Front Matter

The burial cave, that was part of a larger burial site along the Refa’im Valley, was hewn on the southern slope of a chalky hill above the northern bank of a small wadi. The finds in the cave were clustered in six distinct groups, comprising standardized burial kits of pottery and metal finds, showing close affinities with other central hill country burial sites. Some prestige items, such as a scarab, an amulet, a cylinder seal and a dagger, were recovered from the cave, suggesting that at least one high-ranking individual was interred.

This preliminary report presents an assemblage of ivory items found in the precincts of the City of David National Park in Jerusalem. Such prestigious ivory items have only been found in prominent cities, such as Late Bronze Age Megiddo and Iron Age Samaria, where they originated in buildings recognized as part of palatial complexes. These items are the first of their kind to be found in Jerusalem, revealing the wealth of Jerusalem’s elite on the eve of the city’s destruction in 586 BCE. The findings shed light on the cultural and economic role of the city’s elite in the “global” network that connected royal courts and their agents across the ancient Near East.

The excavations under Wilson’s Arch yielded a fourth–third-century BCE administrative Aramaic inscription, incised in mirror writing on a potsherd. The inscription is of great importance as it contributes to our understanding of the development of language and writing in Jerusalem in this period, also reflecting on the scribe’s origin.

The excavation near Bishop Gobat School on Mount Zion exposed findings, which together with information gleaned from previous nearby excavations, permits a renewed discussion of three principal elements: a stairway, a dump and the ‘Rock Scarp of Zion.’ This article presents insights and suggestions regarding the existence of a stepped path that led to a gate in the First Wall; the identification of the dump that sealed the stairway as the Roman siege ramp that was piled up to besiege Jerusalem; and the dating of the ‘Rock Scarp of Zion’ to the Crusader/Ayyubid period, the twelfth to thirteenth centuries CE.

A previously documented facade and courtyard of an elaborate burial cave were uncovered in the Tel Arza neighborhood, located in the Second Temple period northern necropolis of Jerusalem. The facade was carved into the dense white meleke limestone. This article presents new details and a reevaluation of the facade’s architectural decorations, offering a more accurate reconstruction.

The excavation west of Warren’s Gate exposed five strata dating from the late Second Temple period (first century CE) to medieval times (tenth–thirteenth centuries CE). A pavement and drainage channel dating from the first century CE were most probably associated with the northwestern Herodian entrance gate to the Temple Mount. A small segment of a sixth-century CE pavement, exposed above the Roman drainage channel, seems to have been part of a street or a public square, and an Early Islamic staircase descending eastward may have led to the entrance gate to the Temple Mount. It is believed that Warren’s Gate was in use until the twelfth century CE when it was blocked, and the area was converted into a reservoir.

A fragment of a clay roof tile bearing the name Cilo was discovered in the Western Wall Tunnels, west of the Herodian Temple Mount. This impression joins other private stamps of the Late Roman period (second and third/early fourth century CE) previously found in Jerusalem and its environs. The private stamps of the Roman period may be attributed to private workshops that operated in Aelia Capitolina after production ceased in the military workshop at Binyene Ha-Umma.

Excavations on the northern slope of a high hill southeast of the Har Ḥoma neighborhood revealed a single-phased, sixth–seventh-century CE Byzantine coenobium monastery, and several quarries and agricultural installations. The monastery comprised a central courtyard surrounded by rooms, a chapel and a winepress. This monastery was small, probably inhabited by a community of about 20 monks. Most of the finds from the site––pottery, glass and coins––date to the Byzantine–Early Islamic periods, up to the eighth century CE. The complex resembles other contemporary monasteries located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the two holiest cities of Christianity.

The small-scale excavation on the southwestern margins of Giv‘ati Parking Lot exposed important findings dating to the transition between the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. A flagstone-paved street dating from the Byzantine period was exposed, representing one of the major thoroughfares of Jerusalem that served an important pilgrimage route. This street ceased to exist at the beginning of the Early Islamic period when the function of the area changed from residential to industrial. The remains of a small-scale metallurgical workshop, including numerous copper alloy fragments, metal slags, pottery crucible fragments and large amounts of ash, were dated to the Umayyad period. The site appears to have been abandoned in the late part of the Umayyad period. The finds comprised pottery vessels, stone and marble objects, metal finds—jewelry and fragments of liturgical implements—and coins.