Har Gilo

Har Gilo ( _he. הר גילה: "Mount Gilo") is an Israeli settlement and communal settlement located about five kilometers south of Jerusalem, and two kilometers west of Bethlehem in the northern Judean hills of the West Bank. It was established on Hanukkah 1968, [http://www.gushnews.co.il/indextemplate.php?show=article&docindex=74] one of the first settlements to be built after Israel won the Six-Day War in June 1967. It is part of Gush Etzion and has 112 families. [http://www.gush-etzion-region.muni.il/_Articles/Article.asp?ArticleID=22&CategoryID=27]

Har Gilo is located adjacent to the peak of Mount Gilo, one of the most dramatic mountains in Judea. The Mount Gilo Field School is located at the peak at 923 meters, and it possesses a nearly unobstructed view of the entire region: to the south lies Mount Hebron, Herodium, and Halhul. To the east lies the Judean Desert, the Dead Sea, and the Moab mountains of Jordan. To the north lies Jerusalem, the Tomb of the Prophet Samuel, and the mountains of Samaria. Visible to the west are the Jerusalem Forest, the Judean Lowland, the Tel Aviv area, and the Mediterranean Sea.

Nearby archaeological excavations have revealed the remains of two buildings and a rock-cut winepress, both dating back to the Israelite Neo-Babylonian period (586-539 BCE). Additional pottery fragments were indicative of activity at the site from the early Islamic period. [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.asp?id=66&mag_id=108]