Season 2024

The second excavation season at the site of Khirbet as-Sar was conducted between 21 April and 18 May 2024 (Permit no. 8/2024). Two trenches (T1/3-W and T2-S) were opened in the eastern part of the courtyard of the architectural compound that had preliminarily been identified as a Roman period sanctuary. Topographically, they have been extensions of the trenches first explored in 2019 and subsequently enlarged in 2023. A new Trench (T5) was opened in front of the Roman-period addition (a vestibule?) on the eastern side of the "Ammonite tower" (Fig. 1).

Trench T1/3-W

The latest occupation level consisted of a poor earthen floor, probably containing two consecutive phases with traces of fireplaces, dated by pottery to the Mamluk period. The northern limit of the room was a carelessly built wall W22 or rather a blockage, which included a column shaft set in the space of the damaged easternmost arch of the northern arcade of the Roman courtyard. The eastern limit of the room was W06, a division wall between T 1/3-W and T 1/3. The entrance to the room was on the South, between W18 and W20 (Fig. 4).

The earlier occupation phases are represented by a sequence of walls, floors, and layers of rubble, accompanied by fireplaces, burnt pieces of a tabun, and sparse pottery dated successively to the Ayyubid, Abbasid/Fatimid, Abbasid, and Umayyad periods (Fig. 5, Fig. 6, Fig. 7). Interestingly, the Middle Islamic occupational levels yielded relatively little ceramics; instead, the remains of metal (iron?) slag and finds of horseshoe nails have been suggestive of the activity of a blacksmith workshop. Metal smelting was also present in the Early Islamic period, with the architectural remains sitting directly on top of those from the Roman period.

Indeed, a mighty pillar, rectangular in plan (c. 2m x 1.80m) and built of big carefully dressed limestone blocks, is a Roman-period construction still used well into the Mamluk period (Fig. 8, Fig. 9), when its top was completed with reused architectural elements. Below the offset of the pillar, there is a square opening (c. 0.20 x 0.20m), probably a drain (sewage?) that would evacuate rainwater(?) towards the East. The drain was doubtlessly associated with floor F146, the lowest floor reached in the Trench (Fig. 10). This fact strongly suggests that the space to the West of it was initially an open-air passage(?). Only during the next (Umayyad-period?) phase was the passage(?) blocked.

Very profound foundations of the pillar, the bottom of which could not have been reached during this season, are associated with a thick leveling layer that contains early Roman and Hellenistic material. The material in question is not only ceramics, covering the period between the late 2nd century BCE and 1st century CE, but also a colossal upright-standing block of limestone, comparable to the masonry of Iraq el-Amir, and a column capital of limestone, deeply stuck in the western profile of the Trench. It can be described as one of the Palestinian versions of the Doric capitals of the late Hellenistic period (Fig. 11).

Trench 2-S

Archaeological exploration was resumed in Trench 2-S right to the South of the Roman-period arch (see Fig. 1), the northern side of which (Trench 2) had been excavated down to the original level of the Roman courtyard in 2019. The work undertaken in Trench T2-S in 2023 had to be interrupted due to the dense collapse of stone building material (blocks and boulders), which rendered the examination of the stratigraphy virtually impossible. However, the excavations in the current season allowed us to determine the sequence of walls and floors, of which the latest floor has been dated by potsherds to not earlier than the 13th/14th century CE (Fig. 13 and Fig. A). It was preceded by a habitation level apparently of the Ayyubid period (early Mamluk?) period (Fig. 14 and Fig. B), during which the barrel vault of the room may have been constructed. Only the North-South extent of the room, equal to the width of the barrel vault, could be defined as c. 4.20m.

Below the Middle Islamic level, the continuation of a plain mosaic (a part of which had been discovered in 2023) was found (Fig. 15, Fig. 25). Cleaning of debris at the western part of the Trench revealed a North-South wall constructed of medium-sized irregular stones directly above the debris of the earthquake (Fig. 16, Fig. 27). This wall, in line with the western side of the Roman arch in Trench S-2 (2019), obviously pre-dated the construction of the barrel vault and post-dated the mid-8th century CE.

On the East, the mosaic abutted on an N-S wall about the same period; on the other side of the wall in question, a vast pithos was found in situ, broken into pieces apparently during an earthquake (Fig. 17). Also, the westernmost part of the mosaic floor had been destroyed doubtlessly during the same disaster, as evidenced by thick stone debris overlaying a recessed area. Most probably, the earthquake in question was caused by 749 CE, which would assign both the mosaic room and the pithos room to the Umayyad period. The exploration under the level of the broken pithos revealed the presence of a pavement, which most probably was a part of the original Roman foundation. The accumulation(?) of the material above it yielded Late Roman potsherds (Fig. 18 and Fig. C).

Trench T5

Trench T5 was a square opened in front of the Roman-period vestibule(?) on the eastern side of the "Ammonite tower," in the place where one would expect the presence of a staircase leading from the Roman-period courtyard up to the temple (Fig. 20 and Fig. 21). However, no trace of any steps has been found.

Instead, the exploration yielded a series of Mamluk, Fatimid, and Ayyubid period (Fig. 22) walls and floors. The earlier occupation phase was an Abbasid-period floor, associated with iron smelting activity, judged by the discovery of a metallurgical furnace (Fig. 23). The workshop can confidently be dated to the early Abbasid period by the pottery associated with its level as well as with the floor directly above it (Fig. D).

This floor, alongside rectangular compartments of unspecified domestic function, rested upon an exceptionally thick layer of the destruction of a building constructed of ashlars (Fig. 24). This layer, almost devoid of pottery (a few Umayyad-period potsherds), contained relatively abundant ceramic building material (fragments of roof tiles, etc.), many ashlars (including those of a collapsed arch or pillar) and a molded cornice block (Fig. 25). The destruction layer abutted the deep foundation of the Roman period vestibule in the upper part of which two shafts (drums?) of small columns (c. 0.40m in diameter) had been reused (Fig. 26). The vestibule had been used as a wall of the ashlar house, with fragments of plaster still preserved in situ. A plain(?) mosaic floor comparable to that found in Trench 5 adjoining the vestibule wall. There is little doubt that this evidence of violent destruction relates to the same earthquake of 749 CE, which destroyed an Umayyad-period building in Trench 2-S.

To conclude, on Trench T5 (Fig. 27), against our initial supposition, no staircase leading to the “Ammonite tower” has been discovered. The only logical explanation is that the steps were dismantled and removed after the temple was disused, which would have happened in the Byzantine period. However, the vestibule foundation's depth remains to be discovered since it was reused as a wall of the Umayyad-period building, presumably a habitation.

Concluding remarks for the 2024 season

While the site of Khirbat es-Sar remains anonymous, the field season of 2024 once again proved its great historical importance. For the first time, we have recorded a complete sequence of Islamic occupation phases from the Umayyad through the Abbasid, Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk periods, possibly reaching into the early Ottoman times. More difficulty has been detailed in distinguishing the pre-Islamic periods, although indications of the Byzantine, Roman, and Hellenistic phases are pretty eloquent. The site’s occupation during the Hellenistic period has been confirmed by finding both details of monumental architecture and ceramic fine wares, among them imports from local and western trading centers. Based on the pottery, the Hellenistic occupation is probably the second half of the 2nd century BCE. Although evidenced by architecture and pottery, the Roman period cannot be satisfactorily divided between the early Roman and late Roman phases. The same should be said about the transition from the late Roman/Byzantine to the early Islamic/Umayyad period.

Select pottery (images by Jolanta Młynarczyk):

Architectural survey

In addition to the excavations, during the field season, the architect of the mission (Dr. Anna Kubicka-Sowińska, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology) conducted an architectural survey in which the site area of Khirbet es Sar was captured using a 3D scanner Livox Mid-360. As the result of 80 scan positions, we obtained a 3D point cloud representing measurements from the "Ammonite tower," the Roman arcade, and the 40m surrounding area (Fig. 28). Architectural works were focused on measuring and analyzing architectural detail, which enriched the collection of stone decorations dated to the Roman period during the current archaeological survey. Ongoing archaeological measurements were captured on an ongoing basis, including the preparation of 3D documentation of this year's trenches.

Complementary geophysical survey