Amir Gorzalczany

Israel Antiquities Authority · Publications

Although Thymbra spicata is not a native Egyptian plant, a freshly picked twig was discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Such a plant could have been cultivated in Egypt by “the state,” or by a foreigner sojourning in Egypt. The twig is an example of plant acclimatization, such as plants brought by Hatshepsut’s mission to Punt and those collected...

This article deals with an obscure Biblical Hebrew (BH) wine-associated lexeme, ẓo'e ‫.)צעה(‬ The lexeme appears five times as metaphors in the biblical Books of Isaiah and Jeremiah, reflecting consistency in the contemporary Judahite vernacular. The translations of these occurrences vary greatly, suggesting that the idiom may have fallen out of us...

Archaeological excavations in Ramla, Jund Filastin capital during the early Islamic period, discovered in a zone of artisans and workshops, a unique complex of built and dug installations. It included barely known and understood components of a proto-chemical toolkit. The finds included an abundance of small, decorated bottles previously identified...

Since its accidental discovery in 1994, a series of archaeological excavations at the Lod mosaic site have revealed the excellently preserved remains of a lavish mansion, including a luxurious mosaic executed with a high degree of perfection and realism, dated to the end of the 3rd, or beginning of the 4th century AD. The excavations received unusu...

In mid-2021, the Museum and Visitor Centre in the city of Lod, Israel, was inaugurated, housing the remains of the magnificent mosaics discovered in the city, to be finally exhibited to the public. This event, almost 25 years after the beginning of the sporadic excavations of the site by the IAA (Israel Antiquities Authority), seems an appropriate...

Summary Excavations in the Ghassulian Chalcolithic cemetery of Palmaḥim (North) have transformed our understanding of burial customs and social complexity during this period in the southern Levant. These exceptional finds have previously been taken as evidence for the breakdown of a strongly north–south territorial division within the region in ter...

This article considers the archaeology, based mainly on eggs, of the extinct ratite (flightless birds, infraclass Palaeognathae) Struthio camelus syriacus (henceforth referred to as ‘ostrich’). Ostrich eggs were used as canteens, vessels, or raw material to produce prestige objects or ornaments. Starting with eggs discovered in a Middle Bronze Age...

Ramla presents a comprehensive overview of the history, archaeology and architecture of the city of Ramla from the time of its foundation as the capital of Umayyad Palestine around 715 until the end of Ottoman rule in 1917. It begins with a historical outline covering in turn the early Islamic (Robert Hoyland), Crusader (Peter Edbury), Ayyubid-Mam...

In different excavations in Ramla, fragmented Muslim tombstones were uncovered in secondary use, providing a terminus post quem in the mid or late 10th-century AD for their reuse. As showed by the ceramic evidence, the time elapsed between the last interments and the reusing of the tombstones stones as building material was at the most 70 years. Re...

A Possible Alchemist Apparatus from the Early Islamic Period at Ramla Amir Gorzalczany, The Israel Antiquities Authority Baruch Rosen, Independent Researcher During extensive salvage excavations carried out between 2004 and 2008 in a large Early Islamic industrial area at the vicinity of Ramla, an unparalleled industrial device was unearthed. Th...

A mosaic discovered in luxurious Roman domus in Lod (Lydda, Diospolis) in Israel, depicted among other maritime creatures Royal Purple yielding mollusks and wicker traps used to catch them. Historical sources indicating that during Late Antiquity residents of Lod dealt in dyeing and exporting textiles (also Royal Purple) were reexamined. Clearly ma...

The Lod mosaic, discovered in the city bearing that name in Israel, was laid in a luxurious villa urbana in the late 3rd or early 4th century AD. It contains inter alia a nautical scene presented as a foor carpet in the form of a pond. The scene includes sea life and two ships. One is sailing freely while the other, facing the opposite direction, i...

Since its accidental discovery in 1996, the Roman mansion in Lod (Diospolis), Israel,as been exposed in successive salvage excavations. The site consists of eight archaeological strata, but the following article focus mainly on Stratum VI, datedto the late Roman period (late 3rd century A.D. to early 4th century A.D.). In this stratum a lavish Roma...

Tamed and domesticated carnivores like dogs, cheetahs and mongooses participated as search and chase aids in human hunt efforts during most of the human history, in different societies, as attested by anthropologic, literary or graphic sources. In order to impose human will on the animals, different tethering devices were developed, such as leashes...

Palmahim (North) is a large Chalcolithic burial and cult site of a type previously unknown in the central coastal plain of Israel. The well-planned cemetery comprises circular or rectangular single-chamber burial structures, built upon or hewn into the kurkar bedrock. Within the burial structures, secondary interments were made in a variety of rece...

Ramla was established by the Umayyad governor of the Jund and later caliph Sulāyman b. abd el-Malek in the early eighth century CE as the capital of Jund Filastin. Its construction was a planned enterprise that included the mosque, the palace and markets. The extensive salvage excavations that were conducted lately by the IAA at the site of Ramla (...

La idea predominante durante años de investigación arqueológica acerca del período Calcolítico en el sur del Levante era que existió una clara y evidente dicotomía en los tipos de entierro entre la zona subtropical y costera y las zonas áridas y periféricas. En la primera se utilizaban cuevas como cementerios, especialmente para entierros secundari...

Narrow Flat Base Dipper Juglets (NBDJ) were found in many excavations in Israel, as well as in the Syrian-Lebanese Littoral and Cyprus, mainly as offerings deposited in tombs. They are similar to the well-known dipper juglets, which were locally-produced juglets with sharply pointed bases. Petrographic analysis conducted on the NBDJ showed that the...

The remains of the aqueduct, which led water to the city of Ramla during the Umayyad period, were exposed along 150 m. The aqueduct, running generally east-west, was well preserved. A detailed description of its construction technique is rendered, as well as an account of the consequences of its destruction. A calculation of the aqueduct's rate of...

During November–December 2007, a salvage excavation was conducted south of Ramla and north of Moshav Mazliah (Permit No. A-5311; map ref. 18743–9/64686–7084), prior to the construction of an overpass above Highway 431. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the Netivē Ha-Yovel Company, was direc...

ENGLISH SUMMARY: A Possible Alchemist Apparatus from the Early Islamic Period Excavated at Ramla, Israel During extensive salvage excavations carried out during the years 2004-2008 in a large early Islamic industrial area at the vicinity of Ramla, in Central Israel, an unparalleled industrial device was unearthed. The star-shaped, soil embedded in...

Summary: A Possible Alchemist Apparatus from the Early Islamic Period Excavated at Ramla, Israel During extensive salvage excavations carried out during the years 2004-2008 in a large Early Islamic industrial area at the vicinities of Ramla, in Central Israel, an unparalleled industrial device was unearthed. The star-shaped, soil embedded installat...

Summaries, ‘Atiqot 64 161 Baqa el-Gharbiya Area: A Roman-Period Cemetery and Other Finds Amir Gorzalczany (Pp. 105*–136*) Between July 2002 and March 2003 three sites were excavated west of the village of Baqa el-Gharbiya, in preparation for the laying of the Cross-Israel Highway (map ref. NIG 202137–250/702735–607, OIG 152137–250/202735–907; Figs....

In a series of cemeteries from the Late Mamluk and Early Ottoman Periods excavated in Israel, a rare feature was discovered. Some of the tombs are sealed by whole ceramic vessels, intentionally located on the tomb, placed on their bases, rims or bodies. The vessels consistently belong to three reiterative forms, dated to the Mamluk and Ottoman Peri...

Analysis of the orientation of burials within Late Islamic cemeteries shows a consistent range in the axes of such burials between c. 65° and 90° East of North. The practice of burying the deceased with their face towards Mecca is a well-known Islamic tradition long practiced in Israel/Palestine. While this practice was a determining factor in buri...

Analysis of the orientation of burials within Late Islamic cemeteries shows a consistent range in the axes of such burials between c. 65° and 90° East of North. The practice of burying the deceased with their face towards Mecca is a well-known Islamic tradition long practiced in Israel/Palestine. While this practice was a determining factor in buri...

SURVEY AND SALVAGE EXCAVATIONS ON THE MENASHE SPUR, NEAR HORBAT BAREQET AND KIBBUTZ REGAVIM AMIR GORZALCZANY (PP. 83–107) During September–October 2001 and March– April 2002 trial and salvage excavations were conducted in a large area at the following sites: Horbat Bareqet, Horbat Bareqet (West), Qannir and Kh. el-Kaleb, c. 3 km east of Kibbutz Reg...

AN EARLY ISLAMIC SITE AND A LATE ISLAMIC CEMETERY IN ARAB KEFAR SAVA AMIR GORZALCZANY (PP. 83*–96*) During March 2004 a trial excavation was conducted on Ha-Shiqma Street in Kefar Sava (map ref. NIG 19454–61/67628–34, OIG 14454–61/17628–34), prior to the installation of a sewer pipe (Plan 1). Six excavation squares were opened, in which two strata...

Thirty-six vessels from the 1996 excavation season at Tel Mikhal were submitted for petrographic analysis.1 Most types of Persianperiod vessels and several MB II vessels from Kilns 466 and 481 in Area B1 were included in the sample. Several wasters from these kilns were analyzed as well.2 The results show that the ceramic fabrics of these vessels f...

According to excavations and surveys in the Sharon area, the process of reurbanization of Eretz Israel during the early phases of the MElIA occurred along the Coastal Plain. This meant there was a concentration of population in large,fortified cities in the Sharon Plain. During the MEIIB there was a demographic shift: These sites were abandoned and...

A lead amulet of Nefertem belonging to the Persian Period was found at Tel Michal on the central coastal plain of Israel. The figure is wearing a lotus flower crown, the most typical attribute of this Egyptian deity of fertility and rebirth. It adds to the twelve previously discovered Nefertem amulets in Israel and is further proof for the activity...

In excavations recently conducted along the coastal plain of Israel, a number of red polished and decorated pottery vessels were found. The vessels resemble Cypriot Base Ring I, Black Lustrous and Red Lustrous Wheel Made Wares. These Cypriot wares were imported into the south Levant in large quantities during the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries...

In Hebrew with English summary P. 273

Five MB II pottery kilns have recently been excavated in the Tel Aviv area. These kilns, together with kilns found previously, some of which are barely mentioned in the literature, form a large series of 14 MB II kilns known so far from this area. They are dated to the Middle Bronze IIB-C Period according to pottery wasters found in the kilns and r...