3,000-Year-Old City Found

May 8, 2006

Archaeologists date the remains of a city wall and buildings to the period of the United Kingdom of King Solomon and the Kingdom of Israel, following the split between Israel and Judah, from the 10th to the 9th centuries BC. Pottery vessels, large quantities of animal bones, a scarab depicting a man surrounded by two crocodiles, and a ceramic seal bearing the image of a lion were discovered at the site.

Yardena Alexandre, director of the excavation, reported that evidence was found indicating the place was ransacked during the 9th century BC. Following the destruction, the excavation area was abandoned until its ruins were re-inhabited by Jewish settlers during the Early Roman period (1st century AD). The identity of these residents as Galilean Jews was already known from previous excavations. The discovery includes remnants of Jewish settlement during this Roman period. Among the findings are underground tunnels excavated by Jews who defended the city against Roman legions during the Great Revolt of the year AD 66.

Some of the walls that were destroyed were reused in the new construction, and new floors were laid down. The Jewish settlers built igloo-shaped pits on the ruins of the previous settlement, whereby the bedrock served as the floor of the pit and the walls were built. A rock-hewn pit in one of the tunnels contained 11 storage jars characteristic of the second half of the 1st century AD.

Alexandre noted that “the pits are connected to each other by short tunnels. It seems that they were used as hiding refuges––a kind of concealed subterranean home––that were built prior to the Great Revolt against the Romans in the year AD 66.”

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