Video snippet of the Rujm El Hiri archaeological site

Rujm el Hiri: Ancient Stone Circle or Shifting Cosmic Timepiece?

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The Judean Staff
Archaeology

In the heart of the Golan Heights lies an ancient riddle etched in stone. Rujm el Hiri, a prehistoric megalithic structure shrouded in legend and controversy, continues to baffle archaeologists and geophysicists alike. Is this enigmatic stone circle slowly rotating over millennia? And if so, what does this mean for its supposed function as an ancient astronomical observatory?

A Monument Unlike Any Other

Rujm el Hiri, often misleadingly dubbed "Israel’s Stonehenge," consists of an intricate complex of concentric stone circles surrounding a central tomb. The largest of these rings spans an impressive 155 meters (508 feet) in diameter and reaches up to 2 meters in height. The tomb at the core of the structure, an imposing mound of piled stones over 4 meters high, yielded no human remains—only precious artifacts, including gold jewelry. These findings challenge the very purpose of the site: Was it truly a burial ground, or did it serve a more celestial function?

Unlike anything else in the southern Levant, Rujm el Hiri has sparked heated debates among scholars since its discovery in the late 1960s. Initial theories posited that its walls and openings were aligned with astronomical bodies, serving as a prehistoric observatory to track solstices, equinoxes, and celestial events. However, recent research suggests that the entire site may have shifted—rendering its original alignment with the heavens moot.

The Ground Beneath Rujm el Hiri: A Geological Puzzle

A groundbreaking study led by Dr. Olga Khabarova and Prof. Lev Eppelbaum of Tel Aviv University, along with Dr. Michal Birkenfeld of Ben-Gurion University, presents a radical new perspective. Published in the journal Remote Sensing, the research indicates that Rujm el Hiri has been slowly rotating counterclockwise over thousands of years due to geological forces.

Using sophisticated geophysical mapping and historical celestial modeling, the researchers recalculated the sky map as it would have appeared between 2500–3500 BCE. Their findings suggest that the site's entrances and radial walls do not align with the positions of celestial bodies as they did thousands of years ago. This revelation reignites the debate over the site's intended function: If it was an observatory, did its builders account for future geological shifts? Or was it never meant to track the heavens at all?

The Debate Intensifies: Clashing Theories and Controversy

Not all scholars are convinced. Prof. Yonathan Mizrachi, who excavated the site in the late 1980s, contends that Rujm el Hiri originally served as an astronomical and calendrical site in the Early Bronze Age (circa 5,650 years ago), with its central tomb added much later in the Late Bronze Age (3,550 years ago).

However, the recent study suggests that the entire Golan Plateau is geologically active, causing a slow but significant shift over time. According to Prof. Eppelbaum, over the past 150 million years, the ground beneath Rujm el Hiri has been moving at a rate of 8 to 15 millimeters per year, largely due to the rotation of the Arabian Plate and activity along the Dead Sea Fault. While this motion may seem minuscule, its cumulative effect over thousands of years could have drastically altered the structure’s orientation.

Yet, skepticism remains. Gidon Baer of the Geological Survey of Israel challenges the notion of significant rotation, arguing that the Arabian Plate moves along the Dead Sea Fault at a rate of 15 to 20 millimeters per year, but its overall rotational speed is negligible—less than half a degree per million years. Similarly, Prof. Michael Steckler of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory reviewed the study and concluded that any observed rotation over 6,000 years would be minuscule, unlikely to have altered the site’s astronomical significance.

A Monument Lost in Time or a Cosmic Timepiece?

The very name of Rujm el Hiri is steeped in mysticism. The Druze, long familiar with the site, call it "the Stone Heap of the Wildcats." In Israeli folklore, it is known as Gilgal Refa’im—"the Wheel of Spirits," "Ghosts," or even "Giants." Theories range from the site serving as a ritualistic center for an ancient cult to a celestial calendar created by a long-lost civilization.

If Eppelbaum and his team are correct, then the entire Arabian Plate may be engaged in a massive counterclockwise rotation, shifting Rujm el Hiri’s orientation over millennia. This would explain why its supposed astronomical alignments no longer match celestial events today.

Yet, Mizrachi and others remain unconvinced, asserting that planetary precession cycles and natural shifts in Earth’s axial tilt could explain discrepancies in alignments without invoking tectonic rotation. The truth, it seems, remains buried beneath the stones of Rujm el Hiri.

Reaching the Mysterious Ruins

For those daring enough to seek out this ancient enigma, the journey to Rujm el Hiri is no simple task. It lies off the beaten path, requiring a trek along the Golan Trail, where one must navigate streams and rugged terrain. A weather-worn sign, barely standing 100 meters from the site, is the only indication of its presence amid the stone-littered plateau.

First noticed in 1968 by aerial surveyor Itzhak Yigal, the site remained hidden in plain sight for millennia. Yet, it was well-known to local Druze communities long before modern scholars set foot there. Theories abound, but the truth remains elusive: Is Rujm el Hiri a lost observatory, a sacred burial site, or something else entirely?

One thing is certain—whether through tectonic shifts or the march of time itself, this ancient "wheel of spirits" continues to turn, both in the minds of scholars and beneath the very ground on which it stands.

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