The Ein Gedi Oasis site lies at the foot of the Judean Mountains, on the western shore of the Dead Sea, between the nature reserves of Nachal David and Nachal Arugoth. It is some 300 metres to the north-west of the Byzantine period synagogue and the adjoining village. To north and south are the mango groves of kibbutz Ein Gedi, to the east are plantations of date palms. High up to the west lies the vast Judean desert.
Since January 2003 we have been excavating this site, each year making new discoveries. At first we thought that we had found a few isolated buildings. Now, after our 6th season of excavations in January 2008, there is no doubt that we have uncovered part of a Jewish village from the late Second Temple (Roman) period.
We have uncovered some ten houses all of the same period, complete with the clay vessels used by their inhabitants and the ovens where every family baked its own bread. We also exposed a lane between the houses and now have a better understanding of the rural Jewish settlement which was here ca. 2000 years ago.
Some riddles are still unsolved, such as why dozens of Judean bronze coins were scattered (or lost) on the floors and under them.
The seventh season of
January 2007 was planned to be the last one at this site. But as we found under
the "Southern Building" an earlier stage of the village from Hasmonean Times,
and also pottery and buildings remains on the east side of the lane We have to
accomplish revealing these Hasmonean buildings in one more season - the eighth
in January 2010.
Ein Gedi is one of the most beautiful places in the world, if not the most… a combination of stony desert mountains, green oasis fed by mountain springs and the many-coloured Dead Sea, the lowest place in the world. Its geology and history are equally fascinating. The Jewish village of Ein Gedi was inhabited in Biblical times and destroyed and rebuilt again and again over the centuries. Before the founding of kibbutz Ein Gedi in 1956 it had not been inhabited for 500 years.
As a high
school student I fell in love with Ein Gedi and took every opportunity to visit
and explore the area. I have lived here since 1962, and in 1972 started to study
archaeology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
The first excavations in Ein Gedi, directed by Professor B. Mazar in the 60s, uncovered the First Temple settlement at Tel Goren and the Chalcolithic temple. In the 70s Professor D. Barag and Dr. Y.Porat excavated the Byzantine synagogue. From 1996-2002 Professor Y. Hirschfeld uncovered the adjoining Byzantine village. I worked with him during these seven years as area supervisor.
After Professor Hirschfeld announced that he was ending his work in Ein Gedi I took upon myself to carry on the study of the oasis. In this I was encouraged and helped by a devoted team of international volunteers who understand the importance of continuing the work.
I had always wanted to reveal the village of the Second Temple (Roman) Period ever since I happened to uncover small sections of it while working on clearing the ancient synagogue quarter before it was opened to the public in 1993. In the 1960s Professor Mazar unearthed a single building from this period north of Tel Goren, and the Roman bathhouse in the grove of date palms. Remnants of the same period were also found in the excavations of the ancient village of Ein Gedi, next to the synagogue. In the isolated spots where the excavators (Barag, Porat and Netzer, Hadas, Hirschfeld) dug beneath the Byzantine habitation level, the level of the Second Temple Period was uncovered, including homes, mikvehs, and cooking installations.
Over the years of excavation it became clear that the Jewish settlement in Ein Gedi began at the end of the First Temple Period in the 7th century BCE, and ended in the 6th century CE. That is to say, in the Ein Gedi oasis, Jewish settlement existed continuously for about a thousand years. It was assumed that all during this period, the permanent dwellings of the settlement in Ein Gedi were only built along the natural ridge on which lie Tel Goren and the Byzantine village. However, when I made a test probe many years ago with a group of teenagers from the kibbutz, we found wall remains, ash, pottery and stone vessels typical of the Second Temple Period on a site some 200 metres north west of the Byzantine period village. This is where we have been working since 2003.
The expedition is looking forward to combine together the site of the Ancient Synagogue of Ein Gedi with the late Prof. Hirschfeld excavations of the Byzantine village that is very near there. The target is so to save it from neglect and to enrich the visitors there with a complete experience of visiting the 6th century village with its synagogue.
The expedition also intends to continue looking for the magnificent Hasmonean or Herodian palace awaiting discovery somewhere in Ein Gedi. Many architectural elements from such a building have been found — in the Roman Bath, where its capitals were reused as paving stones, and in many places in the village, reused as building stones. Revealing the Roman village of Ein Gedi, which was bigger than the Byzantine one, would contribute substantially toward a better understanding of the era and of the documents its inhabitants left behind in the Cave of Letters in nearby Nachal Hever.
Ultimately, we envisage a complete archaeological park between the two nature reserves of Nachal David and Nachal Arugoth encompassing Jewish settlement from the First Temple, Roman and Byzantine periods.
updated October 2009
The excavations and processing the finds rely exclusively on donations, which can be sent to:
Israel Exploration Society
Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations directed by G. Hadas
POB 7041
5 Avida St.
Jerusalem 91070
Israel
Or to:
Bank Hapoalim
Branch 690
King George St. 16
Jerusalem, Israel
Account no. 100497
Name of the account: Israel Exploration Society
Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations directed by G. Hadas
Fax 972-2-6247772
Instructions for transfer of funds via P.E.F.
To: P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Inc.
317 Madison Avenue, Suite 607
New York, NY 10017
USA
Attention: Mr. Ben Harrison Frankel, President
Tel. 212-599-1260
Fax. 212-599-5981