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Itongadol.- Israeli archaeologists have discovered the remnants of a 2,300-year-old rural settlement near the "Burma Road" that leads to Jerusalem.
The Israel Antiquities Authorities recently completed excavations at the site ahead of the construction of a 25-kilometer-long natural gas pipeline, which will run from the coast to the outskirts of Jerusalem. The route of the pipeline will now bypass this archaelogical site.
The excavation uncovered 750 square meters of a settlement with stone houses and a series of narrow alleyways that were occupied for an estimated two centuries during the Second Temple Period, from 530 BCE and 70 CE. Each house has several rooms and a courtyard.
"The rooms generally served as residential storage rooms, while domestic tasks were carried out in the courtyard, Irinia Zilberbod, director of the excavation with the Israel Antiquities Authority, said.
The dig shows the site reached the height of its development during the Hellenistic period (third century BCE) following Alexander the Great, and abandoned at the end of the Hasmonean dynasty. Basalt and limestone tools for domestic use were discovered, as were pottery cooking pots, jars, oil lamps and more than 60 coins.