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Biblical Tamar (aka Ein Hazeva): Renewed Excavations 2005-2009
Dr. Craig D. Bowman
Rochester College, Michigan

Tamar is located on a main junction at the northern border of the Arabah Valley, approximately 30 miles
southwest of the Dead Sea. In addition to several strata of ruins, a prominent feature of the site is the
spring of Ein Hazeva (the strong spring) at the base of a huge jujube tree (ziziphus spina-christi) adjacent
to the gate complex of the 9

century BC fortress. Ancient and modern highways meet at this junction:

the Aqrabbim trail, the Zin river route, the Arabah road, the Nahal Amaztiah trail, and the road to Ein
Yahav and Petra. Well established trade and travel routes across the Arabah and northern Negev
Highlands converged at Tamar.

The earliest archaeological survey results regarding Tamar date to 1902 and the efforts of the Czech
Alois Musil who often traveled in Arab dress, and under the name of Sheikh Musa er-Rweili. The site plan
from Musil suggests that the Roman era fortress at the top of the tel was exposed, revealing its corner
tower foundations. Even today contemporary guidebooks often direct visitors to the site with a description
of the 2

century CE Roman fortress without mentioning the previous thousand years of occupation and

the ruins that attest to it.

Musil topographic plan, 1902

Woolley and Lawrence (The Wilderness of Zin, 1936) and Gluek (Rivers in the Desert: A History of the
Negev, 1959) refer to Tamar/Hazeva as Ain Hosb, assessing the site as the central gateway from Edom

nd Arabia enroute to Beersheba and Ashkelon for incense and copper trade.

a

In 1987 members of the philanthropic Christian organization Blossoming Rose encouraged and financed
a large-scale excavation of the site that continued through 1996. Led by IAA (Israel Antiquity Authority)
archaeologists Rudolph Cohen and Yigal Israel, the ten-year excavation and restoration activity revealed
eight significant strata ranging in date from the Solomonic 10

century BC to the Islamic and British

periods of the 7

and 20

centuries CE. The ruins and surrounding property, known as Biblical Tamar

Park, are still managed by Blossoming Rose, which maintains lodging and staffs a kitchen to house and
feed the volunteers who come to excavate and earn certificates in restoration methods from the IAA.
Teaming with Blossoming Rose, Rochester College (Michigan) and Austin Graduate School of Theology
sponsored the renewed excavation seasons starting in 2005. During the last 4 years the focus of the
excavation and restoration has been exclusively the 10

century BC fortress thought to date to the time of

ing Solomon, who according to 1 Kings 9:18, built “Tamar in the wilderness.”

K

The identification of Tamar with this particular site is based on Biblical, Roman, and Byzantine sources.
Tamar is mentioned in the description of the southern border of the Promised Land between the Dead
Sea and the Scorpion’s Ascent (Aqrabbim Pass) [Numbers 34:4, Joshua 15:3, and Judges 1:36]. The
later sources start with Ptolemaeus’ list (Ptolemy; CE 90-168).