Archaeology
In 1838, the American Bible scholar Edward Robinson visited Bayt Jibrin, and identified it as ancient Eleutheropolis. The ruins of three Byzantine-era churches are located in Bayt Jibrin. A church on a northern hill of the town, later used as a private residence, had elaborate mosaics depicting the four seasons which were defaced in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. A church south of the town, known as Khirbet Mar Hanna was dedicated to Saint Anne — mother of the Virgin Mary. In Christian tradition, Bayt Jibrin is the birthplace of Saint Anne. Today, the apse and arched windows are still intact. The largely preserved remains of the amphitheater built by the Romans were excavated by archaeologist Amos Kloner. Among the unique finds was a Roman bath that has been confirmed to be the largest in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Nahal Guvrin region have unearthed artifacts from a village believed to be 6,500 years old. The finds include pottery vessels and lithic tools, among them flint sickle blades, cultic objects, clay figurines of horned animals, ceramic spindle whorls and animal bones belonging to pigs, goats, sheep and larger herbivores. The inhabitants probably chose this area due to the arable land and copious springs flowing in the summer months. Archaeologists believe the villagers grew grain, as indicated by the sickle blades and the grinding and pounding tools, and raised animals that supplied milk, meat and wool, as attested to by the spindle whorls. The settlement was small in scope, approximately 1.5 dunams, but there is evidence of bartering, based on the presence of basalt vessels and other lithic objects brought to the site from afar.
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