In March 2015 an excavation was conducted near Horbat Bizqa, in the Ishparo Center industrial region of Modi‘in (Permit No. A-7370; map ref. 196600/643475; Fig. 1), prior to the construction of a factory. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by T.N.I.A.A. Investments, Ltd., was directed by O. Danziger, with the assistance of Y. Amrani (administration), M. Kahan (surveying), A. Fadida (photography), I. Kornfeld (trial trenches), N. Zak (drafting), V. Nosikovsky (metallurgical laboratory) and D.T. Ariel (numismatics).
The current excavation was carried out on flat farmland, c. 500 m west of Horbat Bizqa. Two squares were opened revealing an agricultural terrace wall that could not be dated (Fig. 2).
An agricultural terrace (W103; length 7.4 m, width 0.8 m, height 0.4 m; Fig. 3) built of medium size fieldstones (0.5 × 0.5 m)was exposed. The southern part of the wall was founded directly on the bedrock and the northern part was set on top of the natural soil. Abraded pottery sherds that were apparently swept there from nearby Horbat Bizqa were collected from the surface. Due to the poor preservation of the sherds it was not possible to date the construction of the agricultural terrace or the time of its use. A coin that could not be precisely dated was also found on the surface, but the size and shape of its flan indicates it dates to the sixth century CE.
The agricultural terrace that was exposed in the current excavation is added to the other terraces previously uncovered nearby that indicate the area has been cultivated since ancient times.