2013 season
Ein Gedi – 2013 season: "Halfi House"
Preliminary report
Dr. Gideon Hadas
Director of Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations
The delegation of the Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations had a second season in January 2013 at "Halfi House" by The Ancient Synagogue of Ein Gedi National Park. The excavation was under the auspices of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was enabled by contributions of individuals, funds and the Dead-Sea & Arava Science Center and the National Park Authority. Volunteers from abroad and Israel took part in the excavations; most of them devoted veterans of the former seasons, and also volunteers from the Ein Gedi Field School, the National Park and Mechinat Melah Ha-Aretz and a few members from Kibbutz Ein Gedi. The dig was directed by the author, registration and camp by Z. Gila'ad, surveying and drafting by D. Porotzki, and pottery by A. de-Vincenz.
The second season's aim was to finish unveiling the "Halfi House" that was excavated in the 70's by Barag, Porat and Netzer, and cleaned by me in the 1990's. Our first season was in January 2012.
Before this season started I presumed that the northern end of the "Halfi House" should be the very wide wall at the south side of the "Drainage Channel Street" excavated in 2002 by Yizhar Hirshefeld, and its western wall faced "Nahal David Alley".
But during the excavations it was clear that the northern wall of the "Halfi House" is just about half a meter beyond the section where we left off in 2012, and the house's inner dimensions are 222 sqm. Therefore it is the largest building that was excavated in the village, as even the synagogue is only 195 sqm.
Also it was clear that in between the "Halfi House" and the "Drainage Channel Street" is an additional building, now called "Halfi's Son's House". It is a rectangular building whose dimensions are 96 sqm. We excavated more than half of it, and revealed a central courtyard (5X6 m), in which are two attached columns partly made of large ashlar stones, one in the middle of the eastern wall and the other in front of the western wall. Between the columns, in the middle of the courtyard, is a stone with a cavity on its top, probably used as a base for a palm tree trunk that supported a horizontal trunk on which laid the ceiling beams. At the northern part of the courtyard are two openings, one in the eastern wall and the second in the western wall. Another opening in the western wall leads to a small room where an oven was built. Attached to the southern wall is a staircase to the upper floor.
Close to the eastern column, on the courtyard floor, a few grinding stones were found. In the yard's north-east corner, the lower stone of a Pompeian millstone (meta) was found, along with four hand stones, and a large crater made of local limestone crushed by the collapsing wall. A complete rounded basalt basin was also revealed there, close to the entrance of the oven room. Eleven hand stones made of lime stone pebbles were found and two made of basalt also were uncovered.
Most of the artifacts dated to the Byzantine period and were found in and under the collapsed sun dried bricks and few field stones. Most of the finds are pottery shards, glass, and many livestock and chicken bones. The buildings were ruined by a raging fire that is seen by the many charcoaled palm tree trunks and other tree's remains that were found on the floor. Many burnt date pits were also found on the floor.
About 50 bronze coins were found, most of them by a metal detector. Among the coins was a hoard of silver coins. A few iron nails were found and remains of rusted iron strips that probably fastened a wooden box that did not survive.
Few remains from the Roman period were found too, such as colored pieces of painted lime plaster, a Nabataean shard, a piece of alabaster cylindrical juglet, a bread stamp made of soft white limestone, pieces of a "Measuring Cup", a triangular red limestone tile, a piece of black tile and a piece of a thick ceramic floor tile – most probably the last three originated from the Herodian bath house. A small ceramic wheel with a thin slot all around, which looks like a yoyo, was uncovered, it might be the small pulley of a spinning wheel.
The last occupation level at the site is of the Mamluke period, of which only pottery shards and glass bracelets were found. Mamluke period buildings did not survive, as there was land reclamation in Ein Gedi during the 1950's and its effects still seen at the depth of more than 0.6 m. deep.
The two buildings that we unearthed were ruined by a large fire that destroyed the village buildings including the synagogue, in the middle of the 6 Century CE.
In the next season we will complete revealing "Halfi's Son's House".
More details are available in the delegation web site: