “traces of ruins and caves.”[10]
The surrounding area formed part of the southern Hebron/Judean hills rural economy based on field crops, cisterns and seasonal cave dwellings.[11] [12]
Following 1949, the site has lain within Israel and today is encompassed by the Yatir Forest recreational area; the ruins are accessible by marked trails.[13]
Archaeological remains of a rectangular, basilical synagogue (approx. 14.5 × 8.5 m) date its main phase to the 4th–7th centuries CE, with later conversion to a mosque in the early Islamic period. Excavations by Z. Ilan and Dan Urman (1988–89) reported standing hewn-stone walls to c. 3.5 m, an eastern entrance with preserved lintels, traces of a mosaic pavement beneath a later stone floor, and inscription fragments.[14] [15] The synagogue at Lower Anim is paired historically with a Byzantine-era church on the hill east of Upper Anim, reflecting the Christianisation patterns of the South Hebron Hills in Late Antiquity.[16] [17]
Historical surveys list the locus as an Arab hamlet/ruin (khirbet) named Khirbet Ghuwein et-Tahta (Lower Ghuwein). Remains include rock-hewn cisterns, terraces and caves indicative of seasonal agro-pastoral use; the site today is uninhabited within Yatir Forest.[18] [19] [20]
