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During June 2006, a survey prior to development was conducted at Har Homa (Permit No. A-4821; map ref. NIG 2215–25/6245–55; OIG 1715–25/1245–55), in a region slated for the construction. The survey, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was directed by Y. Dagan and L. Barda.
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Two hills were surveyed east of Giv‘at Homa and west of Khirbat Luka , c. 500 m from Khirbat Mazmuriya, in a region that had previously been surveyed (Fig. 1; A. Kloner, 2002, Survey of Jerusalem, The Southern Sector, Sites 134, 135 and Site 136–Kh. Mazmuriya).
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Rock-hewn installations were surveyed on the northern hill, including a winepress (Figs. 1:5; 2); cup marks (Fig. 1:8, 12, 13); two hewn cisterns with round shaft openings (Fig. 1:6, 18), one of which was covered with a round capstone, (Fig. 3); and two burial caves, fronted by remains of courtyards (Figs. 1:7, 16; 4, 5). Numerous potsherds that dated to the Roman period were found in the opening of Burial Cave 16. Other antiquities included a bodeda for producing oil that consisted of a hewn basin connected by way of a narrow channel to a cup mark (Fig. 1:9), two adjacent rock-hewn elliptical shafts (Fig. 1:15) that were surrounded by a dense concentration of potsherds and two rock cuttings: remains of an installation (Fig. 1:11) and a hewn channel (Fig. 1:14).
Potsherds that ranged in date from Iron II until the Byzantine period were found on the surface, at the top of a rocky hill. Fieldstone-built farming terraces (Figs. 1:1–4, 17, 21; 6) and caves (Fig. 1:10, 19, 20) were surveyed along the slopes of the hill.
The antiquities on the southern hill included three caves (Fig. 1:28–30), a quarry in which a stone that had not been detached was discerned (Fig. 1:26), farming terraces built of fieldstones (Fig. 1:22) and dressed stones (Fig. 1:27) and a concentration of dressed stones (Fig. 1:25).
Small cup marks arranged in rows were hewn on a bedrock surface, located between the two hills (Figs. 1:23; 7) and a rectangular rock hewn tomb (Fig. 1:24) was noted close to this surface.
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Rock-hewn agricultural installations that dated to various periods were discovered at most of the survey points; these served the people of the adjacent settlements, Khirbat Luqa and Khirbat Mazmuriya. The ceramic finds dated to the Roman and Byzantine periods. The small bedrock-hewn cup marks (No. 23) probably attest to a nearby prehistoric site (Neolithic?).
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To view the figures, click on the figure caption
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לגרסה בעברית
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