1,300-year-old Planned Industrial and Commercial Complex Uncovered in Israel | 📽️VIDEO
A 1,300-year-old industrial and commercial complex has been uncovered in Ramat Gan, Israel, during excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Winter Stadium parking lot. The archaeological investigation was conducted ahead of the construction of a major bus terminal by Netivei Ayalon.
The excavation revealed a carefully planned complex with straight, intersecting streets, rooms opening onto the streets that may have served as shops or warehouses, plastered industrial installations and pottery kilns.
According to excavation directors Yoav Arbel and Lior Rauchberger, the organisation of the site suggests that its main phase was planned in advance and constructed with the involvement of regional authorities. The location may also have been strategically chosen.
A commercial station on the roads of Islamic-period Israel
The complex was built during the 7th or 8th century CE, under the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, and remained in use for approximately 150 years.
Its location was close to the main road linking Jaffa, Ramla and Jerusalem, with the possibility that the complex stood along a secondary branch of this major route. Fertile agricultural land and nearby water sources would have further supported both settlement and production.
The archaeologists therefore suggest that the site may have functioned as a large industrial and commercial station. Another possibility is that it formed part of a larger settlement that has yet to be identified nearby.
📽️VIDEO: 1,300-year-old Planned Industrial and Commercial Complex Uncovered in Israel
Pottery, coins and tools reveal the site’s economy
The excavation produced a wide range of finds reflecting daily life and economic activity.
Archaeologists recovered dozens of pottery vessels and intact oil lamps, together with bronze tableware and cosmetic implements. Iron objects included pickaxe heads, a sickle and numerous nails.
The assemblage also includes dozens of coins and large quantities of fragments from both locally produced and imported pottery and glass vessels. Taken together, these finds provide valuable evidence for production, trade, consumption and the movement of goods in the region during the early centuries of Islamic rule.
Abandoned, then resettled in the Fatimid period
After roughly a century and a half of activity, the complex was abandoned. The reasons for this abandonment remain unknown.
The area was occupied again in the 10th century CE, during the Fatimid period, when residential buildings and production facilities were constructed. Numerous tabuns, traditional clay ovens used for baking and cooking, were also installed.
The settlement was abandoned for a second time in the late 11th century CE, shortly before the Crusader conquest. It was never permanently resettled afterwards.
A diverse population, but no clear ethnic identification
The archaeological site belongs to a period in which the population of the Land of Israel included Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Samaritan communities.
Ramla, the district capital, had a Muslim population, while the Yarkon region may have been home to substantial Samaritan communities descended from populations that had flourished there during the Byzantine period.
The excavation itself, however, has not produced finds that can securely identify the religious or ethnic affiliation of the people who lived and worked at the site. This distinction is important when interpreting the archaeological evidence: the broader historical context is well documented, while the identity of this particular community remains unknown.
The newly uncovered complex therefore provides a detailed glimpse into the economic organisation, craft production and trade networks of the region between the Umayyad and Fatimid periods, while also documenting the changing use of the site over several centuries.
Source: Israel Antiquities Authority
Cover image: An oil lamp uncovered in the Ramat Gan excavation. Photo by Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority
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