In October 2013, a salvage excavation was conducted at the Kefar Gevirol site in the Ne’ot Keramim neighborhood of Rehovot (Permit No. A-6927; map ref. 178981–91/644440–9), prior to construction. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by the Rehovot municipality, was directed by F. Volynsky, with the assistance of Y. Amrani (administration), M. Molokandov (preliminary inspections), A. Dagot (GPS), M. Kunin (surveying and drafting), A. Gorzalczany (scientific consultation), M. Shuiskaya (pottery drawing), D.T. Ariel (numismatics), as well as M. Ajami and Y. Marmelstein.
A square building consisting of four walls built of small fieldstones (W1–W4; preserved height 0.3–0.8 m; Fig. 1) was exposed. The southern wall (W1) was longer than the others and continued eastward. The inner faces of Walls 1, 3 and 4 were treated with two layers of plaster. All that survived of the ceiling was the plaster along the upper part of W3, which indicates that the building had a vaulted ceiling. A raised plastered surface built of fieldstones was exposed inside the building besides W1. Bone remains that could not be identified were discovered on the surface. A plaster floor (L15) was unearthed inside the building; no artifacts were discovered below it. The building was dug into a layer of hamra (L12), which yielded pottery sherds dating to the Hellenistic period, including a fish plate (Fig. 2:1), jug rims (Fig. 2:2, 3) and a jug base (Fig. 2:4), as well as a bowl rim from the Roman period (Fig. 2:5). Fragments of pottery vessels from the Late Roman period, including a jar rim (Fig. 2:6) and a jar base (Fig. 2:7), were discovered in the soil fill (L13) above the building’s floor. A coin of the emperor Probus (276–282 CE; Antioch mint; IAA 143646) was discovered while cleaning W1 (L17).
It seems that the building dates to the end of the Roman period, and that it was dug into a layer from the Hellenistic period. In an excavation previously conducted c. 30 m east of the current excavation area, settlement remains ranging in date from the Iron Age to the Early Islamic period and irrigation channels from the Ottoman period were revealed (
Volynsky and Talmi 2011).