Scientists’ Theory of the Secret of Golan’s Stonehenge of the Giants Disproven
A new study using “geomagnetic analysis and tectonic reconstruction” of the history of land movement in the Golan has ruled out the theory that Gilgal Refaim, an enigmatic and ancient structure, was used as an observatory. While
After the Six-Day War in 1967, archaeologists studying an aerial map of Israel discovered a strange formation of five concentric rings of loose rock located about ten miles east of the coast of the Sea of Galilee, in the middle of a large plateau covered with hundreds of single-chamber megalithic tombs called dolmens. The formation is not recognizable from the ground, appearing as random piles of rocks, but from above it is quite impressive, with an outer ring more than nearly 520 feet wide and eight feet high. It is called Rujm el-Hiri in Arabic, meaning the “stone heap of the wild cat,” and in Hebrew as Gilgal Refaim, or Wheel of the Giants. The site is open to the public but is difficult to get to, accessible only via deeply pitted dirt roads.
Estimates as to when it was built vary widely. Scholars generally place the beginning of the construction as early as 3500 BCE. In comparison, the Egyptian Pyramids were built some 4,500 years ago and Stonehenge in England was built some 3,500 years ago.
At its center is a mound of loose stones 20 meters (over 65 feet) in diameter and five meters (over 16 feet) tall, covering a six-meter-long (almost 20 feet) burial chamber. The entire formation is composed of over 40,000 tons of loose basalt rocks. Constructed of up to 40,000 tons of rock, the site’s purpose is unknown, but some researchers have speculated that it was used for religious rituals related to the solstices.
Like Stonehenge, the purpose of Gilgal Refaim is still a mystery and the focus of scholarly debate. There are opinions that it was used as a part of the burial process. Dr. Rami Arav, long-time co-director of the Bethsaida excavations northeast of the coast of the Sea of Galilee and Professor of Religion and Philosophy at the University of Nebraska, theorized that bodies were left there, exposed to the elements and vultures, until the flesh was gone
The bones would then be placed in small boxes, called ossuaries, in another permanent location. This was known to be the ancient Zoroastrian practice. No human remains were found within the tomb or anywhere on the site. In fact, very few organic artifacts were found, making dating the site difficult.
There are other opinions that it is a celestial observatory. The entranceway to the center looks out on the sunrise on the summer solstice. Notches in the walls indicate the spring and fall equinoxes. Other markings indicate star risings. This would have allowed the site to be used to predict the beginning of the rainy season, a very important survival skill
The new study, titled “Discussion Points of the Remote Sensing Study and Integrated Analysis of the Archaeological Landscape of Rujm el-Hiri,” was carried out by a team from Tel Aviv University was published in November in the peer-reviewed journal Remote Sensing. The study was conducted by Dr. Olga Khabarova of the Tel Aviv University Geosciences Department, Dr. Michal Birkenfeld of Ben-Gurion University’s Department of Archaeology, and Dr. Lev Eppelbaum of the Geophysics Department at Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University.
The researchers discovered that Gilgal Refaim has shifted and rotated at an average rate of 8-15 mm per year — meaning it had moved tens of meters since its construction around 3000–2700 BCE.
“This finding challenges the widely held theory that the structure was used as an astronomical observatory, as the original alignment of the walls and entrances does not correspond to celestial observations, as previously hypothesized,” the university said.
In the study, the researchers noted that “the Rujm el-Hiri site has rotated counterclockwise and shifted from its original location by tens of meters,” so speculations that the site was “aligned with celestial bodies of the past are not supported. Therefore, Rujm el-Hiri was unlikely an observatory.”
By “aligning the directions of the solstices, equinoxes, and other celestial bodies as they appeared between 2500–3500 BCE, coordinated with the symmetry and entrances of Rujm el-Hiri in its current position… The findings show that the entrances and radial walls during that historical period were entirely different, reopening the question of the site’s purpose,” the researchers said.
The area surrounding Rujm el-Hiri is rich with numerous man-made structures from the same period. Using satellite and remote sensing technology, the team delivered “the first comprehensive mapping of the archaeological landscape” in the region, according to the notice.
The team uncovered “unique landscape features,” which included “circular structures with 40–90 meter diameters, thick walls, and round enclosures approximately 20 meters in diameter,” that appeared to serve agricultural or herding purposes. Additionally, “dozens of burial mounds (tumuli)” were documented, some of which likely functioned as storage facilities, shelters, or dwellings, alongside their traditional role as burial sites.
In their conclusion, the researchers emphasized that their findings open the door to “comparative studies with other megalithic structures and tumuli worldwide” and underscore the importance of “further interdisciplinary research that combines archaeological, geophysical, and paleoenvironmental data to understand these monuments’ origins and purposes better.”
Interestingly, the region is known as the Bashan, where Og, the king, came out against the Israelites at the time of their entrance into the Promised Land but was vanquished in battle. Og was an Amorite king, the ruler of Bashan, which contained sixty walled cities and many unwalled towns, with his capital at Ashtaroth. Biblical scholars believe that the Prophet Amos referred to Og when he referred to a giant Amorite.
Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, Whose stature was like the cedar’s And who was stout as the oak, Destroying his boughs above And his trunk below! Amos 2:9
In Deuteronomy and later in the book of Numbers and Joshua, Og is called the last of the Rephaim, a Hebrew word sometimes interpreted as ‘giants.’ The Hebrew name of the site, Gilgal Rephaim, hints at an ancient link to these giants.
Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaim. His bedstead, an iron bedstead, is now in Rabbah of the Ammonites; it is nine amot long and four amot wide, by the standard amah! Deuteronomy 3:11
The Biblical measurement of an amah, literally the length of a forearm, is generally considered to be 19.2 inches, which would mean that Og’s bed was over fourteen feet long and over six feet wide.
Midrash explains that the “fugitive” who warned Abraham that Lot had been captured was Og. Og had escaped the flood in the generation of Noah by clinging to the side of the Ark.
If Og had been the leader of a nation of pre-Abrahamic giants in the region of the Golan, it would certainly have explained the existence of the mammoth stone structures.
A possible Biblical connection to the site may have been the “pile of stones” referred to in the Bible (Genesis 31:51) by Laban as Jegar-sahadutha and by Jacob.
Both names have the same meaning, witness pile, however Galeed is Hebrew and Jegar-sahadutha is Aramaic. The “pile” served as a border between Laban and Jacob and as a physical symbol of the covenant between them. As described in the Bible, it had a pillar in the center and was used as an altar, similar to the description of Gilgal Refaim.
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