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ARTICLE |
The Hot Springs of Kallirrhoe
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| Madaba Map The discovery of the Madaba map confirmed the site's identification. On it the Baths of Kallirrhoe are placed near the Dead Sea, between two large watercourses which discharge into it, the southern one representing Wadi Mujib, and the northern one Wadi Zerqa Ma'in. Under the legend THERMA KALLIROES, the thermes of Kallirrhoe, three pool-like buildings or spring houses and two palm trees are shown. On the left is a round pool or spring enclosed by a rounded wall, with the water emptying into the Dead Sea. It is followed by a square building with an apse and an outlet for the water on the west side. The third construction on the right is fed by a water course originating at the foot of the mountains. It seems to run through a basin or pool with a dividing wall. The representation shows a mixture of styles: the round pool on the left and the bisected building on the right are both viewed from above, as is the square basin in the middle, while the apse of this structure is depicted from the front, the same as the two palm trees. The hot springs of Baarou are placed on the Madaba map slightly northeast of the Baths of Kallirrhoe. The label [BA]AROU runs across a stream, flowing down from the mountains to the sea, originating as it seems just behind the inscription. This position corresponds to the hot springs of Hammam ez-Zarqa or Hammamat Ma'in, the sources which provide most of the waters of the stream. Although the first two letters of the inscription are missing 1 - it can be identified with the ancient name of Barou, a small river refered to by Eusebius in connection with a very large village [Beelmeon] "near the hot springs of Baras in Arabia" (Onomastikon 44:22; 112:17). 2 Josephus describes the place called Baarou or Baaras: "In the ravine [Wadi Zerqa Ma'in] which encloses the town on the north [Machaerus], there is a place called Baaras, which produces a root bearing the same name". After describing the mysterious properties of the plant he continues: "In this same region flow hot springs, in taste widely differing from each other, some being bitter, while others have no lack of sweetness. Many springs of cold water also gush up...". At the end he mentions a cave screened by a projecting rock, from which on one side extremely cold water runs down and on the other extremely hot water, and the sulphur and alum mines in the district (Jewish War VII, 180-189). This description clearly refers to the hot springs of Hammamat Ma'in, situated in the narrow and fissured Wadi Zerqa Ma'in about 4 km inland. Until the discovery of the Madaba map many scholars regarded the thermes of Zerqa Ma'in as identical with the Baths of Kallirrhoe. However, Josephus did not mention "Kallirrhoe", but used the term topos. Moreover, its waters do not flow directly into the lake Asphaltitis, but form a river that descends into the sea. The most precise description of the place called "Ba'ar, where are the thermes" is given in the account of Peter the Iberian, who visited the hot springs at the end of the fifth century A.D. 3 The description of the site corresponds to the one given by Josephus: "The deep wadi is enclosed from all sides by high cliffs, the air filled with the steam of the very hot water, which not only gushes up from the ground, but also pours down in hot waterfalls and a series of lower cascades". He also mentions the cave, where the two water sources, one very hot and the other cold, run into a sort of bath-like pool. According to that account, there were no houses built in the middle of the valley, but mere reed huts. These were used during the winter time, the only period when the baths could be used without discomfort, due to the extreme heat and the flies prevalent during the other seasons . 4 The text of a house sale deed from a village named Kefar Baru or Bari has recently been published. 5 The fragmentary document, most probably originating from the Judaean Desert caves, was composed in the third year of the Bar Kokhba Revolt in the village of Baru or Bari and deals with the sale of a house there. The village has been tentatively identified with a settlement Manyat Umm Hasan above the hot springs of Hammamat Ma'in ca. 5 km northwest of Machaerus. Could the above mentioned placenames Baaras, Ba'ar, or Baarou on the Madaba map, possibly refer to the village named Baru mentioned in the house sale deed document? Here we are faced with the question: does the representation on the Madaba map reflect a naturalistic or realistic rendering of the two sites? For the discussion we shall briefly present the results of archaeological surveys and excavations carried out at ez-Zara - ancient Kallirrhoe - while to our knowledge, the site of Hammamat Ma'in and the surrounding area have so far not been investigated. The oasis of ez-Zara is divided into two parts, ez-Zara North and ez-Zara South, each one extending about 1.5 km along the coast and separated from each other by a broad ridge of the escarpment reaching down to the lake. The center of the Early Roman baths of Kallirrhoe was restricted to the northern part of the oasis. It has a semicircular setting with rising terraces in the interior and a scenic mountainous background reaching up to the Moab plateau. The interior is shaped by about 40 different perennial fault springs, while nearer the shore the lowest shelving terrace is followed by a strip of pebble beach, gently sloping towards the sea. Today, modern irrigation have changed the landscape, and the oasis is now projected as a new development area for a modern spa. |
| Archaeological Remains Excavations on the lower rock terrace have provided evidence of two periods of occupation: the Early Roman and the Early Byzantine. The earliest occupation dates from the reign of Herod the Great (the end of the first century B.C.) to the end of the first century A.D. The second, the Early Byzantine period, dates from the middle of the fourth century to the end of the fifth century A.D. 6 A large villa was excavated in Area I that can be compared with the residences of the last Hasmonaeans on the western side of the Dead Sea and Herod's palaces in Jericho, which served as pleasant country houses during the cold season. The Early Roman date was confirmed by further excavations of two other building complexes that seem to represent either private country houses or larger farmsteads, situated beside perennial streams and surrounded by small estates or farmland. More building complexes and farming installations have been recorded by recent surveys. 7 The most extensive ruins however are situated on the shore (Site I). Because it is situated close to the waterfront, it seems logical to speak of an ancient harbour or anchorage place at Kallirrhoe. We know of other harbor installations on the Dead Sea, Rujm el-Bahr and Qasr el-Yahud, both of which are sites which seem less important than ez-Zara. On the other hand, the ruins seem much too large and extensive for a small harbour installation. Already Heidet in 1908 suggested that the thermal baths should be searched for in the beach area, an idea that Donner later took up. The ruins visible on the surface, 8 may have belonged to one building complex, the western part was a sort of small harbour or anchorage place and colonnaded halls with wide steps led from the harbour to thermal bath establishments and other buildings further up on the shore. Rescue excavationsat Site I in February 1997 by the Jordanian Department of Antiquities (Saad Hadidi, Mohammad Waheeb) have only strengthened the impression of an outstanding building complex. The only site that has so far yielded the lay-out of a bath-house or pool is a huge projecting rock on the lower cliff (Site IV). The rock, called el-Medes, "bath-place, shower", is heavily eroded but still shows signs of human working on its east side. Abel and Donner regard it as an open rock-cut pool or "nymphaion" with an inlet channel for the thermal water on the east and an outlet to the west. Summary of the archaeological and historical evidence Kallirrhoe was conceived as a garden city or spa planned in connection with Herod's building activities at Jericho and the rebuilding of the palace-fortress of Machaerus. Furnished with a small harbour or anchorage place, Kallirrhoe offered the connecting link between the two sites. Thermal baths and recreation centers were built close to the seashore, where the hot springs gushed into the Dead Sea, and access was easy for convalescent or sick guests arriving by boat. Villas and farmhouses were situated on the lower terraces and within the oasis, close to watercourses and surrounded by arable land, a small private domain, planted with trees and vegetables. Alternatively, the oasis may have been a royal estate that provided important revenues for the king. Blessed with plenty of water, arable land and an almost tropical climate, the site was well suited for the cultivation of the famous date palms and aromatic plants. During the first century A.D., the site continued as a well-known spa and recreation center, and probably also accumulated wealth through the export of its agricultural products and of bitumen extracted from the Dead Sea. The finds show that the site depended on commerce and resources from the Judaean capital and other contemporary Judaean sites on the western side of the Dead Sea, while contacts also existed with the Nabataean realm. Kallirrhoe was abandoned and destroyed, like Machaerus, at the end of the First Jewish Revolt. |
| The Byzantine Period After a gap of about 300 years, Kallirrhoe was partly resettled. The archaeological excavation in Area II yielded occupation in part of the ruined Building A. Although architectural remains of the Early Byzantine period were poorly preserved, numismatic and ceramic finds date the occupation to the second half of the fourth and the fifth centuries. So far we have no evidence of any reoccupation of the other sites of the oasis, and we conclude that the occupation in the Early Byzantine period was much more sparse than during the Early Roman period. It was perhaps connected with some farming and trade across the Dead Sea. Typical sixth-seventh century pottery and coins have not yet been found. It seems that after the fifth century the site was abandoned and never rebuilt, except for a few Bedouin shelters used during the farming and harvesting seasons. Conclusion: Is the the mosaicist's representation on the Madaba map realistic, schematic or symbolic? The rendering of the course of Wadi Zerqa Ma'in is in part a rather realistic representation and in part a non-realistic one. According to Donner, 9 the mosaicist must have had an excellent knowledge of the region, because he probably came from Madaba or lived in or around Madaba. Only with such a familiarity of the region could he have depicted the run of the Wadi Zerqa Ma'in realistically from a north-south to an east-west direction and placed the site's name at the beginning of its lower course, where the hot springs (and the village of Baru?) are situated. However, the continuation does not match reality, the wadi leaving the mountains does not pass through a wide plain but the waters gush through a deep canyon into the Dead Sea. Donner's explanation is that from the old road leading down from Ma'in to the hot springs of Baaras, the mouth of the Wadi Zerqa Ma'in is visible "as a wavy plain carved by the gorge of the Wadi, very similar to what is shown on the map". 10 If the mosaicist had used the old road leading down from Ma'in, he would have remembered this impression. On the other hand, why did the mosaicist use just the name of BAAROU and not the full name THERMA BAAROU and a vignette for the baths similar to those of Kallirrhoe? Have letters and vignette perhaps been destroyed with the adjacent part of the mosaic now missing? Or was the vignette omitted, because there was no space left on the map, or there were no bathhouses or pools at the site of Baarou? The accounts of Josephus and Peter the Iberian refer to a natural pool with hot and cold water but mention no further accommodations. No ancient ruins have been mentioned by visitors, although the hot springs at Hamamat Ma'in were accessible by road from Ma'in and Madaba and frequented through all periods. Until the recent discovery of the document mentioning a village with the name of Baru, "Kefar Baru", the name of BAAROU or BAARAS was remembered as having a rather bad reputation. Situated near the Iron Mountain as the region of the metalliferous mountains was called in ancient Jewish literature, the area was considered demoniac and the hot springs were representing the mouth of the Gehinom with a djin living under the mountains maintaining the fire to heat the waters. To turn to Kallirrhoe: could the pools under the caption THERMA KALLIRHOES, Thermes of Kallirrhoe, reflect contemporary structures of the sixth century and be identified with bath installations in the Byzantine period? Or were the Early Roman bath installations still in use, even though perhaps not intact during the sixth century? Since no permanent settlement of the sixth century has left substantial remains in the oasis, there was no permanent occupation at Kallirrhoe during the later Byzantine period. However, this does not exclude the possibility that the people living in the region paid occasional visits to the area in order to enjoy the curative waters even in their natural pools and waterfalls on the shore, as it occurs today. Alternatively, they may have been engaged in seasonal farming and harvesting. A few jar sherds found in surface soil and dated to the beginning of the sixth century may stem from such occasional visits or seasonal cultivation. While access roads to the hot springs of Baarou were practicable, the descent from the Moabite hinterland to Kallirrhoe/ez-Zara was more difficult. From Mishnaqa a long downward climb of more than 1000 m passed through the desolate and in part steep mountain cliffs. During Roman times a main road connected the site of 'Ain ez-Zara with inland Zerqa Ma'in and the palace-fortress of Machaerus, segments of which zigzagging along the slopes were observed by early travelers and can be discerned today. But we may assume that the roads were not maintained after the destruction of Machaerus and Kallirrhoe. Although during the fifth-sixth centuries the village of Mukawer close to Mishnaqa (Machaerus) developed into a pilgrim's site with churches dedicated to John the Baptist, it is difficult to imagine pilgrims venturing down from Mishnaqa to ez-Zara to take a curative bath in the hot springs. They probably preferred Baarou, as did Peter the Iberian, and used the road branching off halfway down from the path to ez-Zara. Since it seems that people during Byzantine times did not value the baths as much as the Romans did, why then should the mosaicist remember the hot baths of Kallirrhoe? Was Kallirrhoe perhaps remembered due to the historical account of Josephus about the visit of Herod the Great, who almost died in Kallirrhoe? Donner mentions the "well-stocked library in Madaba", which with high probability possessed the two works by Josephus, the Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities. 11 Can we identify any of the vignettes depicted under the caption of THERMA KALLIRHOES with an Early Roman structure recognizable today? Do the vignettes on the Madaba map indeed represent realistic buildings, bath-houses, remains of which could still be seen by the sixth century inhabitants from Madaba? Except for the rock-hewn basin of el-Medesh, the archaeological excavations and surveys have not yet revealed any other construction that could be identified with an Early Roman bathhouse. El-Medesh is regarded as a nymphaion and often identified with the apsidal building in the middle of the three vignettes, assuming that it had once been vaulted. Finally, we must consider a symbolic rendering, the vignettes representing symbolic patterns in the form of stylized representations, emphasizing simple natural rock-cut pools created by water or by a sort of dam, as indicated by the first and the third vignette. Was it not the purpose of the pictorial representations depicted on the Madaba map to evoke an association, an idea of a "bath" in the mind of the Byzantine inhabitants and visitors looking at the map? The same would apply to the two palm trees, which evoke an association of the fertile oasis with plenty of water, although in reality wild palm tree clusters still grow in the area and besides the hot streams. |
| NOTES 1. In 1903, Manfredi distinguished a second letter A at the beginning of the name, see Callirhoé et Baarou dans la mosaïque géographique de Madaba, RB 12, p. 268. 2. La mosaïque géographique de Mâdaba RB 6, p. 172. 3. Cf. R. Raabe, Petrus der Iberer. Leipzig 1895, pp. 87-90. 4. The travel of the bishop, however, took place during the spring, since he celebrated Ascension Day in the wadi. 5. M. Broshi and E. Qimron, A House Sale Deed from Kefar Baru from the Time of Bar Kokhba, IEJ 36, pp. 201-214. I thank N. Sagiv for drawing my attention to this fact. 6. The most recent publication: C. Clamer et al., Fouilles archéologiques de 'Ain ez-Zâra/Callirrhoé villégiature hérodienne, Beyrouth 1997. 7. Kh. 'Amr and Kh. Hamdan, ? ADAJ 40, 1996, pp. 434-445. 8. H. Donner, Kallirrhoë, ZDPV 79 (1963), pp. 59-89; H. Schult, Zwei Häfen aus römischer Zeit am Toten Meer, rugm el-bahr und el-beled (ez-zâra), ZDPV 82 (1966), pp. 139-148. 9. H. Donner, The Mosaic Map of Madaba, Kok Pharos, Kampen, 1992, p. 19. 10. ibid, p. 19. 11. ibid, pp. 24-25. |
| This contribution was first published in: The Madaba Map Centenary, Jerusalem 1999, 221-225. |
Created Saturday, December 16, 2000
at 11:11:43
by Eugenio Alliata ofm in collaboration with Stefano de Luca ofm
Webmaster: John Abela ofm - Space by courtesy of Christus Rex
© copyright - Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem 2000
by Eugenio Alliata ofm in collaboration with Stefano de Luca ofm
Webmaster: John Abela ofm - Space by courtesy of Christus Rex
© copyright - Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem 2000