Front Matter

Four strata were distinguished at the site: Stratum 4, dating to the Late Chalcolithic period; Strata 3 and 2, to EB IA; and Stratum 1, sub-recent. The Late Chalcolithic remains consisted of a stone surface and an underlying fill, and the EB IA remains included wall segments of three structures: two buildings (Stratum 3) and a wall of a large double-apsed structure (Stratum 2). The technological analysis of the pottery from the site testifies to a transmission from the Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age populations in the way of making utilitarian ceramics, indicating continuity of the same population. The findings at Kafr Kanna thus contribute to the archaeological record concerning the transition from the Late Chalcolithic to the early EB IA in central Lower Galilee.

The excavation at Ḥorbat Ḥammim (South) yielded a rock-cut basin and a small cave within a limestone bedrock outcrop. The basin is similar to other rock-cut installations previously exposed in the area and dated to the Chalcolithic period.
The manmade rock-cut cave was entered through a shaft. The sediments from the shaft and the cave consisted of many potsherds, stone tools and animal bones, that may have been washed into the cave, or intentionally discarded in it. The cave may have been quarried as early as the Late Chalcolithic period, although the bulk of the pottery dates to EB IA, supporting the presence of a small community of early EB I dwellers in this area.

A rescue excavation conducted in the southwestern part of the Early Bronze Age mound at Lod exposed an intensive settlement. The architectural remains of Strata VI–IV demonstrate the use of rounded exterior corners for domestic structures, characteristic of the end of EB I and the transition into EB II. The architectural remains associated with Strata IV–III include large, possibly public buildings dating to the end of EB IB. The ceramic assemblages from Strata VII–II are typical of late EB I in central and southern Israel. Two Carbon-14 dates from Stratum IV indicate a date at the beginning of EB IB (3350 BCE). Stratum III seems to represent a transition period, a very late stage of EB IB—postdating the cessation of trade with Egypt.

Three areas were excavated at Ḥorbat Mazruq (A1–A3), revealing two structures with shafts in their courtyards leading to underground chambers, and a water reservoir that was incorporated into a subterranean hiding complex. Four burial caves were surveyed northwest of Area A1, only one was fully plotted; they probably served the residents of the site. The ceramic and numismatic finds date the architectural remains to the end of the second century BCE until the first century CE. The ceramic material found within the hiding complex, which canceled the original use of the installations at the site, is typical of the first century CE, with some types continuing into the first third of the second century CE. The hiding complex seems to have been prepared and used in the course of the events of the First Jewish Revolt (66–70/74 CE), after which it was abandoned.

Salvage excavation carried out at Ramla revealed three strata in Area A (Strata III–I), comprising remains of buildings, installations, water cisterns, channels and cesspits ascribed to the late Abbasid–Fatimid periods (second half of the ninth to the end of the eleventh centuries CE). The latest occupation phase in Area A (Stratum I) was a short-term secondary use of Fatimid-period structures by inhabitants of the Mamluk period (thirteenth–sixteenth centuries CE). These remains were part of a previously exposed affluent neighborhood. The high economic status of the inhabitants of this area was further indicated by luxury finds, such as imported pottery vessels, some originating from as far as China. The rare presence of pig and equid bones fits with the Muslim identity of the population.

A trial excavation near the ‘Sleepy Spring’ fountain in Safed revealed the remains of a mausoleum, which was built during the late Mamluk period and remained in use until the early twentieth century. Three late Ottoman-period tombs found within the vaulted structure, and Ottoman-period cist tombs adjacent to the building, attest to the burial function of the site. No pre-Mamluk-period finds were uncovered at the site, indicating that the earliest occupation in this part of the ancient town was in the Mamluk period. Based on archaeological excavations and textual sources, urbanization of Safed was intensified during the Mamluk period, possibly due to its designation as the province capital (mamlaka) and its military and administrative importance. The remains of the site of the Sleepy Spring represent a stage in the re-occupation of the hill between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries CE.