2017 season
Ein Gedi Oasis – February 2017 season
Preliminary report
Dr. Gideon Hadas and Dr. Orit Peleg-Barkat
Directors of Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations
The delegation of the Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations concluded an additional season in January 2016. The excavation was under the auspices of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was enabled by contributions of individuals, funds, the Dead-Sea & Arava Science Center and the National Parks 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 National Parks Authority, Mechinot Melah Ha-Aretz and the Ein Gedi Field School. The dig was directed by the authors, registration and camp by R. Merhav, surveying and drafting by D. Porotzki, pottery by A. de-Vincenz.
The excavation's aim is to dig the unexcavated area that separates the two parts of the Byzantine village that was excavated by the late Prof. Y. Hirschfeld during 1996-2002. Dismantling the metal water pipe line that crossed the area and prevented the dig, now enables commencing the dig with the support of the NPA, who plan to make the excavated area a heritage site.
We excavated an area in a long and narrow strip 6 m. wide, of which we dug c.13 m length in this season . As usual, the upper layer in the oasis area was ploughed during the land reclamation in the 1950's, that ruined the Mamluke period buildings, and left only pottery and glass sherds. In contrary to the former seasons, here the Mamluke period's destruction layer is very close to the Byzantine destruction layer. As usual, all of the lower part of the Byzantine building walls were built with fieldstones, and local mud was used as cement and plaster for walls and floors. The upper part of the walls were built with sun dried mud bricks.
This season we revealed the continuation eastward of the "Drainage alley" from the 2016 season. Now it became clear that our alley is a continuation of Hirschfeld's "Synagogue street" and his "Perfume Street", that lead to the northern-eastern part of the village.
In the southern side of the excavation, we revealed the "South Room" measuring 5X5 m., whose floor has fine yellowish clay layers. Its eastern wall was built on a wider wall, which might be from the Roman period. This wall is parallel to the western wall of the upper pool, allowing a space 2 m. wide for the alley to the "Synagogue Street".
The "South Room" has an opening to the north, to the "Industrial Room" or the "Three Tabuns Room" as named by Hirschfeld. This room is T shaped, and the head of the T turns westward. A bulk was left there atop the middle tabun/oven, at the western part of that room. After clearing part of the bulk, a hard layer of tabun ashes were exposed on the room's floor. Four ash layers were also revealed in a test square that was excavated nearby, to a depth of 0.8 m. below the floor level. It seems now that this room has an entrance in its northern wall that may lead to another room northward.
During the excavation some pottery and glass shards and were collected as well as bones and shells. But the character of this site is quite differ from the residential houses that we revealed during the former seasons, such as "Halfi's son House". Here the walls' height survived only between 0.2-0.5 m.. Coins were found only in the "South Room", and one large chunk of carbonized palm tree trunk was also found only there. Complete or broken clay vessels, and iron nails were not found either. None of the of dwelling houses' installations, such as cooking ovens and mortars were found here. Therefore, it is very probable that these rooms were used as stores or part of a kind of industry.
This season we found the continuation of the "Drainage Alley" to the "Perfume Street". Now the way from the northern-western part of the village to the synagogue is clear, as Hirschfeld already suggested. In the next season we hope to learn what was the usage of the industrial installation and to continue northward.
