During February–March 2007, a salvage excavation was conducted in the Bet Eli‘ezer neighborhood of Hadera (Permit No. A-5044; map ref. NIG 194583–610/704315–31; OIG 144583–610/204315–31), prior to paving a road. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the Ziyyune Derekh Company, was directed by A. Massarwa (photography), with the assistance of S. Ya‘aqov-Jam (administration), V. Essman (surveying), M. Shuiskaya (pottery drawing) and M. Peilstöcker (guidance and dating of ceramic finds).
The excavation was located in a flat area covered with hamra soil, south of the Nahal Hadera channel. Previous excavations nearby exposed the remains of a winepress that was paved with a mosaic (ESI 20:39*–40*).
An excavation square was opened, revealing an east–west oriented wall (W510; length 3.4 m, width 0.3 m; Fig. 1) that was built of a single row of ashlar stones. The wall, preserved a single course high, was partly damaged as a result of modern infrastructure work. Jar fragments that dated to the Byzantine period (sixth–seventh centuries CE; Fig. 2) were recovered from the wall, between the stones and from either side of it. The function of the wall could not be determined because of the limited scope of the excavation and the modern disturbances.