Garis (Galilee)

Garis (Hebrew: כפר עריס),[1](Greek: Γαρεις; Γάρις),[2] alternative spellings Garsis; Garisme, was a Jewish village in Lower Galilee, situated ca. 4 km. from Sepphoris. The village, although now a ruin, features prominently in the writings of Josephus,[3] where it served temporarily as the place of residence for Josephus during the First Jewish Revolt.[4] In the early stages of the war, Josephus, with the Galileans who were put under his command, cast up a bank around the village, in anticipation of a Roman assault upon the town.[5]

And indeed this sight of the general (Vespasian) brought many to repent at their revolt, and put them all into a consternation; for those that were in Josephus's camp, which was at the city called Garis, not far from Sepphoris, when they heard that the war was come near them, and that the Romans would suddenly fight them hand to hand, dispersed themselves and fled....[6]

Etymology

The Hebrew name of the village is said to have been ʻAris (עריס),[7] having the connotation of "trellised vine;" "grape arbor;" "espalier."[8] The Greek word used in this toponym is Γαρεις, the Gamma said to be of the same ancient usage as found in Greek transliterations of the Hebrew words Gaza = עזה and Gabara = ערב.[7][9]

Identification

Historical geographers are divided as to the site's location. Samuel Klein thought that the ancient village of Garis was to be identified with Khirbet Cana, a ruin about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Sepphoris and which now bears the same name as the adjacent village of Cana (Kafr Kanna), although intrinsically different.[10][11] Klein was the first to identify its Hebrew name with Kefar ʻArīs (כפר עריס) mentioned in the Tosefta (Kelim Baba-Metsia 11:2).[7][1] Victor Guérin thought that the site of Garis was to be identified with Tell Bedeiwîyeh ("the mound of the Bedouins"), now a large mound with ruins of a small Khân and a well at its foot, located ca. 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest of Sepphoris.[12] Likewise, the historian and archaeologist, Nikos Kokkinos, surmised that it may have been the ruin Tel Hannaton, being the same place as described by Guérin under its Arabic name, Tell Bedeiwîyeh.[13] William F. Albright held a differing view, thinking that Tell Bedeiwîyeh was the ancient town of Asochis.[14]

Near Kafr Kanna, archaeologists have identified the remains of a Roman-period settlement now known as Karm er-Rās (Arabic: كرم الراس) immediately joining the western edge of Kafr Kanna.[15][16] Karm (كرم) in Arabic denotes "vineyard," and is derived from the Aramaic word karma,[17] a name which may have been connected with the above-mentioned site of "Garis" = "trellised vine."

  • Ruin of Tell Bedeiwîyeh (Tel Hannaton)
    Ruin of Tell Bedeiwîyeh (Tel Hannaton)
  • Tell Bedeiwîyeh (Tel Hannaton)
    Tell Bedeiwîyeh (Tel Hannaton)
  • Stone structure at Tell Bedeiwîyeh
    Stone structure at Tell Bedeiwîyeh

References
  1. Hebrew name based on Klein's identification, which follows the version of the Tosefta Codex Vienna. For a copy of this version, see Abramsky, Y., ed. (2002), vol. 6 (Seder Tohorot), p. 180. In the Zuckermandel edition of the Tosefta (based on the Erfurt Codex), the word is corrupted and reads כפר עדים. In Jacob Neusner's English translation of the Tosefta, he follows the Erfurt Codex, and writes there "Kefar ʻAdim" (sic).
  2. Josephus, Vita 394
  3. Josephus, The Jewish War 3.6.3; idem 5.11.5 (5:473); Vita §71 (395); idem §74 (412). See Josephus (1926), vol. 1, §74 (412), where Thackeray preserves the correct transliteration. In Whiston's edition of Josephus there is a gross error in his translation of Vita §74 (412), where the original Greek writes: “...καὶ πῶς περὶ Γάρις κώμην τὴν πρώτην πρὸς ἐμὲ μάχην ἐποιήσατο” (“...and how he fought his first battle with me near the village Garis”), but the English translation writes Tarichaea instead of Garis.
  4. Josephus, The Jewish War 3.127–129
  5. Josephus, Vita §71
  6. Josephus, The Jewish War book 3, chapter 6, section 3 (3.129)
  7. Klein, S. (1930), pp. 127–131
  8. Jastrow, M., ed. (2006), s.v. עריס
  9. For a discussion on Greek and Latin transliterations of Hebrew place names beginning with ʻayin (ע), but transliterated with a "G", see the chapter The Guttural Letter Ayin in Krašovec, Jože (2009), pp. 25–26
  10. Klein, S. (1930), p. 129
  11. Klein's view was, tentatively, accepted by archaeologist and historian, Michael Avi-Yonah. See Avi-Yonah, M. (1976), p. 46
  12. Guérin, V. (1880), p. 494, who wrote: "...Il ne nous reste donc plus maintenant pour y placer Garis ou Garsis que la colline où sont éparses les ruines de Bir el-Bedaouïeh" (Translation: "...We now have nothing left to place Garis or Garsis here except the hill where the ruins of Bir el-Bedouieh are scattered").
  13. Kokkinos, Nikos (2010), p. 11
  14. Albright, W.F. (1921-22), p. 29
  15. Alexandre, Yardenna (2017). "Karm er-Ras (Areas AB, AC): Final Report". Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel. Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). 129. JSTOR 26693775.
  16. Bible Walks, Karm er-Ras
  17. Karm, Wiktionary, Karm (Etymology 2)

Bibliography
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