season 1
2003
The 1st season of the new Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations
The area before excavations
During the last two weeks of March 2003, an excavation of limited scope was conducted at the Ein Gedi
oasis in order to locate residential dwellings from the Second Temple Period. The excavation was
conducted under the auspices of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University, under my direction,
and excavated with the help of some workers and a few volunteers, some of who arrived from overseas
notwithstanding the war in Iraq.
The excavation was made possible due to the support and modest donations of the veteran volunteers,
faithful to the Ein Gedi excavations.
The “promised square” during excavations
The site chosen for the excavation was one I had surveyed in 1984. Sections of walls made of unhewn
stone were visible, and shards and a layer of ash had been uncovered at the edges of the section known
as the “quarry” (Tzukim). At that time we collected pottery shards and stoneware (klei mida) shards made
of soft limestone, typical of the end of the Second Temple Period. According to Jewish law (Halacha),
these vessels do not become impure, and are found in many archaeological excavations in Jewish sites of
the period.
I
In spite of the short time available to us, we uncovered two walls of the corner of a building with a floor, and
part of the northern courtyard adjacent to it. The walls, 0.6 m thick, were built of unhewn rocks and
clay/mud, and were preserved to a height of approximately one meter. The void space of the courtyard and
structure were full of clay created presumably from the crumbling mud bricks that were used in building the
upper part of the structure.
Soft limestone vessels + clay lamp nozzles, typical of the period
We found remnants of an oven in one area on the floor of the courtyard and in another a complete cooking
pot sunken into the floor. A thin, black, burnt layer marked the floor. In contrast, the floor of the building was
composed of a layer of mud brick on a base of pebbles, approximately the size of a fist. In one corner we
found a complete cooking pot submerged in the clay floor, and 2 m east of it, another whole cooking pot
was uncovered, also buried in the floor. These cooking pots were also typical of the end of the Second
Temple Period.
The “promised square” at the end of the season
Within the boundary of the house and courtyard we discovered many varied pottery shards, among them
spouts of Herodian oil lamps, and also bronze coins above and below the floors. Various types of
stoneware were also unearthed: “measuring cups” (klei mida), ball shaped bowls and flat bowls with
vertical sides. Some iron and bronze nails were also found, a few glass shards, a small lump of asphalt
and remnants of burnt wood.
The results of this excavation in the oasis proves that during the Second Temple Period permanent
structures were also built outside of the boundary of the natural ridge, and possibly were scattered
throughout the entire area of the oasis.
Therefore, in order to determine whether this building is a single house or part of an additional residential
quarter built outside the known village area, the entire structure should continue to be excavated.
Gideon Hadas
Kibbutz Ein Gedi
April 2003