The Late Hellenistic Period (second–first centuries BCE)

The ceramic finds from this period included several bowls, jars and lamps that were mostly produced locally. Noteworthy among them is a body fragment of a folded Hasmonean lamp and a red-slipped folded handle of a closed wheel-made lamp that was probably a local imitation of an imported Hellenistic lamp. Lamps of this kind are rare and several examples were discovered in a Jewish burial cave in Nahal David at ‘En Gedi, which was dated to the first century BCE (unpublished). The numismatic finds from this period included three Seleucid coins (Antiochus III, Antiochus IV and Antiochus VII) and two coins of Alexander Jannaeus. In addition, a small bronze pendant that depicts the Egyptian god Horus Harpocrates and is probably dated to the Hellenistic-Roman period was discovered, not in situ (Fig. 3).

 

The Byzantine-Umayyad Period (fifth–eighth centuries CE)

During the preliminary survey, a large ashlar stone that was decorated with two crosses and probably originated in a church or a monastery was found (HA-ESI 117). Numerous large white tesserae were found, as well as an extremely large amount of potsherds that comprised both local and imported vessels. The locally manufactured vessels consisted of lamps (mostly ‘menorah’-type lamps), FBW bowls (Fig. 4:1–4), kraters (Fig. 4:5), cooking pots, jars, jugs and fragments of roof tiles. The imported vessels consisted of Late Roman Red Ware bowls, mostly represented by bowls from western Asia Minor (LRC; Fig. 4:6–10) that are frequently decorated with a cross (Fig. 4:11, 12) and bowls from Africa (ARS; Fig. 4:13), Cyprus (CRS; Fig. 4:14) and Egypt (ERS; Fig. 4:15). Numerous glass fragments of bowls, a wine goblet, bottles and juglets were ascribed to this period and the numismatic finds included four coins from the end of the fourth–beginning of the fifth century CE and two coins from the sixth–seventh centuries CE.

 

The Mamluk Period (thirteenth–fifteenth centuries CE)

A settlement layer dating to the later part of the Mamluk period was exposed in all the squares of Area A3. Architectural remains were found in two squares and included stone collapse, robber trenches of walls and a hard-packed earth floor (c. 2.5 × 2.5 m). The stone collapse, next to the floor, contained a homogenous pottery assemblage contemporary with the period (Fig. 5), which consisted of mold-made lamps decorated with geometric patterns; handmade and wheel-made bowls, a few of them glazed and jars and jugs, mostly handmade. The entire surface of most handmade vessels was densely covered with red and brown washed geometric decorations, applied to a buff-colored slip. Decorated vessels of this type first appeared in the twelfth century CE and were also common during the Ottoman period. The numismatic finds from this period included one Ayyubid coin, dating from the time of Al-Malik al-‘Adil, the brother of Salah a-Din, and three badly preserved and illegible Mamluk coins that could not be dated.