Last season (2009) a very well built up structure dating
from the Roman period was found in Area A west. The small section that was uncovered was well
constructed & the small finds were
astonishing. There were a few shards of
pottery called
West Slope Ware. It was first discovered at the western
slope of the Acropolis
of Athens & is a high quality fine ware with white paint of floral
design on black background. It is very rare and in a rural place as
Bethsaida it is extremely
rare. The goal for this year is to find out more about this building.
Bethsaida was founded about 950 BCE. We want to know more about this early
city but it's not easy to gather information as the city that was built a century later
covers all the remains of the early town and we can only dig small segments of
it.
The residential quarter is filling up slowly with excavated buildings. We
will continue to work on this issue.
The plaza outside of the city by the iron age road leading to the city from the
north turns out to be very interesting. We continue to explore this region.
50 students and faculty are expected during every session. It's satisfying to
have such a good size group as it gives Dr. Avav (Rami) an opportunity to
excavation a number of places simultaneously.
Webmaster - Shai Schwartz, Kibbutz Ginosar, Israel, contact - shai_14980@yahoo.com
Chat group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bethsaida/
Human interest - http://www.communitycorrespondent.com/kptm/, search for Judith Schwartz