Two excavation areas (A, B; Fig. 2) were opened on the northern slope of Khirbat el-Mughram, exposing stone quarries. Structural remains, a field tower and cisterns were documented at the site in the past, and Byzantine pottery sherds were collected (Kloner 2001:
Site 120). At the site of er-Ras, slightly west of Khirbat el-Mughram, caves, rock-cuttings and ruins of structures and towers were documented, and sherds, dating to Iron Age II and the Hasmonean period, were gathered (Kloner 2001:
Site 118). Surveys and excavations carried out in the vicinity revealed numerous ancient stone quarries (Kloner 2001: Sites
27, 75, 116; ‘Adawi 2009: Sites 1, 2, 7, 9–12, 14–19), some of which dated to the Roman and Byzantine periods
(‘Adawi 2007;
Mizrahi 2008a;
Mizrahi 2008b;
Zilberbod 2012); these were part of an extensive array of stone quarries situated on the Shu‘fat–Beit
Hanina Ridge that were used through the ages. In the past, two ancient Roman roads were documented on the Shu‘fat–Beit
Hanina Ridge—one leading to Shekhem (Nablus) and the other to Bet
Horon (Kloner 2001:
Site 28). These roads facilitated the efficient transport of building stones to Jerusalem and the settlements, situated near the quarries.