Khirbat en-Nuweiriya (Southwest)

Abdalla Mokary
10/04/2016
Final Report
In September 2014, an excavation was conducted c. 100 m southwest of Khirbat en-Nuweiriya (esh-Sheikh er-Rumi), near Highway 85, to its north (Permit No. A-7196; map ref. 247585–777/756619–89), after antiquities were damaged while widening the road. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by Netivei Israel – the National Transportation Infrastructure Company, Ltd, was directed by A. Mokary (field photography), with the assistance of Y. Ya‘aqobi (administration), R. Mishayev and R. Liran (surveying and drafting) and laborers from Kafr Manda.
The excavation area was located between Nahal ‘Amud Intersection and ‘Ami‘ad Junction (Fig. 1). At nearby Khirbat en- Nuweiriya, heaps of dressed building stones, a hewn well and rock-cut winepresses are visible on the surface. A cavity that was hewn in soft limestone (L14; Fig. 3) was discovered in the southwestern part of the excavation area; it was damaged and filled with earth during construction work on Highway 85. An accumulation of soil exposed inside the cavity contained fragments of jars dating from the Late Roman period. To its east, above the hewn cavity, was a bedrock surface that was overlain with a layer of ash (L10; Fig. 4) mixed with animal bones and several fragments of pottery vessels from the Late Roman period as well. The hewn cavity was apparently used as a dwelling during this period. Evidence of dressing limestone building stones was found in the northeast of the excavation area (L11; Fig. 5): several hewn stones alongside a large amount of stone trimming debris. Glazed sherds belonging to vessels dating from the Early Islamic and Mamluk periods were found in the vicinity. The stone-dressing site presumably operated in the Early Islamic period, and following a hiatus activity was resumed there during the Mamluk period.
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