Two MB IIA architectural phases, which were located below strata that yielded mixed ceramic finds, mostly from the Byzantine period and some from the Persian period, as well as tesserae, were discerned. Two rooms (Loci 200, 208; Fig. 1) were ascribed to the later building phase. The walls of Room 200 (W205, W207; average width 0.7 m) were built of two rows of coarsely dressed, medium-sized dolomite stones and were preserved two–three courses high. Two floors abutted W207, one from the south (L214) and the other from the north (L216). Both floors consisted of flat stones and various-sized river pebbles, placed on a soil fill (thickness 0.2–0.3 m) that was deposited atop the smoothed bedrock. A well-preserved bronze needle (Fig. 2:2) was found on Floor 214. Floor 216 yielded a basalt pestle, flint industrial remains and the body fragments of jars from MB IIA. The walls of Room 208 (W209, W215, W224) were constructed from two rows of coarsely dressed stones and were preserved one–two courses high. A doorway (width 1.1 m) was installed in W215. Stones were removed from Walls 209 and 224 in antiquity, probably for secondary use. A floor (L218) was detected in Room 208, similar to Floor 214 in Room 200. Domestic pottery vessels, in situ, were on Floor 218; some were restorable, including jars, cooking pots and bowls, dating from the beginning of MB IIA (2000–1900 BCE; the beginning of the XII Egyptian dynasty). The importance of the finds lies in the fact that they were recovered from an occupation level, unlike the more frequent mortuary contexts in other contemporary sites. Around and within Room 208 were flint implements, mainly retouched blades and flakes, a knife and chisel, and also flint-tool industrial remains that included blade cores, flakes and debris. It is quite possible that some of the production debris from the small flint implements originated from a nearby prehistoric site that has not yet been located. Several shells (Glycymeris violascens) that were perforated in their upper part by man or as a result of natural wear were lying on the floor of the building’s later phase. They were probably used as pendants or other ornaments, as was the case in numerous sites from the Middle Bronze Age in the country, such as nearby Tel Mevorakh.

 

 

 

South of W209 and at a lower level was another wall (W204) that was ascribed to the early phase of the building. Wall 204 was built of coarsely dressed stones. A beaten-earth floor (L210) with a few flat wadi pebbles abutted W204 on the east. An oil lamp and a bronze spearhead (Fig. 2:1) that were excellently preserved overlaid Floor 210. In the southwestern part of Room 200, another floor, similar to Floor 210, was discerned at a lower level than the stone floor from the later period. Wall 204 and the floor that was associated with it seem to have belonged to a building that was mostly located outside the boundaries of the excavation. The finds above Floor 210 dated to MB IIA and therefore, it seems that an extremely short period of time had elapsed between the two building phases at the site.

 

A probe dug in the north of the excavation area revealed the continuation of the floor (L221) that was attributed to the later phase of the building. A jar, most likely intended for storage, was recessed into the floor and upon it were numerous pounding implements, including basalt pestles and grinding stones. A wall (W227) enclosed the floor to the north. Rock-cuttings (Loci 222, 223) of unclear function were observed on bedrock, east of Floor 221.