During August 2012, a salvage excavation was conducted in a lot at 26 Ha-Ari Street in Petah Tiqwa (Permit No. A-6578; map ref. 19026–31/66520–5), prior to construction. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by P.S.H. Contraction Company, Ltd., was directed by R. Toueg, with the assistance of Y. Amrani and E. Bachar (administration), R. Mishayev (surveying), A. Peretz (field photography), T. Kornfeld (drafting), P. Gendelman (ceramics) and M. Shuiskaya (pottery drawing).
Remains of farms and installations from the Byzantine period (
HA-ESI 116,
HA-ESI 117,
HA-ESI 124) and habitation levels and finds dating to the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic and Ottoman periods (
HA-ESI 123) had previously been uncovered in the vicinity of the current excavation.
Five excavation squares (1–5; Fig. 1) were opened; wall remains were exposed and fragments of pottery vessels were gathered, dating to the Hellenistic (late fourth century BCE–third century BCE) the Early Roman (first–second centuries CE) and the Byzantine–early Umayyad (late seventh century CE) periods.
Wall remains (W1; Fig. 2) consisting of two ashlars resting on hamra soil were exposed in the western corner of Sq 1. Several potsherds from the Early Roman period were collected in a section excavated along the wall (L107). Scant remains of an installation that had been dismantled when the wall was built were revealed at the bottom of the excavation. No architectural remains were found in Squares 2 and 3.
A foundation course of a wall (W2; Fig. 3) built of smooth limestone and a core of wadi pebbles was exposed in Sq 4. The wall extended in both directions beyond the limits of the square. Potsherds were recovered from the excavation along the wall (L108), the latest of which dated to the Late Byzantine–Early Umayyad period. Wall 2 was adjoined from the west by another wall (W3; preserved length 1.5 m), to whose south was a fieldstone collapse (L109).
Small fieldstones scattered unevenly (L106) were exposed in Sq 5. These might be the remains of a dismantled wall or a floor foundation.
Potsherds from a variety of periods were collected, including a krater from the seventh century CE (Fig. 4:1) and a baggy-shaped jar from the first–second centuries CE (Fig. 4:2).