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‘Atiqot 56 (2007)
ISBN 2948-040X
A Burial Cave at Horbat ‘Eitayim (
Hebrew, pp. 65–79; English Summary, pp. 76*–78*)
Hanaa Abu ‘Uqsa
Keywords: cemetery, burial goods, numismatics
The site is located east of Nahariyya, in Western Galilee. The cave was hewn in chalk bedrock (
qirton
). The entrance to the cave, blocked by a rectangular closing stone, was accessed by a shaft; in the southern wall of the shaft a
kokh
was discovered. The cave consists of a central chamber with seven burial niches (kokhs) in its walls, four of which were found sealed with a rolling stone and small stones set into place around it. The finds within the cave were located in the central chamber and in the
kokhim
. They include a clay coffin with a sliding lid; pottery vessels typical of the Roman period; glass vessels, including bowls, plate, cups and bottles; beads; a faience pendant; gold earrings; spindle whorls; coins from the mints at ‘Akko and Tyre, dating to the second century CE; and a scarab, which was probably reused as an amulet. The anthropological finds comprised the bones of several individuals, one of which was a two-year-old, interred in the clay coffin. This cave is part of a larger cemetery that was excavated at the site in the past.