In April 2020, a salvage excavation was conducted at 24, Trumpeldor Street in Ramla (Permit No. A-8736; map ref. 187939–79/64880–82; Fig. 1), prior to construction work. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by A. el-‘Ubara, was directed by R. Toueg, with the assistance of Y. Amrani and Z. Lotan (administration), I. Jonish (surveying and field photography), S. Krispin (metal detector), H. Torgë (pottery), M. Shuiskaya-Arnov (pottery drawing), E. Delerzon (plan), L. Kupershmidt (metal laboratory) and L. Sandberg (numismatics).
Two squares excavated southeast of the Pool of the Arches (Fig. 2; Toueg and Arnon 2019) contained meager architectural remains from the Early Islamic period.
A floor (L103; Fig. 3) and a wall stump (W108) were exposed in the eastern square. The accumulations in a probe excavated beneath the wall (L107) yielded Early Islamic potsherds (not drawn). A probe excavated beneath the floor (L104) yielded a fragment of a barbotine-type strainer jug (Fig. 4:5). The accumulations over the floor (L102) contained a fragment of an Early Islamic bowl (Fig. 4:1).
In the western square, part of a floor (L110; Fig. 5) and a wall (W106) were uncovered. Beside the wall were the remains of a tabun (L105) and Early Islamic pottery, including a casserole (Fig. 4:3), the lid of a cooking-pot (Fig. 4:4) and a strainer-jug handle (Fig. 4:6). A bowl fragment (Fig. 4:2) from the same period was found on the surface. Glass shards (not drawn) and an almost completely worn ‘Abbasid fals (750–850 CE; IAA 174832) were also retrieved.
The Pool of the Arches, adjacent to the excavation site, was a source of water for the city’s inhabitants from the Early Islamic period until the beginning of the tenth century CE. When the pool ceased to be used as a water source, activity in the immediate vicinity was evidently affected and this probably accounts for the poor preservation of the structures uncovered in the current excavation.
Toueg R. and Arnon Y.D. 2019. The Pool of the Arches: New Evidence for the Water Inlet into the Pool. ʻAtiqot 93:125–161.