‘Rujm el-Hiri’ (in Arabic: Mound of the wild cats) is a mysterious megalithic prehistoric site in the central Golan Heights. Covering an area of 6 square miles, it is the biggest megalithic site in the Near East.

Archaeology of Rujm el-Hiri

Aerial photo of Rujm el-Hiri. (C) Mati Shoshani

Reminiscent of the famous Stonehenge, Rujm el-Hiri comprises some 40,000 tons of volcanic basalt fieldstones, arranged in five to nine concentric circles, initially 3 to 8 feet high. It was erected around 3500 BCE but used in the Early bronze age (3^rd millennium BCE) when a burial chamber was added in its center. A study from the 1990s showed that the entranceway to the burial chamber was oriented to the summer solstice. This suggests that the site may have functioned as a celestial observatory.

The Site and the Bible

New studies in the 21^st century demonstrated that the whole region was populated by about 2,000 people in 50 settlements, using hundreds of Dolmen-shaped tombs for burials. These rich remains may have inspired the biblical account of ancient giants living in the region, ruled by Og, king of the Bashan (cf. Deuteronomy 3:11). This folklore is also reflected in the site’s modern Hebrew name – Gilgal Rephaeim (“The Round site of the Biblical Giants”). The new research suggests that the site may have been built already at the end of the 5th millennium BCE and that its focus was the Dormant Volcano facing its northwest gate.

Touring Rujm el-Hiri

The site is in a military zone in the Golan Heights and can only be reached on the weekends and by an off-road vehicle.

A tour of Rujm al-Hiri can be combined with a multi-day tour in Israel, including exploring the Golan Heights.