During May–June 2001 a salvage excavation was conducted at Tamra (A-3419; NIG 23830–31/72670–71; OIG 18830–31/22670–71) in the wake of damage to ancient remains caused by a sewage system and prior to the construction works of a new road. The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and financed by the Gilboa‘ regional council, was directed by L. Porat, with the assistance of Y. Ya‘aqobi (administration), H. Smithline (photography), A. Hajian and V. Pirsky (surveying), D. Syon (numismatics), H. Tahan (pottery drawing) and E. Altmark (cleaning of coins).
The excavation area was located on the eastern slope of the village of Tamra, at Ramat Yissakhar, near the spring of ‘Ein et-Tahta. Several excavations were conducted nearby in recent years (HA–ESI 109:95*; 113:30*, 33*). Four squares were opened, revealing four occupation phases of Iron Age II and the Late Persian–Early Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine–Early Islamic periods.
Iron Age II. Remains of eight walls and a circular installation on a floor were discovered. The pottery included almost solely cooking pots with carinated walls and ridge-necked storage jars, dating to the tenth and ninth centuries BCE.
The Late Persian–Early Hellenistic Period. Two walls formed a corner; between them was a segment of a stone floor, overlaid with fragments of bag-shaped storage jars.
The Roman Period. A corner of a well-built room with a compact earthen floor was found. Underneath the floor was pottery that dated to the second and third centuries CE, including Kefar Hananya-type bowls and bag-shaped jars. The pottery above the floor was dated to the fourth and fifth centuries CE and consisted of Kefar Hananya-type bowls, cooking pots and bag-shaped storage jars.
The Byzantine–Early Islamic Period. Two phases of occupation, one above the other, were discerned. Phase A comprised walls, stone floors and the base of a mosaic floor, below which 11 badly preserved coins were found, seven of which were dated to the fifth and sixth centuries CE. Phase B consisted of walls and a stone floor. The pottery included mainly imported Late Roman Red Ware bowls and plates and decorated jars, which were dated from the sixth to the eighth centuries CE.