IAA Reports—Monograph Series of the Israel Antiquities Authority

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  Ḥorbat Rosh Zayit: An Iron Age Storage Fort and Village

  Zvi Gal and Yardenna Alexandre

  The excavations at Ḥorbat Rosh Zayit were conducted following the survey of the Lower Galilee, as part of the Lower Galilee regional project, by Zvi Gal. The site’s full significance was only revealed in the excavations, which have contributed much data that enable the presentation of an historical-geographical synthesis. The rural Iron Age village of Stratum III was abandoned and a fort was established in Strat um II, at the highest spot on the hill overlooking the ‘Akko Plain. The rich assemblages of finds, including grinding stones and iron agricultural tools, as well as hundreds of storage jars in the cellars that had contained wheat and pulses, throw light on the fort’s nature as a well-defended storage facility and administrative center of the central government.

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  Jericho: The Jewish Cemetery of the Second Temple Period

  Rachel Hachlili and Ann E. Killebrew

  This volume describes the excavations that took place during the 1970s, in Hellenistic and Roman-period tombs on the outskirts of the modern city of Jericho, revealing a Jewish cemetery of the Second Temple period. Early Roman-period Jericho was the second largest city in Judea, well known for its date palm groves and especially its balsam. The Hasmoneans erected winter palaces here, as did King Herod. This final report presents descriptions of the tombs and the finds, including pottery, inscriptions, coffins and ossuaries, and provides a wealth of new data on Jewish burial customs during the 1st century BCE to the 1st century CE in Judea of the Second Temple period.

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  Ancient Settlement of the Central Negev, Volume I: The Chalcolithic Period , the Early Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age I

  Rudolph Cohen

  This volume presents the results of the study by Rudolph Cohen of sedentarization in the Central Negev during the Chalcolithic period, Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age 1 (Intermediate Bronze Age), including the finds, settlement patterns, economy, etc. The reports of the surveys and excavations and the finds are in Hebrew, with a summary and a number of specialist reports presented in English.

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  The Cave of the Warrior: A Fourth Millenium Burial in the Judean Desert

  Tamar Schick

  During the survey of the caves in the Jericho area, Cave No. 13 revealed a uniquely well-preserved burial dating to the early 4th millennium BCE, accompanied by burial goods that have rarely been preserved elsewhere, due to the conditions of the cave. The middle-aged male buried together with a unique flint knife anda wooden bow and arrows, among other gifts, was termed the “Warrior”, although he may have been a hunter rather than warrior. Other perishable objects that so rarely survive the millennia include textiles, mats, a basket and leather sandals. A wide range of research topics, analyses and conservation reports are included in this volume, providing a wealth of data on the high level of crafts, basketry, etc., and burial customs from over 5,000 years ago.

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  The Chalcolithic Culture of the Golan

  Claire Epstein

  This volume is devoted to the results of the extensive excavations, surveys and research by Claire Epstein of the Chalcolithic culture of the Golan. The Golan Chalcolithic culture was an egalitarian, clan-based society of small villages and farmsteads, with unique and outstanding cultural features, including the architecture and house plans, the characteristic pottery assemblages, and the distinctive basalt and flint artifacts.

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  Villages, Terraces, and Stone Mounds: Excavations at Manḥat Jerusalem, 1987–1989

  Gershon Edelstein, Ianir Milevski, and Sara Aurant

  Following surveys and excavations in the area of the Rephaim Valley, within the framework of the Rephaim Valley Project, the valley was revealed to have been densely settled throughout the ages. The aims of the project were to document neglected archaeological remains such as villages, terraces and stone mounds––their chronology, ancient handicrafts and industries––and to attempt to view the overall settlement patterns in the area. This volume presents the excavations at Manaḥat.

  Excavations in the stone mounds revealed that small farmsteads from MB I were later built upon by MB IIB village dwellings. Scarce remains of a LB II phase were also recognized. The terraces, and the layers of soil brought as fill during the Roman period, preserved these remains, creating stone mounds that are a common phenomenon seen throughout the region.

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  Yiftaḥ’el: Salvage and Rescue Excavations at a Prehistoric Village in Lower Galilee, Israel

  Eliot Braun

  Large-scale excavations at the site of Yiftaḥ’el in Lower Galilee, revealed four strata: Strata IV–III representing a late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (or PPNC) settlement, with some evidence of agriculture; some ephemeral remains of ‘pre-Stratum II’ phase consisting of pottery that can be equated with early Pottery Neolithic wares; Stratum II representing an extensive, well-preserved ‘Early Northern EB I’ village of curvilinear buildings with an apparent emphasis on husbandry; and Stratum I comprising a rather enigmatic phase that could fall within EB I, MB I or MB II.

  Yiftaḥ’el II is further discussed as an exponent of an early northern EB I cultural facies, including its cultural landscape, its possible origins and its geographic and chronological parameters.

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  The Akeldama Tombs: Three Burial Caves in the Kidron Valley, Jerusalem

  Gideon Avni and Zvi Greenhut

  The Kidron Valley was one of the main burial grounds of First Temple-period Jerusalem, and numerous tombs were also hewn here during the Second Temple period. During road works in the valley, three large, elaborate Second Temple-period tombs were exposed, which contained an abundance of rich and intact finds, some still in situ, including pottery, glass, jewelry, a sarcophagus and many ossuaries, some inscribed. The finds also provided evidence that the tombs were reused during the Roman and Byzantine periods. This volume describes the architecture, burial customs, finds and chronology, as well as an analysis of the bones from the Roman-period burials.