Monday, 16th May 2005
Dr. Gideon Hadas
THE ANCIENT VILLAGE OF EIN GEDI IN THE LIGHT OF THE RECENT EXCAVATIONS
The oasis of Ein Gedi is situated in the middle of the western shore of the Dead Sea, in the Great Rift Valley, the lowest place on earth. In January 2005 the Ein Gedi Oasis Excavation Expedition undertook its third season of excavation at the site where a suburb or part of the village from the Second Temple Period, the Roman Period, was revealed. As before, volunteers from abroad and Israel participated.
The research's primary aim is to uncover a few dwellings from this period; the second is to make sure that these buildings were the village of that time, in a different location. So far two dwellings have been uncovered. Each house includes a living room and a courtyard with cooking installations. The common finds are shards of pottery, limestone and glass vessels and, in addition, weights, iron knife blades, nails and charcoaled wood. Many bronze coins have also been found on the site; the earliest are from the Hellenistic Period and the latest ones are from Year II, 67 CE. The few Nabataean coins discovered show the commercial links between the Jews and Nabataeans. One system for trade was by sea, as instanced by the wooden Roman anchor that was also found.
The team hopes to continue exposing the site in order to discover the general plan of the village. To do so we need support to continue the archaeological research of the oasis in the period of the Second Temple. Offers to support the research and indeed to take part personally in the Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations will be welcomed.
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