Khirbet Fattir - Bet Gemal. Two Ancient Jewish and Christian Sites in Israel

Is the green and luscious hill of Bet Gemal, situated in the neighbourhood of the modern city Bet Shemesh and of the ancient town Yarmuth (Israel), a witness of the social and religious vicissitudes in the Second Temple period and, later, in the life of early Christians? Could it be considered the property of Gamaliel and the burial place of St. Stephen? For the last ten years prof. A. Strus, from Rome, has tried to deal with these questions of which here we have the historical and archaeological research. This work contains the results of the archaeological work performed during eight campaigns (1989-1998) on Khirbet Fattir site distant about 1,2 km east from the monastery of Beth Gemal. Within the same volume, the author also presents several data resulting from other contemporary discoveries relating to some Roman and Byzantine structures in Bet Gemal itself. The description of the work undertaken, of the structures and artefacts discovered, is completed by an attempt to historically interpret both sites within the late Roman, Byzantine and Early Umayyad periods. This volume sheds light on Jewish and Christian life in Palestine in the Second Temple period and after it. It also provides historical references that contribute to the research on the beginning of the devotion to St Stephen, so widespread in the Christian Orient in the fourth and fifth centuries.