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‘Atiqot 53 (2006)
ISBN 2948-040X
Excavations at Khirbat Marmita
(pp. 139–178)
Lilly Gershuny
Keywords: Shephelah, Judea, ethnicity, numismatics, agriculture, economy
Three building complexes were uncovered at the site, as well as various installations that were quarried into bedrock. The buildings date from the first half of the first century BCE (Building 20/23), from the Hellenistic–Early Roman period (Building 84) and from the Herodian period (c. 30 to at least 67 CE; Building 104). Among the installations were five simple winepresses, typical of the Roman and Byzantine periods; a lever-and-weights oil press; cisterns with square or circular shafts; 33 cupmarks; caves; quarries; and a
miqweh
. The finds include pottery vessels, stone and basalt vases, glass vessels and metal artifacts. It seems that Khirbat Marmita was a Jewish settlement that existed during the decline of the Hasmonean Kingdom and the rise of Herod. The site was probably destroyed sometime after the First Jewish Revolt.