During February 2011, a salvage excavation was conducted in the Maghar village (Permit No. A-6137; map ref. 23807–13/75516–20), in the wake of damage to antiquities. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by Mr. A. Attallah, was directed by G.B. Jaffe, with the assistance of Y. Ya‘aqobi (administration), A. Mokary (safety), R. Mishayev and M. Kahan (surveying) and W. Atrash (guidance).
The village of Maghar is situated along the southern slopes of Har
Hazon, in the northern Lower Galilee. A previous excavation in the village (
HA-ESI 122) revealed architectural remains and pottery fragments from the Late Roman period, as well as potsherds from the Early Roman period. The boundaries and size of the ancient village are unknown.
Part of an extensive quarry, where mostly large building stones were hewn, was exposed (Figs. 1, 2); it is the first of its kind to be uncovered in the region.
The excavated part of the quarry (length c. 15 m, max. width 4 m; c. 67 sq m) was delimited on the east by the area, damaged by the development work. A bedrock-hewn pit (L101; depth 1 m) was noted at its eastern end of the quarry; a large surface adjacent to it has three quarrying steps (Fig. 3).
The bedrock south and west of Pit 101 was high and covered with light brown garden soil (max. thickness 0.1 m), overlaying shallow quarrying surfaces (depth up to 0.2 m). The side of the quarry (c. 0.7 m high) was exposed in the north and next to it was a building stone, on one of the surfaces in the middle of the area (L102), whose quarrying was incomplete (0.5 × 1.0 m; Fig. 4). The stone was bigger than other stones whose negatives were identified in the quarry.
Further along the quarry, to the west (L103), other surfaces with severance channels were exposed (Fig. 5).
The quarry presumably continued east, into the area that was damaged, it was used by the residents of the ancient site and presumably by those from the surrounding region.