ISSN 3079-0441 EISSN 3079-045X
IAA Reports is a monograph series dedicated to the final publication of excavation reports of major sites, as well as monographs devoted to a specific topic, such as a specific research devoted to material under the IAA’s jurisdiction.
-
Horbat ‘Uza: The 1991 Excavations Volume I: The Early Periods
Nimrod Getzov, Ronny Lieberman-Wander, Howard Smithline, and Danny Syon
This is the first of two volumes documenting the IAA excavations at this site in the ‘Akko Plain. This volume presents the early periods, including occupation during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Chalcolithic periods, with significant pottery and flint finds, then a substantial EB IA settlement, an Intermediate Bronze Age settlement and an ephemeral presence in the Late Bronze Age, as evidenced by the pottery finds. The site lay in ruins throughout the Iron Age until an extensive resettlement in the Persian period and a small Hellenistic-period presence.
-
Paneas: Volume IV: The Aqueduct and the Northern Suburbs
Moshe Hartal
This volume continues the publication of the IAA excavations at the site of Paneas. While Volumes I and II (IAA Reports 37, 38) and the upcoming Volume III, describe the excavations in the Roman–Byzantine city’s civic center, this volume extends our knowledge to the city’s aqueduct system, cemeteries and northern suburbs, and describes the pottery, coin and glass finds from these excavations.
-
Salvage Excavations at Tel Moza: The Bronze and Iron Age Settlements and Later Occupations
Zvi Greenhut and Alon De Groot
The IAA excavations at Tel Moẓa, just outside Jerusalem, were initiated due to the relocation of the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv Highway, which stood to destroy all the antiquities along the new route. During three excavation seasons (1993, 2002–2003), 16 strata were defined, spanning the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period to the Ottoman period (the extensive Prehistoric finds are published elsewhere). This volume describes the finds from the Early Bronze Age onward, describing the pottery, glyptics and inscriptions, groundstone assemblages and other small finds. An outstanding discovery was a large silo complex of Iron IIB, leading the excavators to the interpretation that during this period, the site of Moẓa was a royal administrative center containing a large grain-storage facility to supply the capital Jerusalem.
-
Paneas Volume II: Small Finds and Other Studies
Vassilios Tzaferis and Shoshana Israeli
This is the second volume of a series documenting the large-scale IAA excavations in the central area of the site during 1988–2000. The first volume (IAA Reports 37) described the stratigraphy, architecture, pottery and glass finds, while this second volume presents additional small finds, including coins, Arabic inscriptions, Ottoman tobacco pipes and others, along with several analytic studies related to the finds and the site as a whole.
-
Paneas Volume I: The Roman to Early Islamic Periods Excavations in Areas A, B, E, F, G andH
Vassilios Tzaferis and Shoshana Israeli
Occupation at the site of Paneas, also known as Caesarea Philippi and Baniyas, spanned some 2300 years, from the establishment of a small sanctuary devoted to the cult of Pan in the Hellenistic period, to the prosperous Roman capital and polis Caesarea Philippi, and becoming a Christian pilgrimage site known as Paneas in the Byzantine period; following the Muslim conquest, a formidable fortress stood here during the Middle Ages, when the site was known as Baniyas, and finally a poor Ottoman village abandoned in modern times.
This is the first volume of a series documenting the large-scale IAA excavations at Paneas. The present volume concentrates on the results of excavations in the city’s civic center during 1988–2000, presenting the stratigraphy and architecture of the Roman to Early Islamic periods, as well as mosaics, pottery and glass finds. Further small finds are presented in the second volume (IAA Reports 38).
-
The Necropolis of Bet Guvrin–Eleutheropolisi
Gideon Avni, Talila Michaeli, and Tamar Winter
This large cemetery is associated with the city of Bet Guvrin–Eleutheropolis in the Judean Shephelah, which began as a Jewish village, then transforming into a central Roma–Byzantine polis and administrative center. The cemeteries comprise varying types of burial caves hewn into the soft-limestone bedrock in dense clusters over a prolonged period of some 500 years. The architecture, symbols and artifacts, including pottery, ceramic oil lamps, glass and other small finds, enabled a chronological typology of the caves, reflecting the socioeconomic and ethno-religious standing of the mixed pagan, Jewish and Christian population of the city.
-
Maresha Excavations Final Report II: Hellenistic Terracotta Figurines from the 1989–1996 Seasons
Adi Erlich and Amos Kloner
This is the second volume in a series of final reports documenting the large-scale excavations at the site of Maresha, mainly in the Lower City, during the 1980s and 1990s. In the Hellenistic period, Maresha was an important and multi-cultural city. Hellenistic terracottas are a varied and widespread medium of Hellenistic art of a religious and cultic nature. The extensive repertoire presented here, mostly found in residential contexts during the excavations of the mid-1980s to 1996, opens a window onto the city’s culture, religion and daily life. It describes their typology as well as the production methods and techniques.
-
Excavations at Kadesh Barnea (Tell el-Qudeirat) 1976–1982, Part 2: Plates, Plans and Sections
Rudolph Cohen and Hannah Bernick-Greenberg
This volume, comprised of two parts: text and plates, presents the results of the excavations at Tell el-Qudeirat, located in an oasis in the northern Sinai desert and identified as biblical Kadesh Barnea. The excavations, which took place over ten seasons (1976–1982), revealed a stratigraphic sequence of three superimposed Iron Age fortresses. The plans and architecture of the fortresses, as well as the pottery, including the family of ‘Negebite Ware’, are described.
-
Excavations at Kadesh Barnea (Tell el-Qudeirat) 1976–1982, Part 1: Text
Rudolph Cohen and Hannah Bernick-Greenberg
This volume, comprised of two parts: text and plates, presents the results of the excavations at Tell el-Qudeirat, located in an oasis in the northern Sinai desert and identified as biblical Kadesh Barnea. The excavations, which took place over ten seasons (1976–1982), revealed a stratigraphic sequence of three superimposed Iron Age fortresses. The plans and architecture of the fortresses, as well as the pottery, including the family of ‘Negebite Ware’, are described.
-
NYSA-Scythopolis: The Caesareum and the Odeum
Gabriel Mazor and Arfan Najjar
This is the first volume of publications of the Bet She’an Archaeological Project, describing the large-scale IAA excavations at the site of Bet She’an, ancient Nysa-Scythopolis, during 1986–2002. The excavations were followed by vast preservation and development works. This first volume describes the stratigraphy and architecture of the Caesareum and Odeum, erected within the monumental Roman–Byzantine civic center of the city, as well as the Hellenistic-Roman pottery and architectural elements.
-
Tel Mor: The Moshe Dothan Excavations, 1959–1960
Tristan J. Barako
This is the final report of the excavations carried out by Moshe Dothan in 1959 at Tel Mor, a small tell in the coastal plain. Finds from the Middle Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period were uncovered, and some Roman-period and later finds as well. The principal remains date to the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, represented by a series of large buildings on the summit of the tell. Two of these buildings appear to be forts, and as they were accompanied by significant quantities of Egyptianized pottery, they may have functioned as Egyptian garrisons in Canaan. The rich finds include Canaanite, Philistine Egyptian and Egyptianized, Cypriot and Mycenean pottery, as well as flint, metal and groundstone assemblages and glyptics.
-
‘En Esur (‘Ein Asawir) I: Excavatios at a Protohistoric Site in the Coastal Plain of Israel
Eli Yannai
‘En Esur is a large, multi-level protohistoric site with a sequence of settlements from the Neolithic, Early Chalcolithic, Late Chalcolithic periods and Early Bronze Age I. It grew up in an area of copious springs and rich alluvial fields in the northern Sharon Plain. A large-scale salvage excavation in 1993, and further excavations in 1999 and 2004, revealed exceptional architectural and material-cultural finds, including rich pottery, flint and groundstone assemblages.
-
Bet Yeraḥ: The Early Bronze Age Mound Volume I: Excavation Reports, 1933–1986
Raphael Greenberg, Emanuel Eisenberg, Sarit Paz, and Yitzhak Paz
This is the first volume of a series describing the results of 11 excavation campaigns at Tel Bet Yeraḥ, a large mound situated at the exit of the Jordan River from the Sea of Galilee, which took place over some 50 years (1933–1986). This first volume presents the stratigraphic framework and the Early Bronze Age pottery. The second volume (IAA Reports 54) presents the Early Bronze Age artifact assemblages and a synthetic treatment of the results. The third volume (IAA Reports 61) describes the Hellenistic and Islamic finds.
-
Gamla I: The Pottery of the Second Temple Period, The Shmarya Guttman Excavations, 1976–1989
Andrea M. Berlin
This is the first of a series of volumes publishing the results of the excavations of the late Shmarya Gutmann at Gamla. Gamla is located on a high, precipitous rocky spur in the southern Golan Heights. It is the best preserved and most extensively excavated Jewish site of the late Second Temple period in northern Israel. Settlement came to an end in 67 CE, and the site was never resettled. This first volume presents an in-depth study of the pottery assemblages from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, which reflect all the many and varied aspects of every-day life at the site.
-
The Tel Bet Yeraḥ Excavations, 1994–1995
Nimrod Getzov
This is the final report of the IAA salvage excavations at the tell during 1994–1995, which revealed occupation strata from EB I–EB III and the Hellenistic period. The finds from each period are presented separately, along with observations on the settlement history of the Early Bronze Age in northern Israel.
-
Shoham (North): Late Chalcolithic Burial Caves in the Lod Valley, Israel
Edwin C.M. van den Brink and Ram Gophna
The IAA salvage excavations at Shoham in the Lod Valley revealed four interconnected karstic caves that were used for burial as well as domestic purposes during the Chalcolithic period and the Early Bronze Age I and Intermediate Bronze Age. They are part of an entire system of cemeteries located within the karstic caves in the limestone foothills of the region. The finds include rich assemblages of burial goods, particularly the ceramic ossuaries of the Chalcolithic period. The finds enable a better understanding of Chalcolithic mortuary behavior in the region, and the relationship between the settlements and the cemeteries––the living and the dead.
-
Pottery of the Crusader, Ayyubid, and Mamluk Periods in Israel
Miriam Avissar and Edna J. Stern
This volume presents the pottery from the late medieval periods of the 12th to 15th centuries (Crusader, Ayyubid, Mamluk periods) from excavations in Israel, and is basically a handbook for archaeologists that reflects the state of research up to 2004. During this time span, the borders were very dynamic, and often the only apparent differences in the pottery assemblages were in the relative frequencies of the different types: while local wares often continued regardless of political changes, imported wares reflected commercial connections that changed dramatically.
-
Tel Yoqne‘am Excavations of the Acropolis
Miriam Avissar
The acropolis of Yoqne‘am is occupied by an enclosure that is considered to be the remains of a Crusader fortress. The IAA excavations here explored the remains of the Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman periods in three main areas: inside the enclosure, the connection with the Crusader church, and in one of the corner towers. This volume presents the architecture and stratigraphy of the site, as well as the pottery, coins, glass and other small finds, such as oil lamps and clay tobacco pipes.
-
Ashdod VI: The Excavations of Areas H and K (1968–1969)
Moshe Dothan and David Ben-Shlomo
This is the sixth and final volume of the Ashdod Excavation Project, and publishes the excavations that took place in Areas H and K, some 35 years after the excavations were completed. This volume documents the stratigraphy and building remains, as well as the material culture of these two areas, mainly the pottery, coins, flint, metal and stone finds, as well as jewelry and stamp-seal amulets.
-
Bronze and Iron Age Tombs at Tell Beit Mirsim
Sara Ben-Arieh
These excavations took place in the necropolis of this long-occupied tell in the Judean Shephelah, which existed from the Early Bronze Age III, through the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Ages and into the Iron Age II. Thousands of pottery vessels and other rich finds were revealed. This volume presents the excavation and finds from the 15 best-preserved tombs and their grave goods, dating to MB I, MB II, LB II and Iron II, and discusses the relation of the tombs to the occupation on the tell.
-
Excavations at Tiberias, 1973–1974 the Early Islamic Periods
David Stacey
This volume documents two seasons of excavation of the Early Islamic levels in ancient Tiberias, including detailed analysis of the stratigraphy and a thorough treatment of the Islamic-period pottery, as well as the glass and the numismatic finds.
-
Ancient Settlement of the Negev Highlands: Volume II: The Iron Age and The Persian Period
Rudolph Cohen and Rebecca Cohen-Amin
-
The Neolithic Site Of Abu Ghosh
Hamoudi Khalaily and Ofer Marder
Excavations at the Neolithic site of Abu Ghosh in the Jerusalem Hills uncovered two periods: the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) and the Pottery Neolithic (PN). This volume documents the results of the excavations of villages of these two consecutive periods, including architecture, lithics, groundstone, pottery, small finds and fauna. The PPNB village comprised domestic structures, courtyards, plaster floors and enclosing fences. Domestic activities took place in the courtyards. The PN village layout is less clear, as it was dug into the earlier remains. The faunal analysis reveals evidence of incipient domestication of wild goats in the PPNB assemblage, and by the time of the PN village, domestic goats had become part of the village subsistence strategy.
-
Salvage Excavations at the Early Bronze Age Site of Qiryat Ata
Amir Golani
Some 1400 sq m were exposed in the IAA excavations of the protohistoric site of Qiryat Ata. The study of the paleogeography reveals this location was an optimal area for exploitation of natural resources, including alluvial valleys, coastal habitats and forests, with stable water sources and extensive available farmland. The site yielded a wealth of stratified, well-dated architecture in a chronological sequence within the Early Bronze Age, illustrating the development from EB IB curvilinear structures, to late EB IB rectilinear forms with rounded corners, and finally EB II angular-cornered rectilinear buildings in a large, dense, urbanized town. The rich pottery, flint, groundstone and small-find assemblages are typical of the northern Israel EB I–EB II culture.
-
Maresha Excavations Final Report I: Subterranean Complexes 21, 44, 70
Amos Kloner
This is the first of the series of final reports on the excavations at the Hellenistic city of Maresha, and documents the work in the extensive man-made subterranean complexes below the lower city during the 1980s. Three subterranean complexes are presented here (70, 21, 44–45), including the study of their architecture, pottery and small finds and the industries that took place there. Chapters 1 and 2 present the setting of the site and review previous excavations, while Chapter 9 summarizes all the data in order to present a human face for the finds uncovered here.
-
Kissufim Road: A Chalcolithic Mortuary Site
Yuval Goren and Peter Fabian
This volume describes the results of the excavation of a unique mortuary site in the northwestern Negev, which differs from Chalcolithic cave-burial sites known in the coastal plain and northern Israel, and the stone circles known from a few sites in the northwestern Negev and southern Transjordan. The excavations revealed a mortuary site containing some 54 individuals, both children and adults, in secondary burial in ceramic ossuaries, urns, jars, bowls and ceramic and stone burial tubs. Individuals were interred in a rectangular mud-built funerary structure, surrounded by a number of individual pit burials and a collective burial in a large pit with maẓẓevot (gravestones) nearby. The finds, including, pottery, flint objects, small finds and human remains are described, and the mortuary practices are discussed.
-
The Akhziv Cemeteries: The Ben-Dor Excavations, 1941–1944
Michal Dayagi-Mendels
This volume presents the results of excavations in two Iron Age Phoenician cemeteries to the east and south of Tel Akhziv, excavated intermittently between 1940 and 1980. Most of the tombs are rock-hewn shaft tombs with a burial chamber. The finds, clearly belonging to the Phoenician cultural sphere, include a rich pottery repertoire, jewelry, amulets and a rich collection of terracotta figurines that provide a glimpse into the everyday life of the people interred here.
-
Settlement Dynamics and Regional in Ancient Upper Galilee
Rafael Frankel, Nimrod Getzov, Mordechai Aviam, and Avi Degani
-
Tel Te’o: A Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Early Bronze Age Site in the Ḥula Valley
Emanuel Eisenberg, Avi Gopher, and Raphael Greenberg
This multi-level site in the Ḥula Valley revealed a rare pre- and proto-historic sequence extending from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (PPNB), through the Pottery Neolithic period (PN), until it was finally abandoned in the Early Bronze Age II; it was again occupied during medieval times. The abundant water resources were the probable reason for the continued settlement here, despite the difficulties presented by the marshy environment.
The settlements were apparently small villages based on simple agriculture and husbandry throughout their existence, representing local variations of the known cultures of the various periods. The Chalcolithic settlement shows affinities with the Golan Chalcolithic; after a period of abandonment, the EB IA level presents the typical curvilinear architecture of that period; no EB IB presence was evident, and the EB II level is represented mainly by its distinctive pottery.
-
Excavations at Efrata: A Burial Ground from the Intermediate and Middle Bronze Ages
Rivka Gonen
This volume presents the results of the 1979 excavations at the site of Efrata, a hill on the Hebron–Jerusalem road. On the summit is a tumulus, and burial grounds of shaft tombs on the slopes were in use during the Intermediate Bronze Age (IBA) and Middle Bronze Age II (MB II). The hill was apparently an isolated cemetery intensively used by semi-nomadic pastoralists. The shaft tombs were first hewn during IBA, and after a short gap (MB I), reused in MB II. The pottery and small finds are presented, and analysis of the human remains indicates that the burials in the two periods represent two different populations. Burial and funerary practices are discussed.
-
The al-Ṣubayba (Nimrod) Fortress: Towers 11 and 9
Moshe Hartal
This volume presents the results of the 1993 excavations in two towers at the impressive medieval ‘Al-Subayba (Nimrod) fortress in the Golan Heights, on the southern slopes of Mt. Hermon. It was built by the Ayyubids in the 13th century with the purpose of guarding a major access route to Damascus against armies coming from the west. It was later rebuilt as a palace and mosque by the Mamluks, and finally destroyed by an earthquake. The excavations cleared Tower 11 to facilitate the exit route to the postern gate. The history and building technology of the fortress are discussed.
