DOK

DOK , a fortress 3 mi. (5 km.) N. of Jericho where Simeon, the last of the Maccabean brothers, together with his wife and two sons, was murdered in 135 b.c.e. by his son-in-law, Ptolemy son of Habubu, governor (stratêgos) of Jericho (i Macc. 16:15). Josephus calls it Dagon (Ant., 13:230) and the place is also mentioned in the *Copper Scroll (265:19) found at one of the Qumran caves. A Byzantine monastery called Douka/Duca was founded in the vicinity of the site by St. Chariton. Dok is identified with Jebel Qarantal (Mons Quarantena); the Arabic names for the site are Duk and Dyuk, the first resembles the original name, but the second version stems from popular etymology (Dyuk = chickens). The name of the site is also preserved in the nearby village of ʿAyn al-Dūk (ancient *Naarah). The mountain of Qarantal commands a strategic situation overlooking Jericho to the east and has the remains of a small medieval chapel which was recorded by members of the Survey of Western Palestine in 1873. The site has not been thoroughly excavated, except for a few pits made by E. Netzer that revealed an ionic capital. Scattered architectural remains at the site, however, do attest to palatial buildings having existed at the site at the time of *Herod the Great and his successors, as well as during the Byzantine period (notably a Corinthian capital decorated with a cross). Roman siege works with towers have also been identified around the site by Z. Meshel, and a water system that was fed by an aqueduct was studied by D. Amit.

bibliography:

Press, Ereẓ, 2 (1948), 181 s.v.Dokim; Van Kasteren, in: rb, 6 (1897), 99ff.; Alt, in: pjb, 23 (1927), 30–31; Abel, Geog, 1 (1933), 376. add. bibliography: W.J. Moutton, "A Visitto Quarn Sartabeh," Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research 62 (1936): 141–8; Z. Meshel, "The Fortification System During the Hasmonean Period," in E. Schiller, Zev Vilnay's Jubilee Volume. Vol. i (1984): 2542–58. add. bibliography: D. Amit, "The Water System of Dok Fortress (Dagon)," in D. Amit, Y. Hirschfeld and J. Patrich (eds.), The Aqueducts of Ancient Palestine (1989), 223–28; D. Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. A Corpus: Volume i: A–K (1993), 252–58; Y. Tsafrir, L. Di Segni, and J. Green, Tabula Imperii Romani. Iudaea – Palaestina. Maps and Gazetteer. (1994), 112–13; E. Netzer, The Palaces of the Hasmoneans and Herod the Great (2001), 70–72; Y. Elitzur, Ancient Place Names in the Holy Land: Preservation and History (2004), 358.

[Michael Avi-Yonah /

Shimon Gibson (2^nd ed.)]