During August 2000 a trial excavation was conducted along the fringes of
Horbat Rozez (A-3281*; map ref. NIG 19712/71664; OIG 14712/21664) prior to the installation of an electric pole. The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority, was directed by R. Kletter, with the assistance of H. Tsion-Cinamon (GPS system), M. Rappaport-Arnov (drawing) and E. Yannai (data regarding previous excavations at the site and pottery reading).
H
orbat Ro
ze
z (c
. 20 dunam) is located on a hill c
. 2 km southwest of Shuni. An excavation (Permit No. 2156) was conducted at the site by E. Yannai and A. Beck in 1994 close to the top of the tell, revealing strata from Iron Age II and the Persian, Hellenistic and Byzantine periods. A single square (3 × 6 m; Fig. 1) was opened in the current excavation, along the eastern edge of the tell and close to an ancient well. The excavation exposed collapsed stones, a roadbed and stone concentrations, as well as fragments of pottery vessels from the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods.
Stone collapse and the stone bed of a dirt road that traversed the area was discovered in the western part of the square. Along the eastern side was a concentration of stones, including dressed stones that were disturbed by plowing; this concentration may be the remains of a wall or agricultural terrace. South of the stone concentration was an earthen fill that extended down to bedrock (c. 2 m below surface). A modern channel for a water pipe (width 0.8 m, depth c. 1 m) had cut through the center of the square and was later cut by a shallow ditch (depth 0.4 m) that probably drained the runoff from the dirt road.
The excavation square and mainly the fill in the south yielded numerous fragments of pottery vessels. Some of the fragments dated to the Persian (mainly mortaria; Fig. 2:1–3) and Hellenistic periods (Fig. 2:4); most of the potsherds were from the Roman and Byzantine periods (Fig. 2:5–9). The ceramic finds coincided with the results of the previous excavation at the site, except for the finds from the Roman period, which were lacking in the former excavation.