Mata () is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the Jerusalem corridor about eight kilometers southeast of Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of .
Etymology "The name mata is also hinted at in Ezekiel (XXXIV, 29)":Place Names in Israel. A Compendium of Place Names in Israel compiled from various sources. Translated from Hebrew, Jerusalem 1962 (Israel Prime Minister’s Office. The Israeli Program for Scientific Translations) p111 I will provide for them a grove.
History The village was established in 1950 by immigrants from Yemen on land that had previously belonged to the depopulated Arab villages of Allar and Khirbat al-Tannur before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.Mata Home Initially the moshav fell under the jurisdiction of until the council was merged into Mateh Yehuda Regional Council in 1964. The moshav belongs to the Hapoel HaMizrachi stream, but today the majority of its population is secular.
Archaeology Along the old Roman road (now regional highway 375) are the ruins of a travelers' inn and livery stable, now called "khanut" (formerly, Khirbet el-Khan).See Palestine Exploration Fund Map: Jerusalem (Sheet XVII), the ruin of Khurbet el-Khan), Survey of Western Palestine, 1878 Map, Map 17: IAA , Wikimedia commons, as surveyed and drawn under the direction of Lieut. C.R. Conder and H.H. Kitchener, May 1878. A mosaic floor with Greek writing of a Byzantine type can still be seen in the remains of the structure, believed to have been used as a church in the 6th century.Caravanserai near Mata also served as 6th-century Byzantine church, based on Hebrew signpost at site.
In the 12th century a rural monastery was established there by the Crusaders consisting of several barrel-vaulted buildings, an enclosure wall and a chapel.Crusader Archaeology: The Material Culture of the Latin East, Adrian J. Boas
Charles Clermont-Ganneau describes the ruins of a church (el-K'niseh), partially standing, in the valley below (Wadi et Tannur), and which he thought to be of medieval origin.Charles S. Clermont-Ganneau, Archaeological Researches in Palestine (vol. ii), London 1896, pp. 455, 458–459
In the valley are various types of trees: Sweet and bitter almonds, olives, grapes, pomegranates, lemons, figs, walnuts, Syrian pears, carobs and hawthorns. To the south-east of the moshav is a natural spring called `Ain Jurish named after a nearby small Arab village (now abandoned) and which was built on the spur of a hill near the town of Tzur Hadassah (Har Kitron). Rock-carved niches used as tombs can still be seen in the abandoned village.
Landmarks To the west of the moshav is Wadi Tannur, a riverine gulch with two natural springs - Ein Mata (Spring of the Orchard) and Ein Tannur.
At the foot of Ein Tannur ("Oven Spring") is an ancient tunnel dug deeply to catch the water at the source and increase its flow - a spring-flow tunnel.Ein Mata, Horbat Hanut and Shevil HaKeisar According to a local legend, Noah's oven was located nearby before the flood. When God destroyed the world, Noah's oven began spouting water, proving Noah's great commitment to God. When the flood was over and the water subsided, the oven forgot its original purpose and water continued to flow from it. When Noah passed by in his ark, he only saw the spring rather than his oven, so he continued his journey and finally landed on Mount Ararat.
Gallery
Further reading Shlomo Shwartz, New People in the High Mountains (אנשים חדשים בהרים הגבוהים), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1953 (Hebrew) - stories of the first settlers in Mata (Allar Aleph)
References
External links Mata in Antiquity Archaeological Survey of Israel