Front Matter

On the western slope of Mount Zion, Jerusalem, below the southwestern corner of the Old City walls, a First Temple period burial ground was revealed. Five rock-cut tombs (A–E) were exposed, one of which (Tomb A) was found sealed with its original blocking stone, and hence its great importance for reconstructing First Temple period burial practices. Tomb A is of the prevalent “bench-tomb” type and it served for multiple and simultaneous burials. The tomb yielded finds that are of special importance, illuminating the burial practices of the people of Jerusalem and Judah in the seventh century BCE until the Babylonian destruction in 587/6 BCE.

A small-scale excavation carried out next to the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation compound in Nazareth exposed the remains of three building strata: Stratum III, from Iron IIA–B (tenth–early eighth centuries BCE); Stratum II, from the late Hellenistic to the Early Roman period (late second century BCE–first third of the second century CE); and Stratum I, from the Crusader to Mamluk periods (twelfth–fifteenth centuries CE). The late Hellenistic to Early Roman-period dwelling incorporated a three-level complex of subterranean pits or silos. Within the pits, many potsherds were discarded, perhaps attesting to the Jewish practice of ritual defilement of ceramic vessels that were rendered impure. Similar findings were documented at other Jewish villages of the Early Roman period in Galilee. 

A rock-hewn burial cave was exposed below ‘En Lavan in Naḥal Refa’im. It comprised a burial chamber with three arcosolia, in which burial troughs were carved; some of them had raised rock-hewn headrests. The cave was found sealed. In situ finds included pottery, glassware, metal artifacts and beads. The bone remains represent at least ten individuals—probably local residents. The cave was in use from the Byzantine period to the beginning of the Early Islamic period.

Four areas were excavated northwest of Tel Lod (Areas A–D), exposing remains from three strata: Stratum III, dating from the late Byzantine to the Umayyad periods (sixth–eighth centuries CE; Stratum II, dating to the Abbasid period (eighth–tenth centuries CE)—the primary layer at the site; and Stratum I, dating from the medieval period—from the end of the Crusader to the beginning of the Mamluk period (second half of the thirteenth century CE). The plans of the Stratum II buildings are uniform, probably alluding to a well-planned residential quarter during the Abbasid period. The finds from Stratum II include pottery, glass and coins, as well as some unique specimens, such as a decorated bread stamp, a bird figurine, a potsherd engraved with two animals eating a plant and a zir handle adorned with a monogram. The results of this excavation are evidence that although the city of Lod decreased in importance at the beginning of the Early Islamic period with the rise of Ramla as the district’s capital, life in the city continued uninterruptedly throughout the Abbasid period.