Ein Fashkhah
EIN FASHKHAH
EIN FASHKHAH (ʿEin Feshkha, Enot Ẓukkim ), brackish springs on the western shore of the Dead Sea, just over 2 miles (3 km.) south of Kh. *Qumran. The surrounding swamp, covering 1 km. in the 1950s, was crossed by both natural and artificial channels. The Ein Fashkhah springs fed a basin of 180–240 sq. yds. (150–200 sq. m.), up to 4 ft. (120 cm.) deep, with a maximum temperature of 27 degrees Celsius. The oasis has in recent times supported tall reeds, tamarisks, and oleanders. Today a wild nature reserve, this oasis is in danger of withering away with the recession of the Dead Sea and the fresh water aquifers along its perimeter, a condition that has also inhibited seasonal sweetwater springs (e.g., Ein et-Tannur/Tanourih, Ein Ghazal) furnishing what was a relatively fertile area between Ein Fashkhah and the Wadi Qumran. The water of Ein Fashkhah, drunk by Bedouin, animals, and European visitors of the 19th–20th centuries, as well as being the former home of five species of small fish, in 2001 was tested as having a fairly high salinity of 4.5 to 23 mS/cm.
The region of Ein Fashkhah was visited by Felicien de Saulcy in 1851, who identified ancient ruins. These were excavated in 1956 and 1958 by Roland de *Vaux, following his excavations at Kh. Qumran, and again in 2001 by Yitzhar Hirschfeld.
It is now clear that the first structure at Ein Fashkhah was an Iron Age ii fort, located south of the springs, associated with a string of forts (at Qumran, Kh. Abu Tabak, Kh. es-Samrah, and Kh. el-Maqari) which guarded the road from the Dead Sea to Jerusalem via the pass at the Wadi Qumran. A large isolated building (60 × 64 m.) dating to the Iron Age was discovered by de Vaux, close to the spring of Ein Ghazal.
North of the pool of Ein Fashkhah, a structure (18 × 24 m.) was constructed in the first century b.c.e. De Vaux believed there were traces from the period 100–31 b.c.e., but the entire building is now reassigned to the Herodian period (by both Magness and Hirschfeld), after 37 b.c.e. This structure comprised a courtyard with a rectangular building on three sides. The exterior walls are 1 m. thick. Later, two ground floor rooms were built in the west. These had an upper story, including a balcony. North of this structure was an installation most likely used as a date-wine press (so Netzer), though alternative proposals have identified it as being associated with tanning (de Vaux), fish farming (Zeuner), opobalsam processing (Hirschfeld), or indigo manufacture (Bélis). Water was fed to a reservoir next to this installation from a now extinct spring north of the site. In between the date-wine press and the reservoir channel was a paved area, as also to the southeast. South of the building was an animal pen (34 × 34 m.) with a stable running along the northern side.
A long wall running north from the settlement of Ein Fashkhah towards Qumran (identified east of the isolated Iron Age building by de Vaux) would suggest an estate enclosure, most likely for date-palm cultivation (cf. Pliny, Natural History 5:17, 4 (73)). The wall may have been begun as early as the Iron Age, though its appearance adjoining the Herodian settlement of Ein Fashkhah indicates it is contemporary here. The continuation of the wall into the area of the Qumran settlement appears to indicate a linked estate. Ein Fashkhah may have been occupied by the *Dead Sea sect, usually identified as *Essene, who could have employed the springpool as a natural mikveh. The pottery forms of Ein Fashkhah are virtually identical to forms found at Qumran during the same period of occupation, but large cylindrical jars have not been discovered here.
The Herodian complex at Ein Fashkhah was partly destroyed by fire after the Romans took control of this region in 68 c.e., though occupation continued after this on the north side of the main building. A coin of Domitian from Antioch (81–96 c.e.; locus 16) and a coin hoard of 17 coins of Agrippa II, dating from 78–95 c.e., were found, giving the terminus post quem for the abandonment of the settlement as 95 c.e. A single coin indicates that Bar Kokhba rebels may have camped here in 132–5 c.e.
In the Byzantine period there was occupation in the northeast corner of the stable (locus 20), probably for just one anchorite. This may be evidenced in the Pratum Spirituale of John Moschus (158), which testifies to a vegetable garden for the monastery of Marda (Kh. Mird), 5.5 miles (9 km.) away.
bibliography:
M. Bélis, "The Workshops at ʿEin Fashkhah: A New Hypothesis," in: J.-B. Humbert, J. Zangenburg, and K. Galor (eds.), The Site of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Archaeological Interpretations and Debates (2005); F.M. Cross, "El-Buqeiʿa," in: naehl, 1, 267–29; Y. Hirschfeld, "Excavations at ʿEin Fashkhah, 2001: Final Report," in: iej, 54 (2004), 35–54; idem, Qumran in Context: Reassessing the Archaeological Evidence (2004); H. Hötzl, W. Ali, and M. Rother, "ʿEin Fashkhah Springs as a Potential for Fresh Water Extraction, Dead Sea Area," in: Le premier colloque national de hydrogéologie et environment (Fes, Morocco), 62 (abstract); J. Magness, The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (2002); E. Netzer, "Did Any Perfume Industry Exist at ʿEin Fashkhah?" in: iej, 55 (2005), 97–100; H. Steinitz, "The Fishes of Ein Fashkhah, Palestine," in: Nature (167/4248; March 31, 1951), 531–32; E. Mazor and M. Molcho, "Geochemical Studies on the Feshcha Springs, Dead Sea Basin," in: Journal of Hydrology, 15 (1972), 37–47; R. de Vaux, Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls (The Schweich Lectures of the British Academy, 1959 (1973)); idem, "Fouilles de Khirbet Qumrân," in: Ribbentrop, 63 (1956), 532–77; F.E. Zeuner, "Notes on Qumran," in: peq, 92 (1960), 27–36; "Fouilles de Fashkhah," in: Ribbentrop, 66 (1959), 225–55.
[Joan E. Taylor (2nd ed.)]