During December 2004 a salvage excavation was conducted at the site of Khirbat Ras et-Tawil and east of it, next to the village of Hizma, along the separation line (Permit No. A-4326*; map ref. NIG 22408/63733; OIG 17408/13733). The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and financed by the Ministry of Defense, was directed by O. Sion (photography), with the assistance of A. Hajian (surveying), E. Belashov (drafting), Y. Rapuano (pottery reading) and C. Hersch (drawing).
The site, located on a spur that descends eastward, is flanked from the north and south by two tributaries of Wadi el-Mujali. Farming terraces were surveyed along its bottom part. Parts of the site were previously surveyed (A. Kloner 2002, Survey of Jerusalem – The Northeastern Sector: Site 62). Agricultural installations, a field tower, stone clearance heaps and an ancient road, which dated to the Hasmonean and Early Roman periods and recorded in a preliminary survey, were excavated (Fig. 1).
Stone Collapse (1)
A square (2.5 × 4.5 m), revealing a stone collapse, was excavated.
Stone Clearance Heaps (2–5, 7)
Probe sections were excavated in the stone clearance heaps to determine their dimensions:
Heap |
Diameter (m) |
Height (m) |
2 |
7.5 |
0.5 |
3 |
3.5 |
0.4 |
4 |
5.5 |
0.65 |
5 |
7.2 |
0.6 |
7 |
12 |
1.3 |
On the highest part of Heap 7 an agricultural terrace wall (length 14 m, preserved height 0.4 m), preserved two courses high, was built.
Field Tower (6)
A square field tower (3.1 × 3.1; Figs. 2, 3) built on an elevated bedrock outcrop was excavated. Its entrance (width 0.9 m) was set in the southern wall. Two courses built of large fieldstones (height 0.9–1.1 m) were preserved of the tower’s exterior walls. A hewn channel (length 5.1 m, width 10 cm, depth 5 cm) in the floor of the tower extended outside of it. Fragments of Hellenistic jars (Fig. 5:1, 2) that dated to the Hasmonean period and fragments of a jar (Fig. 5:3) and a jug (Fig. 5:4) that dated to the first century CE were found. On the tower’s floor was a fragment of a round thin stone, which had been worked and was perforated with three holes; it may have been used as a jar stopper or a loom weight (Fig. 5:5).
Ancient Road (8)
An ancient road was exposed on the slope (width 2.5–3.5 m). It was delimited by a fieldstone curb founded on bedrock (width 1 m). A soil accumulation (thickness 0.4 m) was observed in two probe trenches that were excavated across the width of the road (Fig. 4).
Building (9)
A building constructed from dressed stones (c. 4.5 × 4.5 m; preserved height 1.4 m) was surveyed.
The agricultural installations that were exposed in the excavation formed part of the northern agricultural hinterland of Jerusalem during the Hasmonean period and the beginning of the Roman period, until the first century CE. The proximity of the site to Khirbat Ras et-Tawil may point to a possible connection between the site and the agricultural installations.