Aims In the 2009 summer we will start the fourth season of excavations at Ramat Rahel. Our main goals in this season will be to unearth more parts of the water system, the gardens around it, and the fortifications of the citadel. Other goals include defining the nature and the limits of the site during the Persian and Hellenistic periods. We will also search for evidence from the eighth century BCE, a period about which we know little (at this site). Was there an administrative center at the site in these early days? Was there a village around the citadel? Was the site fortified? Answers to these questions can only be found by unearthing more of the site. We will also continue our efforts to better understand the Byzantine church found at the site: its architectural layout, its function, its theological significance, and its context within the site. These and many other questions promise an adventurous and stimulating summer at Ramat Rahel.

Inside the water tunnel

Omer and Amitai holding ground radar