Khirbet Nij'm (; ) is an archaeological site on the hill of Givat ha-Radar at Har Adar, in the West Bank. Salvage excavations carried out at the site uncovered a fortified structure identified as a fortress of the Persian–Hellenistic period, which was later reused as an Ottoman-period caravanserai (khan).
Location and history Givat ha-Radar lies within Har Adar, a settlement and local council in the West Bank, and rises to 880 m above sea level. The site was uncovered between May and July 1991 during development work for Har Adar, in a salvage excavation directed by Michael Dadon on behalf of the Staff Officer for Archaeology in Judea and Samaria. It sits on a spur descending westward between two tributaries of Nahal Kfira. A large building complex containing two strata was exposed.
Persian–Hellenistic structure The earliest stratum is dated to the Persian period, when a fortified building — apparently a fortress standing along the northern border of Judea — was erected. The fortress measured 21.8 × 25.8 m, with a series of rooms surrounding an inner courtyard (11.9 × 10.0 m) that contained a water cistern. The 2.2 m-wide entrance was set in the east and was indirect, passing through two rooms to reach the central courtyard. In the Hellenistic period the building served as a farmhouse; incised decorations typical of the period survive on its plastered walls.
Finds Metal finds include needles, an iron mattock and a bronze signet ring depicting a cultic scene of two figures and an altar. The pottery comprises kraters, cooking pots, jars, jugs, a juglet and lamps of the Persian and early Hellenistic periods. A silver tetradrachm of Philip III Arrhidaeus, struck around 317 BCE and showing the head of the young Heracles and a seated Zeus, was found on the floor of the Persian–Hellenistic stratum.
Ottoman khan The Persian–Hellenistic building was abandoned in the first half of the 2nd century BCE. In the Ottoman period the ancient structure was reused: it was enlarged and remodelled, its area extended to about 1,200 m² by the addition of service and industrial rooms. The building served as a khan on the road between the Nabi Samwil area and Abu Ghosh; tabun ovens used to warm travellers were found in most of the rooms. A large walled courtyard fronted the building, with storerooms in the southern wing and an adjacent winepress. Ottoman-period finds include a furnace for smelting metal, Ottoman smoking pipes and coins, among them perforated coins reused as ornaments, dated to the reign of Mahmud I (1730) and minted in Constantinople.
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