New Finds at Ramat Rachel

October 31, 2007

Also found this year, were 30 stamped jar handles with variations on the “Yehud” stamp from the Persian Period, adding to the more than 320 such stamps previously found at the site. A pottery shard bearing the letters mem, nun, lamed in ancient Hebrew was discovered, believed to be possibly from a water libation jar. Also unearthed was a mikveh (place of ritual immersion) with an impressive carving of a tree on one of the plastered walls.

Dr. Oded Lipschits of Tel Aviv University, director of the dig, believes the Ramat Rachel area was used as an administrative center for various foreign powers ruling over Judea, beginning with the Assyrians after Sennacherib’s conquest of Judea in 701 BC. It was also used during the Persian Period (538–333 BC) and into the Early Hellenistic Period (333–165 BC), but was destroyed by the Maccabees in the second century BC. Later, the Romans built a military camp there, including a bathhouse and villa, followed by the Byzantines, who built a church and several support buildings. Ramat Rachel was continuously occupied until the Ayyubid Period (AD 1187–1244 ).

The excavations are the result of a joint project between Tel Aviv University and the University of Heidelberg in Germany and are scheduled for another three seasons, with the next season to begin in summer 2009.

By Will King, Correspondent,
BFP Israel Mosaic Radio

Photo Credit: Photo by Will King