The eastern part of the site had been damaged in the past as a result of development work. Subsequently, pottery vessels and basalt objects were gathered by S. Mendal of Kibbutz ʽEn Ha-Shofet
; the rich assemblage was ascribed to the Wadi Rabah and Ghassulian cultures (Gopher 2012
; Fig. 41.1), as well as to the Intermediate and Middle Bronze Age II. The western part of the site also sustained damage during the construction of the drilling site. The resulting archaeological section (length c. 100 m; Fig. 2) exhibited layers of pottery belonging to the sequence of periods identified in the assemblage collected earlier at the site. Based on the western section, it also seems that the settlement ascribed to the Wadi Rabah culture extended mainly in the northern peart of the site, while the Bronze Age settlement was in the southern part, closer to the streambed; however, it should be remembered that this partial picture does not necessarily reflect the true nature of the site.
Three squares were opened north of the drilling location, near the streambed. A burial field, probably from the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, was discovered. The graves were dug in the ground and penetrated ancient strata that contained an accumulation of pottery sherds from the MB II and Hellenistic periods, as well as several sherds from the Byzantine and Early Islamic period.
The burial field yielded 15 graves arranged in three clusters (0.8–0.9 m below the surface; Fig. 3): three graves in the east (W110–W112), three in the center (W114, W117, W118) and nine in the west (W120, W123, W125, W127–W132). The graves had one outstanding characteristic: covering stones placed above the graves and protruding from the ancient surface level at a 45-degree angle. Only the northern grave in the eastern cluster (W110; Fig. 4) had horizontally arranged covering stones. The covering stones—at least three on each grave, but sometimes as many as ten (W120; Fig. 5)—were roughly hewn and square or rectangular. They were arranged on most of the graves in either one course or two superimposed courses, as in Grave 118 (Fig. 6). The graves in the eastern and central clusters were set at intervals of c. 1 m, whereas those in the western cluster were crowded and set at intervals of 0.20–0.35 m. The construction in this cluster was less meticulous; the covering stones were mostly elongated, but some pointed upwards (Fig. 7).
Although the graves were not excavated, we noticed that the deceased were laid in an east–west direction, with their head in the west. The bones found in the graves, damaged prior to the excavation (L116, L121, L122), were examined in the field and left there. At least four adult individuals were represented in this small sampling of bones, including one male and two females. It was difficult to determine the date of the tombs in the absence of any accompanying finds.
The graves penetrated accumulations that contained pottery from the Middle Bronze Age II, as well as abraded sherds that were apparently eroded from the site at Givʽat Nuah, to the north, which dates from the Hellenistic, Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. Field walls, apparently agricultural fences, were constructed above the graves, either leaning on or built on top of the covering stones (W109, W115; Fig. 8).
. The discussion below includes the pottery discovered in the excavation and the sherds collected where the site was damaged prior to the excavation. The sherds from the Pottery Neolithic period (the Yarmukian and Lodite cultures) included a deep bowl with a round ledge handle on the rim (Fig. 9:1) and a wide, shallow bowl (basin; Fig. 9:2). The pottery from the Early Chalcolithic period (according to the chronology presented in Getzov 2015
) included a diverse repertoire of vessels, comprising bowls (Fig. 9:3–7), holemouths, jars and pithoi (Fig. 9:8–11). The first phase of the period is indicated by several sherds decorated with puncture marks in the tradition of the Wadi Rabah culture (Fig. 9:4, 12), and the last phase—by a large lug handle (Fig. 13: 9); however, most of the finds are ascribed to the middle phase of the period. The sherds dating to the Intermediate Bronze Age included a krater (Fig. 10:1), cooking pots with a rope ornamentation on their shoulder that is characteristic of the period (Fig. 10:2, 3), as well as jars (Fig. 10:4–7) adorned with a thumb-indented decoration (Fig. 10:5) or incising on the neck (Fig. 10:6). Similar assemblages were uncovered at Tel ʽAfula (Feig 2016;
Stratum IV; Gal and Covello-Paran 1996
: Figs. 10, 11, Stratum V) and at Nah
al Rimmonim (Covello-Paran 2008
: Figs. 6, 7, Stratum II).
Judging by the numerous MB IIA pottery sherds found in the excavation, it seems that this was the most predominant period at the site. A variety of vessels was found, including a bowl (Fig. 11:1), a krater with a barrel-shaped body (Fig. 11:2), cooking pots (Fig. 11:3, 4) and at least forty jars that are characteristic of the period (e.g., Fig. 11:5, 6). This assemblage is typical of the first and middle phases of the MB IIA; it appears at Tel Qashish (Stratum X; Ben-Tor and Bonfil 2003
:187–190, Figs. 76, 77) and at Tel ʽAfula (Stratum IV; Gal and Covello-Paran 1996
: Figs. 21–23).
The accumulations that were penetrated by the graves yielded several sherds from the Hellenistic period, representing two types of vessels: JRI jars (Fig. 11:7–10), common in assemblages from the third–second centuries BCE at sites in the north of the country (e.g., Dor—Guz-Zilberstein 1995
:291, Figs. 6.35–6.37) and a jug (Fig. 11:11; Guz-Zilberstein 1995
: Fig. 6.30).
comprised a fragment of a stone tablet and two spindle whorls. The tablet (Fig. 12:1) is rectangular and meticulously fashioned from hard pink-colored limestone. Part of an engraved design of thin lines, possibly a geometric pattern, survived along the edge of the fragment. A similar tablet of the same color was found in an assemblage from the Late Chalcolithic period at Midrakh ‘Oz (Getzov 2015
; Getzov, Nagar and Cohen-Weinberger 2015
:28, Fig. 14). A tablet decorated with an engraved geometric pattern was discovered at H
ata; Gopher and Orrelle 1995
: Fig. 44:8). The spindle whorls (Fig. 12:2, 3) are large, similar to those that were exposed in assemblages that date to the fourth–second millennium BCE, and therefore cannot be dated accurately. A stone bowl (Fig. 12:4) and a fragment of a basalt grinding stone (Fig. 12:5) were found alongside the pottery fragments ascribed to the Wadi Rabah culture.
Forty-nine flint items were found on the surface, of which 35 were identified as industrial debitage, 14 as tools and 1 is a core. The absence of industrial components indicates that only noticeable items were gathered and that no sifting was conducted. Despite the selective collecting, an examination of the finds reveals that they were knapped from raw material derived from the same source—high quality, finely-grained Eocene flint. The predominant group in the industrial debitage consists of large flakes (18 items; 37% of the repertoire). The industrial debitage includes ten large blades that were probably knapped during the initial core trimming stages, and four primary items—broad flakes that have a cortex. The second largest group in the repertoire is the tools (33%). The following review will focus on a typological description of the tools and on defining their technological characteristics andproduction methods to understand their contribution to the dating of the site (according to the chronological division presented in Gopher 2012
). Some of the tools are made of fine-quality light gray flint, and others are of dark brown flint; the tools bear a thin white patina, indicating that they had been exposed for a while. The tools are divided into several types: drills, retouched flakes, retouched blades, sickle blades and bifacial tools.
Two drills (Fig. 13:1) were found. They are remarkable because of the semi-abrupt retouch on both sides of their point. Three thick flakes have a coarse but continuous retouch, and three retouched blades bear small scars indicative of renewed cutting edges. Two sickle blades were fashioned on fine-quality dark brown flint. The sickle blades date the repertoire of tools from ʽEn Zehura. The sickle blade in Figure 13:2 was shaped on a broad blade that has an arched back, fashioned with a semi-abrupt retouch, and a delicately denticulated cutting edge; blades of this type are characteristic of the Wadi Rabah culture (Pottery Neolithic period). The second blade (Fig. 13:3) is narrow and triangular in section. It has an abrupt back and a flat, delicately denticulated cutting edge. This type of blade is commonly found in assemblages that date to the Chalcolithic period. Four bifacial tools were found: two chisels and two adzes made on gray flint. The chisels were found intact, as evidenced by their plano-convex cross-section and straight sides; their cutting edge was fashioned by means of longitudinal knapping from the end of the tool to the central axis. The adzes, however, are broken and missing their cutting edges (Fig. 13:4); both were made on dark gray flint with chalk concretions, which is common in the Ramat Menashe region.
This repertoire clearly indicates that the tools did not originate in excavation strata and that they were collected in a selective manner from the surface of the site; thus, it is impossible to draw any far-reaching conclusions. Nevertheless, the presence of sickle blades and bifacial tools indicates that there are at least two ancient strata at the site: one from the Pottery Neolithic period, the other from the Chalcolithic period.
The ʽEn Zehura site, which had been damaged as a result of work carried out by the Mekorot Company, extended across c. 3 dunams; consequently, it was impossible to estimate the shape of the settlement. The site was dated based on the eastern section of the drilling in the western part of the site and on the pottery sherds and basalt objects that were collected in the damaged area. These finds show that a settlement existed at the site during four periods: Pottery Neolithic period (the Yarmukian and Lodite cultures); Pottery Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic period (Wadi Rabah culture); and the Intermediate Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age IIA. The Wadi Rabah culture finds suggest that the remains from this culture are the most predominant at the site, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The MB IIA artifacts included vessels that were found in the damaged area and in the accumulation into which the graves were dug. It seems that the MB IIA settlement extended in a northerly direction, as far as the stream bank. The pottery from the Hellenistic period and several fragments from the Byzantine and Early Islamic period were apparently swept there from Givʽat Nuah
, where a settlement of these periods existed. The burial field was probably part of a large cemetery that extended east and west of the excavation area, but not north of the streambed. The graves exhibit a uniform plan, and so does the inclination of the covering stones. The absence of finds in or near the graves makes dating them difficult. However, this type of burial, in a general east–west direction with the head placed in the west, is known mainly among Muslim populations. An identical phenomenon was discovered in a cemetery at Nah
agit, which dates to the Mamluk period (Seligman 2010
:90–95, Fig. 2/127) and in the burial field at Nah
al Tut, which is ascribed to a Muslim Bedouin population and according to some jewelry that was discovered in the graves seems to date to the Late Mamluk and Ottoman periods (Alexandre 2006