Rounding off our days of practicing surveying techniques was a day of taking part in an archeological survey in the area of Deir Sha'er in Gush Etzion. This survey was part of a small survey project intending to find evidence of the Battle of Beit Zechariah between the Maccabees and the Seleucid forces. According to the Book of Maccabees, Elazar, one of Yehudah the Maccabee's brothers, died during the battle while attempting to kill the elephant that the Seleucid king was riding on (it turned out to be the wrong elephant. Both Elazar and the elephant died).
The first part of the survey was conducted by the head of the project and some volunteers some time ago. I'm not at liberty to share their finds, but hopefully it won't be long before they publish the finds of the entire survey, given that it's a small one. The head of the survey thought there might also be findings related to the battle at Deir Sha'er, which is a bit south from Khirbet Zakkariah, the place identified with Beit Zechariah.
We scanned the vineyards in the area for indicative pottery shards, ancient metal objects such as coins, as well as being on the lookout for hewn structures to map out. There was an oil press, some ancient tombs, a water reservoir and small unidentified structures.
Some pictures:
Deir Sha'er:
A pottery handle with a stamp:
A row of Second Temple-era tombs converted into military bunkers:
An Iron Age tomb:
The first part of the survey was conducted by the head of the project and some volunteers some time ago. I'm not at liberty to share their finds, but hopefully it won't be long before they publish the finds of the entire survey, given that it's a small one. The head of the survey thought there might also be findings related to the battle at Deir Sha'er, which is a bit south from Khirbet Zakkariah, the place identified with Beit Zechariah.
We scanned the vineyards in the area for indicative pottery shards, ancient metal objects such as coins, as well as being on the lookout for hewn structures to map out. There was an oil press, some ancient tombs, a water reservoir and small unidentified structures.
Some pictures:
Deir Sha'er:
A pottery handle with a stamp:
A row of Second Temple-era tombs converted into military bunkers:
An Iron Age tomb: