Front Matter

The excavation conducted in the southwestern part of the city of Yehud revealed the remains of deep shafts that contained pottery vessels and flint artifacts typical of the Late Chalcolithic period; these were located on the periphery of a large settlement, whose remains were not uncovered. During the Late Roman period (second–third centuries CE), an industrial area operated at the site, mainly for the production of pottery. The pottery kilns produced household vessels, such as bowls, cooking pots, jugs and juglets. Glass finds and the remains of glass production debris in this area might point to the existence of a glass workshop. Dwellings of the Byzantine period were exposed alongside pottery vessels and coins. During the Late Ottoman period, the site was resettled; the finds from this occupation phase included pottery, tobacco pipes, metal objects and jewelry.

Salvage excavations at Kerem Maharal, on the southwestern slopes of the Carmel range, revealed the remains of 12 occupation layers from ten periods: Stratum XII, the Geometric Kebaran period (fourteenth–thirteenth millennia BP); Strata X–XI, the Persian–early Hellenistic periods (sixth–fourth centuries BCE); Stratum IX, the Roman period (late first–early second century CE); Strata VIII–VII, the Byzantine period (fifth–seventh centuries CE); Stratum VI, the late Byzantine–beginning of the Early Islamic periods (seventh–eighth centuries CE); Stratum V, eleventh century CE; Stratum IV, twelfth–thirteenth centuries CE; Stratum III, the Mamluk period (late thirteenth–fifteenth centuries CE); Stratum II, the Ottoman and British Mandate periods (until 1948); and Stratum I, the modern era (after 1948). The finds from these strata include pottery and glass vessels, and coins. The results of the excavations attest that Kerem Maharal was an important site on the lower Carmel slopes and perhaps, in the entire Carmel region, reaching its peak during the Byzantine period. A large industrial area operated at the site, including winepresses, oil presses and quarries, and its economy was based mainly on agriculture.

The excavation at Tel Ḥanan exposed building remains of a Persian- and Hellenistic-period settlement, as well as pottery dating from the Middle Bronze Age, the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The architectural remains attributed to the Persian and Hellenistic periods attest to careful planning, as is known from other contemporary coastal sites. According to the ceramic and numismatic evidence, the settlement at Tel Ḥanan maintained trading connections with Phoenician sites along the northern coast of Israel and Lebanon. Based on the finds, we may conclude that the site was inhabited until 150 BCE.