2022 is nearly over and what a season it’s been!

In our short (3-week) season we had a fantastic international team that included staff and faculty from Tel Aviv, Israel, Prague, Czech Republic, and Osnabruck, Germany, sprinkled with volunteers from Australia, South Africa, Czech Republic, Scotland, and Israel.

Our work focused on Area B at the center of the site, primarily on the large Iron Age cultic precinct that extends throughout this area and included a small temple (Temple 8528, built in the 10th c. BCE) overlaid by a large temple that follows the in antis temple plan (Temple 4601, built in the late 10th/early 9th c. BCE). The excavation revealed additional segments of the large temple and its annexes in the south, including large, paved spaces and associated pathways south of the courtyard which seem to have served as part of the cultic precinct in the latter phases of the Iron Age and had been overlain by a large structure of the Persian Period that was removed during the season. Among the exciting discoveries of the season are the excavation of several silos that predate the temples and produced botanical material and the exposure of the southern part of Temple 8528 in a limited excavation below later Iron Age pavement with intact vessels found on its floor. The finds will keep us busy year-round, but we can’t wait to return to the field on August 20th, 2023 to continue exposing these structures, find more goodies, and enjoy another fun-packed and instructive season with a great team!