"Magdala 2007: Preliminary Report”, HA-ESI 125

4/20/2015 Israel Antiquities Authority

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_eng.aspx?print=all&id=4342&mag_id=120 1/9

Hadashot ArkheologiyotExcavations and Surveys in Israel ISSN 1565 ­ 5334

About Guide to Contributors List Of Volumes Extended Reports Abbreviations References Search

Anna Lena 06/10/2013Preliminary Report

From June to December 2007, an excavation was conducted at the site of the Graeco­

Roman city of Magdala (License No. G­68/2007; map ref. 248519–535/747862–902). This

excavation is a renewal of the excavations directed by V. Corbo and S. Loffreda in the

1970s. The Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (SBF) appointed the late M. Piccirillo as a

general director of the excavation and S. De Luca as the director of the Magdala Project.

The fieldwork was directed by S. De Luca (administration, surveying, field photography,

pottery drawing, restoration and final plans), with the assistance of A. Lena (registration,

database, field photography), A. Faggi and A. Ricci (surveying and final plans), M. Forgia

(surveying, pottery drawing), B. Steri (surveying), R. Cestari (pottery drawing), D. Zanetti

(field photography), and the SkyView company (aerial photography). All figures, plans and

photographs are copyrighted to S. De Luca, the Magdala Project.

The excavations are part of a wide visitor­oriented project through which the

Custody of the Holy Land intends to rehabilitate the holy place. A detailed

archaeological plan is an indispensable tool for any restoration and conservation

program and thus, the main focus was the surveying and mapping of the site. A

six­month operation of clearing and cleaning the area excavated in the 1970s by

the archaeologists of the SBF was undertaken in 2006 and 2007.

The excavation focused on the western sector of the Franciscan property (c. 500

sq m), which was divided into three fields (c. 12×15 m) marked, from south to

north, H1, H2 and H3 (Figs. 1, 2).

The project was accelerated because of the new master­plan concerning land

use, signed by the local council of Migdal, which plans a number of new buildings

in the comprensorium of the ancient Magdala­Taricheae.

As the investigation of the site and the study of the material are still in progress,

only the main phases and structures are presented hereafter.

A detailed report of the Magdala Project excavations is published (De Luca 2008,

2009, 2010, 2013); the pottery classification follows the typology set out by S.

Loffreda (2008a, 2008b, 2008c).

Area H

Four phases, not evenly preserved, were identified in Area H, corresponding to

four chronological phases:

Phase IV (Islamic). The entire area is covered with a horizontal surface layer

(average elevation –205.60 m), moderately sloping from east to west, which is

ascribed to a modern phase (L0, L4, L7; Figs. 3–5). Materials from the Islamic

period, ascribed to this layer and collected in several areas of the excavation,

bear witness to a partial reoccupation of the site, with the reusing of building

materials and the adaptation of many existing waterworks.

Phase III (Middle/Late Roman). Beneath the Phase IV layer, a level of collapse,

best preserved in H3, was identified. It was partially disturbed in H1 and H2,

probably after 1940, according to the findings.

The collapse was preserved in situ and studied from a geological standpoint. As a

terminus ante quem for this phase, the total absence of any Byzantine potsherds

Volume 125 Year 2013

Magdala 2007

4/20/2015 Israel Antiquities Authority

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_eng.aspx?print=all&id=4342&mag_id=120 2/9

from H1, H2 and H3 should be considered.

Phase II (Early Roman). Some loci that were partially unearthed under the

collapses can be assigned to the Early Roman period.

Phase I (Late Hellenistic). Several Late Hellenistic structures, clearly dated by

findings, were identified only in the layer under the collapse of Early Roman walls

in the southeastern part of Field H1.

Field H1

(Map ref. 248521–34/747862–71; Figs. 3, 4; De Luca 2010:352–359).

The structures unearthed in the collapse layer are organized following the known

plan of the city and were aligned with the paved road (L5), running for 16 m in an

east–west direction in Field H2. The walls belong to different chronological phases

and the assemblages associated with them provide a temporal range extending

from the Late Hellenistic, with a level of use dating to the reign of Herod, to the

end of third–beginning of fourth centuries CE.

Phase III

Walls 16, 17, 57 and 93 enclose a square room (5×5 m), in which the remains of

collapse are visible (L91, L94). The collapse was overlain with a solid layer of

chalk, lime, and pottery fragments (L86). This whitish pressed floor layer occupied

the entire eastern portion of the field. The potsherds contained in it included the

so­called Kefar Hananya ware, dating to the first–third centuries CE, mixed with a

few oil­lamp fragments of Types Luc1, 2 (50 BCE–50 CE; Loffreda 2008a:41–42)

and Luc3 (Middle Roman; Loffreda 2008a:45–46).

On top of Layer 86, walls were rebuilt maintaining the same orientation of the

earlier structures. This later construction dates back to the Middle Roman period,

while the areas were still in use, up to the Late Roman period, at which time there

is evidence of collapsed walls and consequent abandonment. Walls 46, 87, 89,

92, and the upper courses of W16 whose construction technique used natural

polygonal blocks, differed from that of the lower parts, which belonged to the

same chronological stage as the hard­packed Floor 86.

A similar stratigraphical sequence was verified in the western portion of the field.

The southwestern oriented Wall 14, which is built of roughly hewn polygonal

blocks laid out in two parallel rows and forming a double face, had two building

phases; its foundations were connected with those of the three walls orthogonal to

it: W16, W2 and W104. The hard­pressed soil layer (L106) must be considered a

floor that was associated with the latest building phase of W14.

Layer 106 covered a stone cluster (L103), which contained Late Roman pottery,

mainly amphorae, a fragment of a basalt tripod mortar, and a triangular one­hole

basalt anchor of the type commonly used in antiquity on the shore of Lake

Kinneret.

The upper two courses (height 0.5 m) of W2, built of two stone rows, are assigned

to the same Late Roman phase. Wall 15 (length 6 m), oriented southeast­

northwest, was exposed in the northwestern section of the field. The wall is built of

roughly dressed blocks, sometimes with one face smoothed, placed in regular

courses and bound with light mortar mixed with small­size debris; it was rebuilt

with a slight rotation of the axis, as can be seen next to its conjunction with the

earlier W15.

Next to W45, a hard layer of pressed soil (L110), similar to Layer 86, was found;

upon it was an almost entirely restorable flat pan of Type Teg17 (Loffreda

2008a:209), dating from mid­third–late fourth centuries CE. Wall 45 has the same

alignment as W55 in Field H2, where it is reasonable to hypothesize the entrance

to the complex, which overlooked the paved Road 5.

Phase II

4/20/2015 Israel Antiquities Authority

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_eng.aspx?print=all&id=4342&mag_id=120 3/9

The collapse (L91, L94) is composed of well­hewn rectangular blocks; the manner

in which they are placed suggests that they originated from the elevation of the

earliest phase of Walls 93 and 16.

Under the collapse, a basalt rounded fishing­net weight was found, as well as a

cluster of 54 prutot, mainly datable to Hasmonean times, although the latest of

which pertains to the prefects Marcus Coponius or Ambibulus (6–9 CE or 9–12

CE). This data is consistent with the chronology of the pottery from the same

context, which includes oil lamps of the Karm er­Ras type (Loffreda 2008a:41)

and thick­walled amphorae, leading us to date the collapse of this early building

after the first decade of the first century CE.

Beneath Floor Layer 106, the collapse (L103, L105) occupied the space that was

separated by W104. This wall, which is contemporary with the earliest phase of

W14, has a basalt grinding stone (Olynthus mill) reused as a threshold. Under the

collapse and on top of a compact earth floor (L102), Early Roman pottery,

including Herodian oil lamps and a portion of a limestone hydria, as well as a

remarkable group of nails, parts of a latch and a bronze artifact (specillum), was

found.

To this chronological stage pertains the small rectangular room enclosed within

Walls 2, 14, 42 and 104. It must have been originally double in size, reaching the

older phase of W15 as its northern boundary. In this case, Walls 41 and 42 must

be considered a later superimposition.

A foundation row, protruding 0.3 m out of the upper courses, was identified along

the southern face of W15’s western portion; it represents the remains of an earlier

construction phase. A similar alignment, projecting only 0.2 m from the wall, was

exposed in a small trench (1.3×1.5×1.5 m) along the southern face of W15’s

eastern part. This sounding made it possible to verify the presence of a two­

course wall (W44), below a filling of earth (thickness 0.3 m) under the northern

portion of W2; both walls have the same orientation. Moreover, when a whitish

dump layer (L39; thickness 0.8 m) was removed, a pressed­earth floor layer (L98)

was reached, overlain with a globular Kefar Hananya cooking­pot of Type Pent10

(Loffreda 2008a:184–185), dating to the first century BCE–first century CE, and

associated with three Hasmonean coins. On the contrary, the material from Dump

Layer 39 included traces of burning, animal bones, half shells, pottery from the

Early to Late Roman periods, glass fragments, including a ribbed bowl (coppa

costolata) of Isings Type 3 (Isings 1957:17–21), and coins from the first–third

centuries CE.

Phase I

A usage phase attributed to this period is identified by the material found on top of

a pressed­earth floor section (L96), bound by W97 to its southwest. The pottery

assemblage included a complete globular cooking pot with outward­curving long

neck and a partially preserved amphora of Type Anf3 (Loffreda 2008a:119–120),

as well as three coins of Alexander Jannaeus.

Field H2

(Map ref. 248519–35/747877–87; Figs. 5, 6; De Luca 2010:359–365).

The building remains in this field emerged immediately below the surface;

generally, they belong to two different periods that are not always easily

distinguished, due to their continuity. Moreover, some walls show signs of heavy

subsequent reworking. The chronological span of the finds in this field ranges

from the Hasmonean to the Late Roman periods, with a predominant third­century

occupation phase, as well as several Herodian contexts.

It should be noted that the northeastern area of the field presents an altered

stratigraphical scenario, as inferred from the presence of an artificial pit that was

cut probably due to agricultural needs in modern times.

4/20/2015 Israel Antiquities Authority

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_eng.aspx?print=all&id=4342&mag_id=120 4/9

The Road (L5)

A basalt­paved road (length 16 m, width c. 3 m), aligned east–west, was exposed

in the center of Field H2. The road presents a cambered surface, with the sides

sloping to the east and scaling the sidewalks. The upper surface of the road

(summum dorsum) consists of paving stones in a tight arrangement, bedded into

a layer of rubble and mortar. At an unspecified time, the road was heavily restored

with a further layer of hard and solid cement material mixed with potsherds. This

intervention was implemented to integrate the areas plundered for building

material, probably to rehabilitate the water supply network, and the original

convexity of the road surface. The axis of Road 5 appears to have determined the

buildings’ orientation, both in Field H3 and in Field H2. The road’s orientation is

thus consistent with the urban topographic arrangement noticeable in the east

quarter of the city. By extending the course toward this direction, the new paved

road joins the north extension of the cardo maximus (Magdala 2008, Fig. 2) and

qualifies as one of the decumani of the city. On the opposite side, the road leads

toward the pass of Wadi Hamam, which was the main road linking the lake to the

western Galilee.

The street and the structures overlooking it were covered with whitish pressed soil

layer (L6), not assignable to any building. This layer, which is dated by an Ayyubid

fals (twelfth–thirteenth centuries CE), was in turn covered with another surface

(L4).

In the gaps between the road’s polygonal basalt flagstones, two coins of

Alexander Jannaeus minted in Jerusalem, were found. The ceramic finds

indicating the usage phase of the paved road are, on the whole, Late Roman.

Concerning the buildings adjacent to the road, there is only a collapse (L12)

connected to a wall (W55), which should have reached the northwestern

structures of Field H1.

The Conduit (W60, W61, W116)

The conduit (width 0.6 m, depth in excess of 1 m) was revealed east of the road. It

consists of solid lateral walls and interior parapets for the covering stones, mainly

of basalt lithic elements.

This portion of the conduit seems to have served as an inspection chamber where

different branches of the water network joined. The fill in the conduit contained

several animal bones, a few Early Roman potsherds and two Herodian coins.

Both the conduit and the line of squared blocks (W59), which is probably a smaller

channel connected to the conduit, were overlain with a debris layer (L54), full of

Late Roman potsherds.

Rooms

Two rooms, formed by Walls 25–27 and 29, were identified in the west area of the

field. The two rooms, which are linked through the door in W26, were affected by

a collapse that also involved the passageway between them. The collapse is

predominantly composed of well­cut and refined basalt blocks, typical of fair­faced

masonry. The disruption layer (L24) containing the collapse (L13) can be

distinguished by the whitish color, the extreme compactness, the limy composition

and the presence of numerous ceramic inclusions from the Middle to Late Roman

periods.

The excavation did not yet reach the floor in this room; yet, a small trench close to

W27, where a monolithic threshold is still in situ, made it possible to collect Late

Hellenistic/Early Roman finds, including limestone vessels, Herodian oil lamps

and cooking pots, which are clearly indicative of the levels of use prior to the

collapse.

To the west of W25, a large room (at least 3×4 m) with remains of a collapse was

exposed. The finds from the collapse go back to the Middle/Late Roman period.

At the moment, it still needs to be confirmed whether these areas are connected

to the ones uncovered in the southwestern sector of Field H3; it can be assumed

4/20/2015 Israel Antiquities Authority

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_eng.aspx?print=all&id=4342&mag_id=120 5/9

that they are by calculating their volumetric development.

Wall 31

The collapse (L10) to the west of W31 is related to a rectangular room, of which

only the foundations of the façade wall were fully recovered. Within Collapse 10

was an alignment of blocks that belonged to an arch or a pillar, which collapsed

from west to east. The collapse layer contained Late Roman potsherds, coins

dating from the Hasmonean period to the third century CE, and part of

rectangular­shapedmillstone of the so­called “hopper­lever” Olynthous type. The

floor has not yet been reached, but it should correspond to the “footprint” of the

millstone.

Field H3

(Map ref. 248519–34/747890–902; Figs. 7, 8; De Luca 2010:365–372)

Below the surface in this area, the whole eastern and central sectors appeared to

be sealed by a solid deposit of crushed stone and gravel. Once removed, a hard­

packed collapse level was revealed. About ten rooms can be discerned in a fairly

uniform orientation and characterized by alternating stones and ashlar masonry.

The walls in this field clearly show that they were restored, reinforced or doubled

in different phases.

Wall 8

This is the main wall (length 10.7 m, width 0.6 m) in Field H3, occupying the

central sector. The wall, preserved at least four courses high, is built of two

regular rows of well­hewn basalt blocks, set as headers and stretchers, with a

core of lime­based mortar. At a later stage, the wall was reinforced by placing a

row of hewn and un­worked stones against its western side. On W8’s eastern

side, it is joined by W66, W48 and perhaps also W9, all built in the same manner.

It is reasonable to assume that the rooms on the east and west sides of W8 were

parts of the same building. A hoard of 21 coins was discovered in W8. The coins,

minted in the neighboring autonomous cities, including Gadara, Abila, Hippos and

Nisa Schitopolis, can be dated from the first half of the third century CE; however,

countermarks on some of the coins indicate that they were reissued. At present,

the discovery context of the coins represents a terminus post quem for the

destruction date of the complex. The collapse dates back to after the Diocletian

era (284–305 CE), as other findings seem to confirm.

Area east of W8

Three rooms, linked to each other, were exposed. The northern room is enclosed

within Walls 8, 47 and 48 and contains a collapse layer (L50); the manner in

which the stones are set indicates that it should be ascribed to the collapse of a

double arch, which happened when the doorway in W48 was already obstructed.

Two construction phases were identified, at least in Walls 48 and 79, which were

originally two pillars, with the space filled up between them.

The central room was occupied by a collapse layer (L11) and the pottery ascribed

to this layer, as well as to the level of use, dates back to the Late Roman period. A

niche in W47, whose substructure is only preserved, was covered by Layer 11

and contained an amphora of Type Anf14 (Loffreda 2008a:127) from the Middle

Roman period. A similar niche was exposed in the eastern side of the same wall

(Fig. 8, W47) and in the southern W9. The building was partially exposed in the

southeastern corner of the field; at a later stage, in the Early Islamic period, it was

founded on the southern room’s structure, as the pottery from this context

confirms. This late construction probably used plundered masonry stones from the

upper courses of W47.

Beneath the collapse layer (L67), the remains of an earlier building were exposed.

Area west of W8

A T­shaped pillar (W18) built of basalt blocks arranged in headers and stretchers

and bound together with lime based tenacious mortar, was exposed in the center

4/20/2015 Israel Antiquities Authority

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_eng.aspx?print=all&id=4342&mag_id=120 6/9

of this area. The T­shaped pillar suggests the presence of corresponding

structures in line with its southern, eastern and western sides. In fact, a structure

(W85) was found in the same axis, 1 m toward the west; to the east, at a distance

of 1.1 m, the “head” of a platform (L72) is laid and to the south, a pillar (W22)

protruding 0.4 m out of the wall, was revealed. The platform may have been a

base of a stairway that accessed the higher floors.

Between W18 and Platform 72 was a collapse layer (L73) that yielded a

remarkable pottery assemblage, which can be dated from the late first century CE

to the mid­third century CE.

Exactly in the middle of the space between W18 and W22, a column (W19) has

been located. Pillars and columns must have held up a system of vaults,

as confirmed by the number of dressed and, in some cases, trapezoidal stones

and by the orderly distribution of the collapse, whose axis is the line of W18, W19

and W22.

Wall 23 was exposed on the same line as W22. The wall was originally a couple

of pillars, which in a later phase were connected with a rough patch of un­worked

stones in an inferior technique. Between W22 and W8, the foundation row of an

earlier wall (W70) was exposed.

The collapse layer (L21) contained a large quantity of Middle Roman pottery, as

well as coins from Herod’s reign to the third century CE.

Next to the western pillar in W23 was a lead weight with the relief image of the

Phoenician goddess Tanit (Callegher 2008). A few examples of this kind of weight

are known from well­defined archaeological contexts. At least two other weights

come from Magdala; one from the area of the quay dating to a later phase, and

the other is from the antiquarian market.

Callegher B. 2008. Note su un peso in piombo di Magdala. Quaderni Ticinesi di

Numismatica e Antichite Classiche 37:321–329.

De Luca S. 2008. Magdala Project 2007, Notiziario SBF. A.A. 2006/2007.

Jerusalem. Pp. 12–17.

De Luca S. Forthcoming. Urban Development of the City of Magdala / Tarichaeae

in the Light of the New Excavations: Remains, Problems and Perspectives. Paper

given in the Symposium Greco­Roman Galilee (21st–23rd June 2009, Tel Hai

Academic College, Kinneret College, Macalester College, Carthage College).

De Luca S. 2010. La città ellenistico­romana di Magdala/Taricheae. Gli scavi del

Magdala Project 2007 e 2008: relazione preliminare e prospettive di indagine.

Liber Annuus 49:343–562.

De Luca S. 2013. Scoperte archeologiche recenti attorno al Lago di Galilea:

contributo allo studio dell’ambiente del Nuovo Testamento e del Gesù storico. In

G. Paximadi, M. Fidanzio, eds. Terra Sancta: archeologia ed esegesi. Atti dei

convegni 2008­2010 (ISCAB Serie Archeologica 1). Lugano. Pp. 16–111.

Isings C. 1957. Roman Glass from Dated Finds (Arcaeologica Traiectina

2). Groningen.

Loffreda S. 2008a. Cafarnao VI: Tipologie e contesti stratigrafici della ceramica

(1968–2003). Milano.

Loffreda S. 2008b. Cafarnao VII: Documentazione grafica della ceramica (1968–

2003). Milano.

Loffreda S. 2008c. Cafarnao VIII: Documentazione fotografica degli oggetti

(1968–2003). Milano.

4/20/2015 Israel Antiquities Authority

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_eng.aspx?print=all&id=4342&mag_id=120 7/9

1. Area H, general plan.

2. Area H, aerial view, looking east.

3. Field H1, plan.

4/20/2015 Israel Antiquities Authority

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_eng.aspx?print=all&id=4342&mag_id=120 8/9

4. Field H1, aerial view, looking north.

5. Field H2, plan.

6. Field H2, general view, looking east.

7. Field H3, plan.

8. Field H3, aerial view, looking north.

4/20/2015 Israel Antiquities Authority

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_eng.aspx?print=all&id=4342&mag_id=120 9/9

Web Site Development by teti-tuCopyright Legalicy to The Israel Antiquities Authority | Credits | גרסה עברית