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During August–September 2008, a salvage excavation was conducted at Khirbat Burnat (Permit No. A-5508; map ref. 195859–6263/657637–817), after ancient remains were detected by O. Segal when exposing the ground prior to development work. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by Hevel Modi‘in Development Company, was directed by A. Buchennino, with the assistance of V. Eshed, Y. Elisha and R. Assis (area supervision), M. Kunin and T. Kornfeld (surveying and drafting), H. Ben-Ari (GPS) and T. Sagiv (field photography). |
The site extends across a broad limestone hill in the Hevel Modi‘in Industrial Zone whose northern, southern and western slopes are precipitous. Numerous surveys and excavations had previously been conducted in the region (HA-ESI 120). Three excavations were carried out at the site in 2003–2004, exposing, among other things, impressive well-preserved remains of a fortified and well-planned settlement from the Early Bronze Age; two systems of fortification, one defending the acropolis and the other protecting the lower city were unearthed (HA-ESI 120; Qadmoniot 134:82–88; Qadmoniot 136:96–107 [Hebrew]).
The current excavation (21 dunams) extended across the northern and northwestern slopes of the hill. Three excavation areas (A–C) were opened and a limekiln, a milestone, cupmarks, tombs and rock-cuttings were exposed (Fig. 1). |
Area A. A limekiln (L10; upper diam. 4 m, lower diam. 2.9 m, depth 4 m; Figs. 2, 3) hewn in limestone bedrock was exposed. Several stones, arranged in a circle at the bottom of the kiln, were discovered. The firebox in the upper part of the kiln was destroyed. Based on a comparison to similar limekilns, this installation seems to date to the Ottoman period and the British Mandate era. A rock-hewn pit (L11; diam. c. 1 m, depth c. 0.9 m) was discerned to the northwest of the kiln. A milestone (L12; diam. 0.6 m, length 2.3 m; Fig. 4) was exposed south of the kiln and further up the slope. It was lying on a bedrock surface and its stone dressing was incomplete. It seems that the milestone had a square base and its dimensions were similar to those of milestones discovered in the region, which dated to the Roman and Byzantine periods (R. Roll and E. Ayalon 1984. Roman Roads in the Foothills of Samaria and Northern Judea. Israel – People and Land, I [19]:131–145 [Hebrew]).
Area B. Four tombs hewn in limestone were discovered (L20–L23). Tombs 21 and 22, apparently plundered in the past, were double arcosolia (L21—0.6×1.5 m; L22—0.6×1.6 m; Figs. 5–7). The covering stone of Tomb 21 (0.55×1.10 m) was discovered near the tomb; it was placed back on top of the tomb during the excavation. Rock-hewn channels, probably meant to drain rainwater, were located nearby, to the south and east of Tomb 21. A short channel (length 0.15 m, width 6 cm), also used to drain rainwater, was hewn in the southwestern corner of Tomb 22. The tomb’s cover was found in situ (1.1×1.8 m, thickness 0.45 m). Based on the shape of Tombs 21 and 22, they should be dated to the Late Roman and Byzantine periods. Tombs 20 and 23 (L20—0.55×1.70 m; L23—0.6×1.5 m; Figs. 8–10), the former located c. 60 m east of the latter, were hewn graves. Just to the south and west of Tomb 20 was a hewn channel that probably drained rainwater. Five cupmarks (L20/1–L20/5; diam. 0.16–0.40 m, depth 0.1–0.5 m) were hewn near Tomb 20, on the same bedrock surface. The quarrying of Cupmark 20/5 was incomplete.
Area C. Two adjacent rock-cuttings were discovered (L30, L31; Fig. 11). The marks on Rock-Cutting 30 suggest that a covering stone of similar dimensions to that found on Tomb 22 was quarried (Fig. 12). Negatives of a tomb cover (?) and two square surfaces (0.7×0.9 m, 0.9×0.9 m) were discerned in Rock-Cutting 31 (Fig. 13). A hewn cupmark (diam. 0.2 m, depth 0.15 m) was noted to the north of Rock-Cutting 31.
It seems that the tombs and the quarries, in which covering stones for mortuaries may have been hewn, were associated with Khirbat el-Bira, located to the north of the site, where a manor house from the Byzantine period was discovered (Z. Safrai and S. Dar 1997. Horvat Bira – A Manor House on the Lod Shephelah. In Z. Safrai et al. [eds.], Hikirei Eretz, pp. 57–107). Khirbat Burnat itself yielded only meager finds from the Byzantine period (Qadmoniot 136:104 [Hebrew]).
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To view the figures, click on the figure caption
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1. General plan. |
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2. Limekiln, plan and section. |
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3. Limekiln, looking east. |
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4. Milestone, looking south. |
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5. Tombs 21–23, plan. |
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6. Tomb 21, looking east. |
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7. Tomb 21, looking south. |
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8. Tomb 20, plan. |
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9. Tomb 20, looking east. |
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10. Tomb 23, looking north. |
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11. Rock-Cuttings 30 and 31, plan. |
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12. Rock-Cutting 30, looking west. |
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13. Rock-Cutting 31, looking northeast. |
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לגרסה בעברית
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