Front Matter

Seventeen squares were opened on the western fringes of Tel Yehud, revealing finds from six periods. From the Chalcolithic period, three refuse pits were exposed, containing typical household waste: pottery vessels, flint items and animal bones. Two tombs dating from the Intermediate Bronze Age were discovered; they were probably part of a nearby, contemporary cemetery, whose boundaries are yet unknown. Also discovered were seven tombs dating from the Persian period--these are the only Persian-period remains unearthed in the city to date. During the Late Roman period, a unique tomb (mausoleum?) was unearthed, comprising three troughs with primary burials, and an occupation layer to its southwest. From the Islamic period, four cist graves were exposed, three of them covered by limestones. During the late Ottoman period, the site probably served as a residential area, evidenced by the remains of a structure and pottery.

The excavations at Khirbat Ḥasan were carried out in a wide valley on the Naḥal Har’el floodplain. The findings attest that in antiquity, the inhabitants exploited the area for agricultural activities. Eight areas were opened: in Area A, water control systems dating from the Intermediate Bronze Age and the Roman–Byzantine periods were discovered; Area G yielded Hellenistic-period pottery, a Roman–Byzantine rural road and agricultural terrace walls; in Area C, Chalcolithic-period pottery and an Iron Age water control system were unearthed; in Area N, Intermediate Bronze Age occupation remains and agricultural activities were documented; Area B yielded Chalcolithic-period pottery, Intermediate Bronze Age working surfaces and a Roman–Byzantine rural road; in Area R, Roman–Byzantine dams were exposed; in Area Y, an Early Bronze Age III occupation and a Roman–Byzantine structure and rock-cut installations were observed; and in Area T, a Roman–Byzantine bath was found. 

Excavations at Tel Qana, situated in the Naḥal Ha-Yarqon basin, revealed a Middle Bronze Age II occupation horizon, a cist grave dating to Late Bronze Age II and two winepresses dating from Iron Age II. The present report focuses on the large LB II cist grave, which contained the remains of a primary burial of a single individual, probably male, who was interred with several ceramic vessels and three metal weapons. The cist’s walls and floor were uniquely plastered with thick layers of high quality, waterproof white lime plaster. This burial seems to indicate a shift from multiple cave burials to single pit interments, previously encountered in the coastal plain and ascribed to the influence of Egyptian mortuary practices.

Ten squares were excavated in four areas (A–D) at Miska, revealing a long and detailed stratigraphic sequence, from the Late Roman to the late Ottoman periods. In Area A, a large refuse pit was revealed, containing a considerable amount of glass shards and debris of a glass furnace, dating from the Late Roman–Byzantine periods. Glass production was an important activity in the region of Miska, likely related to the local availability of sand and fuel. Miska served as a station in the Roman road system, which expanded during the Byzantine period, with the Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and eventually inherited by the Muslim authorities of the region. The existence of a good road system connecting the coastal and the inland settlements would have been an important prerequisite for the local development of a glass industry, as for the transportation of other goods. 

The excavation at Pi Maẓuva revealed building complexes, some separated by an alley, dating from the Byzantine period. The finds at the site included a bronze cross, an ashlar limestone lintel with a cross engraving, and pottery dated to the sixth–seventh centuries CE, which comprised local types, alongside many imported ones, some adorned with crosses. An interesting find is a high-quality, colorful, seventh-century CE mosaic floor adorned with floral motifs, animal and human figures, and two fragmentary Greek inscriptions. The finds at the site point to the existence of a rural Christian settlement, probably destroyed during the Persian conquest of the region in 613 CE.