In February 2015, a salvage excavation was conducted at the Umm Khalid site on Zvi Alon Street in the Ben-Ami neighborhood of Netanya (Permit No. A-7328; map ref. 187036–115/692453–513; Fig. 1), prior to construction. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by the Yitzhak Tshuva Group, was directed by R. Toueg (field photography), with the assistance of Y. Amrani and E. Bachar (administration), L. Golan (preliminary inspections), M. Kunin and A. Hajian (surveying and drafting), A. Dagot (GPS), R. Berin (plans), M. Shuiskaya (pottery drawing) and T. Winter (glass).
Four squares (1–4; Fig. 2) were opened. A fill (L100; Fig. 3) was excavated in Sq 1, and it yielded numerous fragments of bag-shaped jars (Fig. 4:1), as well as a glass rim of a bottle or a jug, with a funnel decorated with turquoise trails (not drawn). The finds date to the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods (fifth–sixth centuries CE). Hamra fill (L101; Fig. 5) was excavated in Sq 2, and fragments of a bag-shaped jar (Fig. 4:2) and of glass vessels, including two hollow ring bases and a hollow lamp stem (not illustrated) were found. The bag-shaped jars and the glass ring bases date from the Late Roman–early Byzantine periods, while the glass stem dates to the Byzantine period. Below the fill were the sparse remains of a stone wall (W103), which formed a corner with W108, a poorly preserved wall, of which only a few stones remained. The walls, which were founded on hamra fill that covered the bedrock, survived to a height of one course. Meager remains of a thick lime floor (L106; thickness c. 0.2 m) set on the hamra fill were exposed near the northern end of W103. Jars ascribed to the fifth–sixth century CE (Fig. 4:3) were collected from the excavation of the floor. A single stone, probably the remains of an interior wall which was not preserved, abutted the eastern side of W103. About 0.5 m east of the stone, the edges of a shallow rock-cutting (L110) were exposed in the kurkar rock. Inside the cutting was the foundation course of W109, and several stones from two more courses. A thin layer of hamra soil, which covered the kurkar rock-surface (L104, L105), was excavated in Sqs 3 and 4 and yielded a few pottery sherds. The fragments of ceramic and glass which were discovered in the excavation date to the Late Roman–Byzantine periods and are common in assemblages of these periods.
BechorS. 1983. Netanya. HA 80–81:13–14 (Hebrew).
Levi Y. 1988. Umm Khalid. HA 90:36 (Hebrew).
Porath J. 1986. Netanya (Umm Khalid). HA 88:14–15 (Hebrew).