Tel Hashash or Tell el-Hashash ( he, תל חשאש) is an archaeological site in the heart of the
Bavli neighborhood of
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
. It is one of the ancient sites along the
Yarkon River
The Yarkon River, also Yarqon River or Jarkon River ( he, נחל הירקון, ''Nahal HaYarkon'', ar, نهر العوجا, ''Nahr al-Auja''), is a river in central Israel. The source of the Yarkon ("Greenish" in Hebrew) is at Tel Afek (Antip ...
, located 800 meters south of the river, overlooking
Tell Qasile on the northern bank of the river. The site was excavated in the 1960s by Jacob Kaplan on behalf of the Old Jaffa Museum of Antiquities, and in the 1980s by Haya Ritter Kaplan of the
Israel Antiquities Authority. The excavations exposed remains of the first century CE and the late Byzantine period.
Excavations
In 1953, Jacob Kaplan surveyed the site and found mostly Roman pottery from the 1st century CE as well as Early Bronze Age pottery. Kaplan later excavated the site in 1966 and discovered tombs and pottery from the 1st century BCE to the 1st century CE as well as a structure and tombs from the 4th century CE. In 1980, Haya Ritter-Kaplan excavated the site and discovered a small fortress from the time of
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
emperor
Heraclius
Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...
in the early 7th century CE. Ritter Kaplan returned to the site in 1983-1984 and found more Byzantine remains as well as Hellenistic remains including two coins of
Ptolemy II Philadelphus
; egy, Userkanaenre Meryamun Clayton (2006) p. 208
, predecessor = Ptolemy I
, successor = Ptolemy III
, horus = ''ḥwnw-ḳni'Khunuqeni''The brave youth
, nebty = ''wr-pḥtj'Urpekhti''Great of strength
, gol ...
(3rd century BCE). In 2014 a salvage excavation was undertaken south of Tel Hashash under the direction of Yitzhak Marmelstein and Amir Gorzalczany. The excavation discovered tombs from the Middle and Late Bronze Age, Hellenistic pottery and an Ottoman well.
References
Bibliography
*{{Cite journal, last=Itamar Taxel, date=July 2010, title=A Re-Appraisal of the Archaeological Findings at Tel Hashash: On the Archaeology of the Yarqon Estuary from Classical Times to Late Antiquity, url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233633430, journal=
Palestine Exploration Quarterly, volume=142, issue=2, pages=95–126, doi=10.1179/003103210X12717682047177, via=ResearchGate
Archaeological sites in Israel