Photo Friday (Vol. LI) ['stone on stone' edition]

Last year I introduced you to the stacked columns of stones I see all over the landscape through which I travel to work.  I've heard several explanations for these small piles of rocks, but the most plausible came from a shepherd that I spoke with on the day when I took those pictures.  He said that they marked the location of holes, drop-offs and roads, and made it easy for shepherds to tell at a distance if their flocks were wandering near places where they could get hurt or lost from view.

There's another rock-related image that I see throughout the Judean hills and into the northern Negev that I'd like to share with you today.

Unlike the little rock piles from that earlier post, these are the remains of buildings made entirely of stone and probably each have a different history or construction and function.

This first structure sits in the corner of a terraced field.  From discussions with a few people my guess is that it was either a dwelling for the workers during harvest season or a storage facility for either agricultural tools or the harvested crop.  The roof is long gone and the stones themselves are basically unfinished... meaning they are pretty much as they were found on the ground by whoever built it.  The fact that no tools were used to shape or dress the stones meant that exactly the right shape had to be found and a lot of trial and error probably ensued.  I especially love the arch of the doorway:

Here is another, slightly more sophisticated structure that sits in the corner of another terraced hillside field.  I didn't look too closely but my guess is that at least some of the doorway, corner and/or lintel stones were finished or broken to shape because the overall effect is much more exact:

For comparison's sake, here is another structure (in the foreground) that sits just down the hill from it.  Note the use of much more rounded stones and a much less geometrical effect:

This last structure is situated right next to a rather large village called Al Arub and never fails to catch my eye as I pass.  Unlike the other structures you've seen here, these stones were shaped and roughly finished so I am guessing that this was not a make-shift shelter or storage facility like the others, but rather a store or residence.  Because this was so close to Al Arub (a site where there have been numerous stonings, Molotov cocktail attacks and shootings against motorists), one of my passengers was nice enough to get out and stand guard while I hastily snapped this picture (thanks Avi!).

If only stones could talk.

Shabbat Shalom!