During the fall/winter of 2005/2006 conservation work was conducted on the city gate & the walls of the 4 chambers just inside the city gate. Orna Cohen, a conservator with vast experience at many other sites which include Hatzor & the Galilee boat at Kibbutz Ginosar, was in charge of the project. She was assisted by an experienced crew of Druze workman from the Golan Heights. Looking carefully at the pictures below & the pictures on the photo gallery notice that there are horizontal pieces of wood placed in the walls 4 - 5 feet up from the floor. The original wood from this iron age entrance (~3000 years ago) was burned to charcoal when the city was razed in 732 BCE & the upper floors collapsed onto the gate/chamber area. The large basalt stones above the burned wood were carefully removed by the workman, the areas cleaned & new pine wood was installed. The upper stones were then replaced as shown in the body of the pictures. The original wood was probably oak & was most likely placed in the walls to give the structure a little flexibility in the event of an earthquake. A new threshhold, made of wood, was placed at the base of the city gate doors (not shown).
July 15, 2007
Pictures can be enlarged by going to the photo gallery & double clicking the desired picture.
Note : Interesting archaeology blog - http://archaeologydigs.blogspot.com/