The excavation was conducted at the eastern margins of the Judean Shephelah, in the western catchment basin of Na
hal Zanoa
h (Wadi en-Najil). Ancient remains were discovered on a short limestone spur descending gently from west to east toward the wadi, c. 1 km south of
Horbat Zanoa
h and 1 km north of
Horbat Bet Na
tif. The spur is characterized by rocky slopes bearing the remains of ancient agricultural features (Fig. 2). Several agricultural terraces and sherd scatters from the Late Roman and Byzantine periods were identified on the slopes. In an RAF aerial photograph taken on 25.1.1946, a road built of two parallel retaining walls can be seen on low hills rising to the west of Na
hal Zanoa
h (Fig. 3). The following antiquities were identified in previously conducted surveys in the vicinity: a farmstead, burial caves, agricultural terraces, oil presses, winepresses, an ancient road and remains from the Iron II, Roman and Byzantine periods (
Dagan 2010: Sites 260–263, 265.1–3, 266.1, 2, 267, 327, 332). In a survey preceding the current excavation ruins, caves, rock-hewn agricultural installations, a columbarium, lime kiln, cisterns, stone clearance heaps, terraces and remains of ancient roads were documented (
Nagorsky 2008). A farm ascribed to the Byzantine period was excavated c. 400 m south of the spur (R. Avner, pers. comm.; Permit No. A-6593). Our excavation revealed remains of a winepress, an ancient road and an agricultural terrace.