Kursi

Kursi, a monastery with a bath, church, and chapel on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, has been updated with new photographs from the 2009 season.

Rosh Zayit

Rosh Zayit, and early Iron Age fort and settlement, has been updated with new photographs from the 2009 season.

Herodium

Herodium has been updated with new photos from the 2009 season. Especially noteworthy is the addition of Herod the Great's tomb, which is located midway down the mountain, beside the entrance stairway.

Tiberias

Tiberias has recently been updated by adding photos of the city's southern gate. The southern gate was excavated in 1973-1974, but was subsequently covered over to preserve it. Recently, the gate has been uncovered as part of the city's attempt to highlight its archaeological heritage.

If you have not yet visited Tiberias, it is well worth the trip. Now, with the addition of the southern gate, it is a must see.

Vered Yericho

Vered Yericho is a Judean fort that existed for a few decades before the Kingdom of Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians. Little is known about the Iron Age settlement of the Jericho area other than this small fort (an unexcavated Iron Age site is located 3 kilometers to the north).

Stop by and explore the fort.

Ha-Ro‘a

Ha-Ro‘a is just down the road from Haluqim (on which, see the previous post). Like Haluqim, this site has a large Negev-type “fortress” and a pillared house (5 room rather than 4 room) dating to the early Iron Age, possibly the tenth century BCE. The close proximity of these two contemporaneous “fortresses” is an indication, one among many, that they are not in fact fortresses. They are instead an early type of “Israelite” settlement.

Visit Ha-Ro‘a and compare it with Haluqim.

Haluqim

Haluqim, located in the central Negev, is a good example of an early Iron Age settlement with a so-called "Negev fortress." Two other houses and a Roman watch tower are also found at the site.

Haluqim was originally photographed in 2006 and went online shortly thereafter. The day on which it was photographed, however, was heavily overcast - a rare day in Israel. The site was thus re-photographed during the recent season in 2009 - on a beautiful sunny day. Moreover, many more spots at the site were photographed.

So, stop by and take a look at the new presentation of Haluqim.

Izbet Sartah

Located at the western edge of the hill country, the settlement at Izbet Sartah experienced the clash of Israelite and Philistine cultures. With material culture similar to the hill country sites, Izbet Sartah attests to the fluctuations of the early Israelite settlement.

Izbet Sartah give evidence of three short-lived settlements from the twelfth to the tenth century BCE. Stratum II, which includes a large central four-room house and smaller four-room houses on the periphery, attests to the beginnings of stratification of wealth with an uneven distribution of silos.

Come and explore this important site for understanding the Israelite settlement.