During April 2001 a limited salvage excavation was conducted in the eastern part of Karm er-Ras (Permit No. A-3397; map ref. NIG 23164/73950; OIG 18164/23950), in the wake of private construction. The excavation, carried out on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and financed by the landowner A.S. Subhi, was directed by Y. Alexandre (surveying and photography), with the assistance of E. Belashov and I. Berin (drafting) and H. Tahan (pottery drawing).
The extremely limited area of excavation (12 sq m) prevented any significant understanding of the architecture in this plot. The potsherds represented the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods.
The area was mostly excavated to a depth of 1.1 m, reaching bedrock at a depth of c. 2 m below surface in a very small area (L407). Three stone walls (W41–W43), preserved 0.8–1.2 m high, were exposed. Wall 43, built on bedrock, formed a corner with W41 and it seems that both walls were contemporaneous. A patch of packed earth (L405; elevation 218.87 m), with some Early Roman potsherds, may be part of an associated floor (Stratum IV). Wall 42 abutted W41 and was probably a later addition (Stratum III), although this is uncertain since the base of the wall was not reached. The potsherds adjacent to the walls dated to the Hellenistic (Strata VI–V), Early Roman (Stratum IV) and Middle Roman (Stratum III) periods. Byzantine potsherds occurred in topsoil (Stratum I).
This small excavation revealed building remains, probably of a private house, dating to the Early and Middle Roman periods, which may possibly have been originally built in the Hellenistic period.