season 2

2004

The 2nd season of the Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations

During four weeks in January 2004 we conducted the second season of excavation at the site. Our

purpose was to ascertain if a single dwelling, a farmhouse or a residential quarter had been built outside

the boundary of the village houses. Therefore we extended the area of excavation and it became clear that

in the area uncovered there were a series of structures adjacent to each other, from the north and south.

We uncovered most of the structure with the pebbled sub-floor (hereafter referred to as the Pebbled

House). It is square shaped, measuring approximately 11m x 11m, and has three large spaces: a

rectangular main room approximately 6m x 4m (with the pebbled sub floor), a square courtyard

approximately 5m x 5m and a western rectangular room approximately 9m x 3.5m.

The western room is subdivided into two by a dividing wall creating a rectangular cell in the northern

section (3.5m x 2m) and a courtyard in the southern section, only partially uncovered. The entrances to the

courtyards, of both the western and central dwelling unit, are found in the eastern walls, since the structure

is on an east-facing slope. 

The pebbled house courtyard

The Pebbled House was completely uncovered. The clay floor was a light yellow shade, and it is difficult to

differentiate between it and the debris of the collapsed ceiling and roof made of the same material. By

removing the mud floor, we uncovered a cooking pot, in addition to the two found last season, next to the

western wall, and adjacent to it, a complete, large jar. Until now, four cooking pots have been found buried

under the floor of the room.

Extracting a large jar

In the courtyard, remnants of four ovens (tabuns) were uncovered. According to their state of preservation,

it appears that only two of them were in use at the time. Two ovens were revealed next to the north eastern

corner, protected by a separate wall that divided them from the entrance to the courtyard and also served

as a base for a ladder leading to the roof. In this courtyard various whole vessels were found in situ. An

additional oven was uncovered in the south-western corner, and appears to have been preserved to its full

height, but was not entirely unearthed this season. In the cross section of the excavated area next to the

oven, two burnt levels are discernable above the floor. The remnant of another fourth oven was found in the

northwest corner with a cooking pot buried next to it.

The pebbled house courtyard with three ovens

In the western room the remains of an oven were found next to the entrance and the remnants of a silo

adjacent to the wall separating the room from the northern cell. A raging fire, creating a layer of black ash,

destroyed the area. Here we found many pottery shards and iron nails. Apparently it was an additional

dwelling unit.

The work remaining in the Pebbled House consists of revealing the southwest corner and completing the

removal of the debris in the western room and the cell adjacent to it.

North of the Pebbled House we continued to uncover the courtyard of the Northern House northward and

westward, where steps were revealed leading up to the adjacent room west of the courtyard. In the

courtyard we completed uncovering the separate wall protecting the oven. In the western corner, a cooking

pot was buried in the floor, its mouth covered by a flat stone.

The Southern House was found adjacent to the southern wall of the Pebbled House, of which we only

unearthed the north-western corner. It is unique in the thickness of its walls (0.8m), wider than any of the

walls of structures that we have found up till now.

East of the Pebbled House we continued to uncover the remains of an additional structure - the Tzukim

building. In the previous season, four bronze coins from the second year of the First Revolt were found

buried together at the threshold of the room. That season we also found two Nabatean coins from the

same period. This year we completed the excavation of the entire room and its layout is now known.

The artefacts from the excavation include: pottery and stoneware shards, coins and some glass shards.

Iron and bronze nails, lead weights, and pieces of lead were also found in the area. Three Hebrew letters

were found engraved on a shard from the body of a pottery jar. Samples were taken of the burnt organic

material and the interiors of the complete vessels were flooded. On the basis of the artefacts, the date of

the structures was substantiated to the end of the Second Temple Period. 

Artefacts in situ

The results of the excavation up to this point testify that the site existed apart from the village within a

specific period, during the end of the Second Temple Period. We revealed most of the Pebbled House

and plan to continue to uncover it totally along with the adjacent two structures.

In Area C, in the mango grove of the kibbutz, a test excavation for one day was conducted, where we

examined the remains of a structure with links of pillars. We also discovered isolated pottery shards and

one bronze nail.