During August–September 2005, a salvage excavation was conducted on the Mount of Olives (Permit No. A- 4586*; map ref. NIG 224087/631250; OIG 174087/131250; Fig. 1), in the wake of constructing the separation fence. The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority, was directed by A. Nagar, with the assistance of R. Abu Halaf (administration), T. Kornfeld (surveying), T. Sagiv (photography) and E. Belashov and I. Berin (drafting).
One square was excavated on a spur that descends from west to east (Fig. 2), revealing a quarry (L101) and remains of a terrace wall (W1).
Rectangular bedrock blocks (0.75 × 1 .25 m, height 0.45 m; 0.60 × 0.75 m, height 0.25 m), surrounded by severance and cleavage channels that aided in removing the blocks, were found in a quarry (Fig. 3). A natural depression (L102; 0.9 × 1.1 m, depth 0.55–0.66 m) that extended beyond the boundaries of the excavation was exposed in the eastern part of the square. Signs of rock cutting were evident in the upper northern part of the depression. Other detachment channels were exposed in the eastern part of the square. The quarry extended beyond the limits of the excavation.
Remains of a terrace wall were discovered in the northern corner of the square, above the quarry remains (Fig. 4). The wall, set on a layer of soil (thickness of 0.3 m) that overlaid hewn bedrock, was built of medium and large fieldstones and preserved three courses high (0.7 m).
The absence of finds made it difficult to date the quarry. It seems that the terrace wall, built on the quarry, postdating it, was part of the agricultural infrastructure of the region.