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Huqoq or Hukkok () was an ancient Jews village, located 12.5 km north of Tiberias, in the Lower Galilee region of Israel. The site had been settled since ancient times and is mentioned in the Book of Joshua (). The Palestinians village of Yaquq later stood at Huqoq's location, and a fort named Hukok was built near the site on 11 July 1945, later followed by a kibbutz.
Archaeological excavations revealed a prosperous Jewish community that inhabited Huqoq during the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire periods. A spring supported the ancient settlement, whose monumental synagogue contains some of the most elaborate Late Roman-era Mosaic ever found in Israel. These include detailed depictions of Hebrew Bible scenes, as well as rare non-biblical imagery that challenge previous assumptions about Jewish art in Late antiquity.
Fieldwork has also uncovered extensive underground hiding complexes carved by the local Jewish population during the Jewish–Roman wars, including what is described as the most extensive such system discovered to date in Galilee. These chambers and tunnels suggest that the local population prepared for the Bar Kokhba revolt, though it remains unclear whether they actually participated in it, as modern scholars generally believe the revolt was limited to Judea, with perhaps only limited involvement in Galilee. Around a millennium later, a Crusades-era coin hoard was hidden in these ancient hideouts.
"The most extensive hiding complex discovered to date in the Galilee" has been announced in March 2024. "Ancient Jewish revolt-era 'safe rooms' revealed in the Galilee". Gavriel Fiske for Times of Israel. Posted and accessed 18 March 2024. There are some eight hiding cavities with more ramifications being discovered, connected by tunnels set at straight angles to slow down Roman soldiers hunting for Jewish rebels. The hiding complex dates back to the First Jewish-Roman War (66-70 CE) and the Bar Kochba Revolt (132-136 CE), and could only serve for short-term concealment from Roman patrols due to the small size of the chambers.
Most of the numerous finds attest to the use of the underground system during the First Revolt, and while there is no proof yet for the Bar Kochba Revolt actually spreading out to Galilee, a small number of artifacts found in this complex show that it was "involved in the preparations" for the uprising. The refuge system was revealed through community excavations with the participation of local residents, students enrolled in archaeology and Land of Israel studies, volunteers from a cavers club, and soldiers from the IDF's Samur Unit for underground operations.
The village is attested in Late Roman and Byzantine period rabbinic sources. Archaeological findings as well as the mention of Huqoq in both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud prove that the Jewish village survived the Bar Kochba Revolt.
The mosaic also shows two human faces, apparently female, flanking a Hebrew inscription promising a reward to those who perform good deeds. Monumental synagogue uncovered in Galilee, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs2 August 2012, accessed 18 July 2019 In 2018, photographs of newly discovered mosaics were published in conjunction with a 70-page interim report of the excavations from 2014–2017. The new publication shows that the floor mosaic also depicts Noah's Ark, the twelve Israelite spies (), and Moses' parting of the Red Sea, themes that are rarely, if ever, found in synagogues of the time. Other images show Jonah being swallowed by the fish and the building of the Tower of Babel. The mosaic also incorporates pagan Hellenistic images such as and theatre masks, and an obscure cluster of important looking men, one of whom may be Alexander the Great, next to soldiers and . If Magness' theory is correct, this would be the only case of a synagogue being decorated with non-Biblical imagery. Another theory is that the two groups, one dressed in armour and the other in white robes, represent the alliance between the Seleucids and the high priest John Hyrcanus.
Finds from within the system indicate intensive use during the first and second centuries CE. The pottery assemblage is typical of the period, with many vessels belonging to the Kfar Hananya production tradition, a major Jewish ceramic industry in Galilee. The absence of later ceramic types (e.g., those of the third and fourth centuries CE), together with close parallels to the assemblage from the destruction layer of the 130s at Khirbet Wadi Hamam, supports the suggestion that the complex was active during the first half of the second century CE, around the time of the Bar Kokhba revolt, and was apparently abandoned after its suppression. Additional finds, including a gem ring, axeheads, and a hoard of 22 coins (one dating to the second century CE), indicate preparation for unrest in this period, even if the extent of Galilean participation in the revolt remains uncertain.
The complexes were reused in the Middle Ages. In System #2, a hoard of 24 Crusader Bullion coin was discovered, all dating from 1140–1163 CE, most minted by Baldwin III of Jerusalem. Only a few Crusader-period potsherds were found, suggesting that the complex was used only sporadically at that time, perhaps not as a regular hiding place. The hoard may have been the personal treasure of a Frankish or local inhabitant, possibly marked by two black X-shaped signs (or crosses) painted on the ceiling near the entrance to the chamber where the coins were concealed. Some tools recovered from other rooms attest to continued, though limited, reuse during the Mamluk period.
An Englishmen named John Sanderson visited the tomb in 1601 and wrote "Then we passed by a little village where dwelt and is buried the prophet Abicoke; so said the Jews, and that the town was called Yeacoke."
A description from the 1930s states that "The tombstone. . . is built of basalt stones, about two metres wide and
1.5 metres long, covered in white plaster".
In 1981 the old tombstone was replaced by a new one, over which a small building was erected, along with a pool filled by spring water and meant to be used as a ritual bath. Jewish and Druze pilgrims continue to visit the tomb.
Seffi Ben Yosef, a local tour guide, questioned the tradition in an editorial in Yedioth Ahronoth, arguing that the tradition was only based on the similar-sounding name between the village and the prophet. Ein Hokuk and the story of Habakkuk Ynetnews, 21 March 2007
Research History
A 2011 dig led by archaeologist Jodi Magness excavated several sections at the site of the former village. Magness writes: "The ancient village is surrounded by associated features, including cist graves, , a mausoleum, quarries, agricultural terraces and installations, a winepress and an olive press. Two large mikveh (ritual baths) are hewn into bedrock on the eastern and southern periphery of the ancient village (see below)."
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