Impressive Farm House Comes to Light

March 24, 2015

A 2,800-year-old farm house was exposed in recent weeks by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) in the central Israeli town of Rosh Ha’ayin. According to Amit Shadman, IAA excavation director, the farm is extraordinarily well-preserved and was built at the time of the Assyrian conquest in the eighth century BC. Farm houses during this period served as small settlements of sorts. The numerous wine presses discovered in the vicinity of the settlement indicate the wine industry was the most important branch of agriculture in the region. A large silo, which was used to store grain, shows that the ancient residents were also engaged in growing cereal.

The building continued to be used during the Persian period in the sixth century BC, and also in the Hellenistic period which began in the country with the arrival of Alexander the Great. Evidence of a Greek presence in the region was uncovered on one of the floors of the building in the form of a rare silver coin bearing the military leader’s name. In light of this impressive building’s excellent state of preservation, the IAA decided to conserve the structure in situ.