A 1,300-year-old planned industrial and commercial complex, complete with streets, pottery kilns, shops, warehouses and other production facilities, has been uncovered during excavations in the central Israeli city of Ramat Gan, the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Sunday.
The complex was discovered in recent months beneath a parking lot at Ramat Gan’s Winter Stadium during archaeological excavations conducted ahead of construction of a large bus terminal by Netivei Ayalon, the state-owned transportation infrastructure company.
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The Israel Antiquities Authority excavation adjacent to Winter Stadium
(Photo: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)
Although buildings and artifacts from ancient periods had previously been discovered in the area, archaeologists said the scale and organization of the latest find came as a surprise.
“The results of the current excavation exceeded all expectations,” said Dr. Yoav Arbel and Lior Rauchberger, excavation directors for the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The excavation revealed a carefully organized complex built around straight, intersecting streets. Rows of rooms lining the streets appear to have served as shops or warehouses, while archaeologists also uncovered plastered industrial installations and pottery kilns.
“Clearly, its main phase was planned in advance in detail by engineers and was built with the knowledge of the regional authorities — and perhaps even on their initiative and with their funding,” Arbel and Rauchberger said.
The Israel Antiquities Authority excavation adjacent to Winter Stadium
(Photo: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)
Aerial view of the Israel Antiquities Authority excavation in Ramat Gan
(Photo: Assaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority)
Its location also appears to have been deliberate, they said. The complex stood near the main road linking the ancient cities of Jaffa, Ramla and Jerusalem. Ramla was the regional capital at the time. The site may have been located along a secondary road branching off the main route and also benefited from fertile agricultural land and accessible water sources.
Researchers believe the complex may have functioned as a major commercial and industrial station serving travelers and surrounding communities. Another possibility is that it formed part of a larger settlement nearby that has yet to be discovered.
The complex was built in the seventh or eighth century, during the early Islamic period, and remained in use for about 150 years before being abandoned for reasons that remain unclear.
The site was settled again in the 10th century. During that phase, residents constructed homes and production facilities and installed numerous tabuns, traditional clay ovens used for baking and cooking.
החדרים ששימשו כחנויות באתר הקדום
(צילום: אמיל אלג'ם, רשות העתיקות)
Lior Rauchberger, co-director of the Israel Antiquities Authority excavation
(Photo: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)
The settlement was abandoned again in the late 11th century, shortly before the Crusader conquest of the region, and was never resettled.
Beyond the architectural remains, archaeologists uncovered dozens of pottery vessels and intact oil lamps, numerous bronze tableware and cosmetic implements, iron pickaxe heads, a sickle, numerous nails and dozens of coins.
Large quantities of fragments from locally produced and imported pottery and glass vessels were also found. Archaeologists said the collection offers a detailed picture of the region’s culture, economy and commercial connections during the period.
The earliest complex dates to the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, the two successive Islamic caliphates that ruled the region during much of the seventh through 10th centuries. The later residential settlement dates to the Fatimid period.
The excavation yielded a wide variety of finds dating back more than 1,000 years
(Photo: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)
The population of the Land of Israel during those centuries was diverse and included Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Samaritan communities.
Ramla, founded in the early eighth century and serving as an important administrative center under Muslim rule, had a significant Muslim population. The Yarkon region, which includes the area of modern-day Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv, was probably home to a substantial Samaritan population, descendants of communities that had flourished there during the Byzantine period before the Muslim conquest in the seventh century.
Despite the wealth of material uncovered, archaeologists said they found no artifacts that definitively identify the ethnic or religious community that lived and worked at the Ramat Gan site.