During November 2011, a survey preceding development was conducted in Karme’il (License No. S-317/2011; map ref. 225687–6506/758029–443; Fig. 1), prior to construction. The survey, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was directed by E. Stern, with the assistance of E.J. Stern (survey) and A. Shapiro (GPS).
At Khirbat el-Qabra, on a hilltop north of Giv‘at Ram in Karmi’el, architectural remains were identified, including a circular structure that is probably a cistern (Site 1), ashlar-built walls (Site 2), cisterns (Site 4), a rock-cut cave (Site 3; Fig. 2) and potsherds that dated from the Roman to the Ottoman periods. A small but thriving farming settlement was probably located there.
At Horbat Midrasa, cisterns, water reservoirs, architectural remains, limekilns (Sites 5, 6; Fig. 3) and potsherds from the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods were documented. The finds indicate the existence of a settlement and probably a monastery that was here in the Byzantine period.