Excavations
What is a research excavation?
Unlike salvage, or rescue excavations, research excavations begin with research questions. For examples: What were people’s subsistence strategies in a particular time and place? What were a site’s political and economic connections? How did environmental change effect settlement processes?
For many years, since 1964, the NGSBA’s field projects were confined to research excavations. Our first project was conducted at Tel Gezer. Starting in 1974 Tel Dan became the school’s flagship project and it has remained so ever since.
Our policy is to excavate in small areas each season, to maximize retrieval and to avoid overtaxing our resources. Generally we excavate every other year with about 20-40 students and volunteers.
In recent years we have worked in partnerships with other research-oriented institutions: with the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Cornerstone University and the Southern Baptist Seminary at Tel Dan, and with the Centre National de Recherche Scientific (CNRS) at Tel Achziv.
List of research excavations
(from north to south)
Our Community excavations
Since 2005, the NGSBA has engaged in a series of community-based excavations. The way we see it, archaeologists can and should make a contribution to society beyond pure research. Interaction with community results in a mutually beneficial exchange. By engaging in archaeological survey, excavation and artifact processing, community members gain valuable insights into their countryside and its past. A deeper sense of belonging and investment follows. For archaeologists, the gain takes the form of public guardianship of archaeological sites and greater appreciation for our work. Certainly, community archaeology has its limitations, but the benefits, pleasures and sense of contribution far outweigh the inconveniences.
List of community excavations
- Maresha – Archaeological Seminars
- Korazim
- Givat Sher
- Lod, Khan el-Hilu
- Ein Limon – Ayn Rafah
- Independence Park, Mamilla, Jerusalem
Our Salvage Excavations
The below descriptions are brief accounts of the salvage work carried out by Y.G. Archaeology under the academic auspices of the NGSBA. More extensive accounts will be made available when field work has been completed—in the form of a report to the client and the IAA. Following lab analysis and interpretation, the final stage will entail detailed publication. Small-scale projects will usually be published here on the website. Larger-scaled projects will often be published in print as well. In such cases, links will be provided to pdf files of these reports.
List of salvage excavations
(from north to south)
- Beisamoun
- Tel Kishron
- Ein Tsipori
- Nurit
- Tsur Natan
- Kibbutz Eyal
- Tsur Yitzhak
- Or Yehuda
- Yehud
- Ramla (Bialik Interchange)
- Ramla (Ta’avura Junction)
- Ramla (White Mosque Street)
- Tsrifin
- Hafetz Haim
- Khirbat Hermas
- Na’an
- Khirbet Butz
- Ein Mazruk
- Tel Beth Shemesh
- Ramat Bet Shemesh
- Khirbat Marmita
- Eshtaol
- Azor
- Bet Dagan
- Yesodot
- Hatrurim Mine
- Nahal Gov
- Nahal Sayif
- Nahal Hava
Dig with Us
Tel Dan is located in the Hula Valley, where the largest tributary of the Jordan River begins its course south. In the Hebrew Bible, the site is also referred to as Laish (Genesis 14:14; Joshua 19:47; Judges 18:29). The name appears in ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts dating from the 19th to the 15th century BCE. Massive ramparts and an intact mud-brick gate with three complete arches dating to approximately 1750 BCE were uncovered, the gate being one of the earliest found anywhere.
Important finds: House of David stele, Middle Bronze Age mudbrick gate, Israelite High Place, “tree of life” monument, bilingual “God who is in Dan” inscription