Adullam-France Park

Adullam-France Park lies in the Judean Plains between Beit Shemesh and Beit Guvrin, accessed from Highway 38 via the road toward Tzafririm and Givat Yeshayahu.[1][5] The surrounding landscape is characterized by rolling green hills, rich natural foliage, fertile valleys, and broad views across the region.[1]

The broader Adullam region straddles the boundary between the Judean Hills and the Shephelah, covering more than 100,000 dunams — approximately 25,000 acres — to the northwest and west of the Hebron Hills.[3] The site of ancient Adullam, identified with the mound of Tel Adullam (also called Horbat Adullam or Tall Ash-Shaykh Madhkur), lies approximately 36 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem and sits at the center of this development region.[6]

The ancient city of Adullam was originally a Canaanite town that became a city of Judah.[4] Its surrounding caves offered refuge. David and his followers sheltered there while fleeing King Saul, and the site served as his headquarters for a time during his conflict with the Philistines.[4] Rehoboam later incorporated Adullam into his line of fortifications beside Socoh in the Valley of Elah.[4] After the return from Babylonian exile, Adullam was listed in Nehemiah 11:30 among places inhabited by Jews. It remained a Jewish town in Hasmonean times, and Judah Maccabee withdrew there after his 163 BCE battle against Gorgias near Marissa.[4]

A Times of Israel report describes the Adullam region as a major center of Jewish settlement during the Second Temple era, with Itri and Burgin among its largest and most densely populated Jewish communities.[2]

In modern times, the Adullam region was incorporated into comprehensive regional planning adopted in the mid-1950s and was initially grouped with the Lachish Region. From 1957 it was treated as a separate region because difficult conditions required land reclamation to precede settlement.[3] The Jewish National Fund undertook the first stage of development, while the Jewish Agency's Agricultural Settlement Department developed villages and farming branches.[3] Land reclamation involved terracing, stone clearing, and drainage of small valleys, and the water supply was improved by drilling deep wells.[3] A road connecting Neveh Mikha'el with the reestablished Gush Etzion bloc was built in 1968.[3] Settlement in the modern Adullam development region began in 1958, with agricultural villages and rural subcenters established in the years that followed.[6]

Adullam-France Park — also known as Adullam Park or JNF's France Adullam Park — was developed by KKL-JNF in cooperation with nearby settlements, the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.[1] Development work included landscape improvement, the preparation of roads and trails, and the initiation of excavations at Hurvat Itri, Hurvat Burgin, and other ancient sites.[1] The park was presented to the people of Israel to mark the state's 60th anniversary.[1]

The park extends across approximately 5,000 hectares and contains easy hiking trails leading to archaeological sites dating back more than 2,000 years, scenic driving routes, caves, and two bicycle trails each 23 kilometers long that pass through or alongside the antiquities.[2] The main hiking route is marked in green, and the park includes one large picnic site.[1] Trails are described as generally not difficult but can be rocky and are unsuitable for canes or wheelchairs; visitors are advised to bring suitable footwear and strong flashlights.[1] Site signs are in Hebrew, though numbered features within the archaeological areas are also marked in English.[1]

Access to the park's interior — including the Hurvat Burgin area — follows an overall driving distance of approximately 7.5 kilometers from the Highway 38 junction, passing the entrance to Hurvat Madras and the turnoff toward Hurvat Itri and Tel Adullam.[5]

The regional plan organized settlements around three rural centers: Zur Hadassah in the northeast, Neveh Mikha'el in the center, and Li-On in the southwest — the last of which was later renamed Sarigim.[3]

At the beginning of the 21st century, the region contained 16 moshavim, one kibbutz, and two rural communities, with a total population of approximately 8,000.[3]

The Adullam region's economy evolved from its agricultural origins to encompass wine and olive-oil production, citrus groves, fruit orchards, cotton, and flowers.[3] Tourism, bolstered by the park and its archaeological sites, became an additional source of livelihood for the region's communities.[3]

Hurvat Burgin is one of the principal ancient sites within the park. Some researchers have identified it with the ancient town of Bish, described in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds as a Jewish village during the Maccabean period.[2] The site has also been tentatively linked to a strongly fortified town called Caphatabira, which Josephus records as having been besieged by the Roman Fifth Legion before its inhabitants suddenly opened the gates and surrendered.[2] Excavations at Burgin yielded two large churches rather than the synagogue that archaeologists had anticipated finding.[2]

The walking route at Hurvat Burgin is approximately 1.5 kilometers long and departs from and returns to the site's parking area.[5] Along the trail, visitors pass Hurvat Patom — said to have been populated for at least 1,000 years — as well as the Byzantine-era Cave of the Column, containing Greek-style carved pillars whose capitals bear crosses.[2] Additional features include an ancient Jewish burial cave, a Second Temple-period burial cave, a kokhim burial cave, bell caves cut downward through a hard layer of nari rock into chalk, and hiding caves associated with the Bar Kochba Revolt.[5][2] The trail also passes a cistern and storeroom, a well-preserved hewn winepress, and a viewpoint offering sightlines to Tel Azeka and Gush Etzion.[2][5]