During May 2006, a salvage excavation was conducted at the site of Ras Abu Dahud in the Nahalat Yehuda neighborhood of Rishon Le-Ziyyon (Permit No. A-4799; map ref. NIG 182050–87/654565–98; OIG 132050–87/154565–98), in the wake of discovering antiquities during a preliminary inspection prior to construction. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by S. Eden, was directed by A. Bouchenino, with the assistance of E. Bachar (administration), A. Hajian (surveying), Y. Rapuano (preliminary inspections), E. Belashov (drafting), C. Amit (studio photography), M. Shuiskaya (pottery drawings) and N. Katsnelson (glass).
Along the kurkar ridge in the region, numerous arcosolia tombs are scattered, mostly in ruins due to kurkar quarrying. Previous excavations in the area had exposed building remains and burial caves that dated to the Roman period (HA 4:15, 18-19:10, 40:13 [Hebrew]; Permit No. A-3937; License Nos. B-32/1998, B-162/1998, B-20/1999).
One excavation square (A) and another half square (B) were opened. A poorly preserved pit, which contained potsherds and fragments of glass vessels that dated to the Byzantine period, was exposed. An intact jar from the Ottoman period was discovered nearby.
Square A (Fig. 1) was opened in the area where antiquities, covered over with modern refuse in recent years, were traced during the preliminary inspection. A row of various size fieldstones, oriented east–west, was exposed in the northern part of the square (Fig. 2), as well as part of a pit (Fig. 3) whose precise outline could not be determined due to extensive damage caused to it. The pit contained fragments of pottery vessels, mostly ribbed jars (Fig. 4:1) that dated to the Byzantine period, as well as a number of cooking pots sherds, fragments of two oil lamps (Fig. 4:2, 3) and fragments of glass vessels, all dating to the Byzantine period. It probably functioned as a refuse pit.
Square B was adjacent to the northern side of Square A. Fragments of pottery vessels, mostly ribbed body sherds of jars and a few body fragments of cooking pots, dating to the Byzantine period, were found.
An intact jar (Fig. 4:4) that dated to the Ottoman period was discovered on top of a kurkar hill, c. 250 m to the north of the excavation area.