Stratum III
Part of a residential building that dated to the Crusader period was discovered; it was built within the wall casing of the structure from Stratum IV. The building included a courtyard (C2) that was flanked on the north and east by three rooms (R3–R5; Fig. 5).
Courtyard C2 (4.0 × 4.5 m; Fig. 6) was delimited on the north and west by the walls from Stratum IV (W14, W20) and on the east by a new wall that was built on the ruins of Stratum IV (W11). The western entrance in W14 continued to be used and it linked the courtyard to Room R3. The courtyard was paved with lime stones that were founded on the ruins of Stratum IV (thickness 0.3 m). A round tabun (diam. 0.6 m), which contained a burnt layer mixed with potsherds from the Crusader period, was exposed in the courtyard’s northeastern corner. A bell-shaped cistern was discovered in the center of the courtyard; it was not excavated (max. diam. 5 m, depth 7 m). The cistern was bedrock-hewn and its upper part was lined with limestone. The cistern’s opening was circular (diam. 0.4 m, height 1.6 m) and topped with a square flat capstone.
Room R3 (2.2 × 3.3 m). Only the eastern wall of the room (W19) was built in this stratum and the rest of its walls continued to be used from Stratum IV. Two entrances were set in the room’s southern and eastern walls (W14, W19; width 0.65 m). The floor (thickness 0.4 m), composed of hard-packed earth and founded on the ruins of Stratum IV, contained potsherds from the Abbasid and Crusader periods.
Room R4 (3.3 × 10.0 m; Fig. 7). The northern and southern walls of the room (W12, W14) continued to be used from Stratum IV; its western and eastern walls (W15, W19; width 0.5 m) were built in this stratum atop the ruins of Stratum IV. Entrances (width 0.65 m) were installed in the southern, western and eastern walls. The floor consisted of two levels of crushed chalk, small stones and potsherds and was founded on the ruins of Stratum IV. A layer of fill and stones, mixed with potsherds from the Abbasid and Crusader periods, was discovered on the floor.
Room R5 was entered by way of Room R4 and its northern and western walls were exposed.
Stratum II
The exposed remains from the Mamluk period (Fig. 8) included part of a building whose plan was identical to the structure uncovered in Stratum III. Four rooms (R6–R9) were exposed. An entrance (width 0.75 m) was set near the southeastern corner of Room R6 (3.0 × 4.7 m). The floor of the room was crushed chalk and ash (thickness 0.2 m), founded on the remains of the floor from Stratum III. A tabun (diam. 0.6 m) was discovered in the room’s southeastern corner and an identical tabun was found in the northeastern corner of Room R8.
Stratum I
The building from Stratum II was completely destroyed in the Ottoman period and the area was turned into a garbage dump. Pits dug into the ruins of the Stratum II building, which contained tabun debris, were exposed. A round tabun (diam. 1 m; Fig. 9) was discerned above the ruins of the building’s southern wall (W23).
Remains of a residential building that was constructed in the Abbasid period were exposed in the excavation. At the end of this period the building was apparently destroyed by fire, which is clearly evidenced on the floors of the rooms. Subsequently, the building was renovated in the Crusader period and slight changes were made, whereby the rooms were partitioned anew and the floor levels were raised. The building was renovated once again in the Mamluk period, although its plan from the Crusader period was maintained. The structure was finally destroyed at the end of the Mamluk period and in the Ottoman period a tabun was built on the remains and refuse was discarded in the area where the building once stood.