1,300-Year-Old Commercial Complex Discovered in Ramat Gan
In excavations at the Winter Stadium parking lot, planned streets, shops, warehouses, kilns, and industrial facilities were discovered. The complex was established in the 7th or 8th century and operated for about 150 years. Among the findings: dozens of coins, oil lamps, pottery, and glass vessels. Researchers: "The excavation results exceeded all expectations."
An ancient industrial and commercial complex about 1,300 years old, containing planned streets, shops, warehouses, industrial facilities, and kilns, has been exposed during archaeological excavations at the Winter Stadium parking lot in Ramat Gan. The excavations were conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in preparation for the construction of a large bus terminal by the Ayalon Highways company.
According to Dr. Yoav Arbel and Lior Rauchberger, excavation directors on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, the scope of the findings surprised even the researchers:
"Although buildings and findings from ancient periods have been discovered in the area in the past, the results of the current excavation exceeded all expectations."
In the excavation, a large and organized complex was exposed, containing straight streets that intersect with each other. Along them, a series of rooms was found that likely served as shops or warehouses, alongside plastered industrial facilities and kilns used for pottery production. According to the researchers, the complex was planned in advance in detail by engineers and built with the knowledge of the regional authorities.
The site was located near the main road that connected Jaffa, Ramle — which was then the district capital — and Jerusalem. Researchers estimate that the place may have served as a large trade and industrial station. The complex was established in the 7th or 8th century CE, during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, and operated for about 150 years. Afterwards, it was abandoned for a reason that is still unknown. In the 10th century, the place was resettled as a residential area, but at the end of the 11th century, even before the Crusader conquest, the site was abandoned once again.
Alongside the remains of the buildings, a rich collection of findings was discovered, including dozens of whole pottery vessels and oil lamps, tableware, bronze makeup tools, iron pickaxe heads, and dozens of coins. Also, a large quantity of pottery and glass vessel fragments was found, some local and some imported, which testify to the trade and economic activity that took place in the area.
Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu stated following the discovery:
"The discovery of ancient findings in a residential neighborhood in Ramat Gan proves once again the historical and archaeological wealth in the State of Israel, where in every place fascinating windows into distant eras of the past may open to us."
