52 NOTES AND NEWS
Kuntilat 'Ajrud, 1975-1976
Kuntilat 'Ajrud, 'the solitary hill of the water
wells', is situated in northern Sinai, approxi
mately 50 km. south of Kadesh-Barnea, near
Darb el-Ghaza, the road leading from the
southern Mediterranean coast to Eilat. The
site dominates one of the few wells in the area,
as well as the crossroads leading to southern
Sinai.
Between October 1975 and March 1976
three seasons of excavations were conducted
under the auspices of the Institute of Archae
ology and the Institute for Nature Conserva
tion Research of Tel Aviv University, the
Department of Antiquities, the Department of
Holy Land Studies in the Kibbutz Movement,
and the Israel Exploration Society.
The excavations were directed by Z. Meshel,
with the aid of the archaeological staff officer
of Sinai, A. Goren, and his assistant B. Sass,
and with the participation of students and
kibbutz volunteers and the aid of the Israel
Defence Force.
There are two structures at the site, the main
building and a smaller one to its east. The main
structure, measuring 15x25 m., is reminiscent
in plan of a four-towered fortress. The walls,
preserved to a height of 1.5 m. in several areas,
were built of unhewn stone mixed with bran
ches and covered by mud-plaster mixed with
straw. The entrance was in the east, by way of
a small court, leading into a gate^room which
in turn led into a broad room perpendicular to
the entrance. The floors and walls of the gate
room and broad room were covered with shiny
white plaster. Plastered benches adjoined the
walls of the court, gate-room and broad room.
The latter, with its corner rooms, yielded
fragments of three plaster inscriptions which
had fallen from the walls, stone bowls bearing
inscriptions and large pithoi covered with
drawings and inscriptions.
The centre of this building was occupied by
a large open courtyard, found essentially
empty. In its south-eastern and south-western
corners, staircases leading to the roof were built.
Six ovens, three at the foot of each staircase,
partially submerged below floor level, indicate
the area of cooking activity within the com
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plex; several superimposed floors prove that
the ovens were used consecutively. Vast quanti
ties of pithos and jar sherds found in two long,
narrow halls to the south and west of the court
yard are indications that they were store
rooms.
The plan of the second building was scarcely
discernible: a long room to the north, and
parts of a few walls and floors to the south.
Fragments of white plaster with geometric and
floral designs in red, black and yellow found
among the debris of the northern room are
remnants of its splendour. The function of this
building is not yet clear.
We feel that, in spite of some minor, ap
parently technical differences, both buildings
form one architectural phase, in existence for
only a short period. At this point we may only
tentatively date the site to between the middle
of the ninth and the middle of the eighth
centuries B.C.
Among the numerous finds were pottery
and stone vessels, organic materials and in
scriptions. All of the pottery vessels were
wheel-made, and not a single sherd of the
rough hand-made pottery typical of the
Israelite sites of the Negev was found. As
mentioned above, the store-rooms were filled
with jars and pithoi; in the corner rooms
adjoining the broad room, mostly small, fine
vessels such as bowls, juglets and lamps were
found.
As a result of the arid climate, the site
yielded a rare assortment of organic remains,
including cloth, rope, wooden vessels, a com
plete sieve, fruit (pomegranate) seeds, etc.
Surprising, and most rewarding, were the
written remains found in the excavations. We
shall briefly describe here the numerous types
of inscriptions and drawings.
(A) Fragments of four Phoenician inscrip
tions in black or red ink were found on plaster,
expressing requests, prayers or blessings. One
fragment was found in situ on a door-post of
the broad room.
(B) Inscriptions in ancient Hebrew had been
written in red ink on various vessels. Two intact
pithoi and fragments of two others were
densely decorated with human and animal
figures, including the god Bes, men raising
 NOTES AND NEWS
their hands in prayer, two ibexes leaning
against the tree of life, lions and a cow suckling
its calf. Several of these motifs are well known
from the Phoenician and Syrian artistic
repertoire.
(C) Single ancient Hebrew letters were
incised on some vessels before firing. Most of
the pithoi found bore the letter alef on their
shoulders. A few were inscribed with the
letter yod or with the combination qr.
(D) Inscriptions in ancient Hebrew were
incised after firing. Among them are such
names or epithets as 'yr9 and Isr'r.
(E) Inscriptions were engraved on stone
bowl rims in ancient Hebrew. The two most
complete inscriptions of this type read:
(a) Vbdyw bn 'dnh brk Ihyw (Belonging to
Ovadyo son of Adnah, may he be blessed by the
Lord) and (b) sm'yw bn 'zr (Shmayo son of Ezer).
The plan of the site, the variety of the finds
and their nature set Kuntilat 'Ajrud apart from
the well-known fortresses in the Negev, despite
a certain similarity to them. Several factors
indicate that it was a religious centre, foremost
among them being the inscriptions and the
mention of various deities. However, it must
be stressed that the typical cult vessels to be
expected at such a site were not found here.
The existence of a religious centre south of
Kadesh-Barnea may perhaps be connected
with the travels of the Judean kings to Eilat
and Ezion-Geber, as well as with traffic to
wards southern Sinai. This could only have
occurred during Judah's short periods of
supremacy, in cooperation with the Phoeni
cians. The site may also reflect an ancient
Sinaitic tradition of the sanctified precinct
where each man prayed to his deity for a
successful journey; ancient Sheikh's tombs
serve a similar function today. Our site may
date from the time of Jehoshaphat and his son,
or from one of the periods of strong Phoeni
cian influence in Judah, such as the reign of
Queen Athaliah.
Whether or not this is the correct inter
pretation, the significance of Kuntilat 'Ajrud
lies not only in its finds, but also in the fact
that it formed part of the road to Eilat and
marked the border of Judah in the Negev.
(Communicated by Zeev Meshel)
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53
Tel Yin'am, 1976
Tel Yin'am (Tell en-Na'am, map ref. 198 235)
is situated in Lower Galilee, among the fields
of Moshava Yavne'el, near the western edge
of the floor of the Yavne'el Valley. The mound,
which rises about 11m. above the surrounding
valley floor, is circular, with a concave cut
along its northern face. In the course of a brief
salvage excavation along the edge of the van
dalized northern face of the mound in 1975,
two Byzantine phases were discovered in addi
tion to non-stratified EB I, Iron I and II, and
Persian sherds.
The 1976 excavations and survey were
conducted from 1 June to 6 July by the Uni
versity of Texas at Austin with the help of
student volunteers. The major effort involved
the excavation of Area B, an east-west
trench measuring 5 20 m., comprised of
four adjacent 5 m. squares, in the north-west
quadrant of the mound. Ancillary excavation
activities were conducted in Area A on the
north side of the mound. Twelve squares on the
periphery of the mound were surveyed to de
termine whether the cultural phases repre
sented in the ceramic assemblages from Area
were likely to be found elsewhere on the mound.
Ten distinct phases, ranging from the LB II
to the Roman-Byzantine period (third-fifth
centuries A.D.), were identified in Area B. The
gap in occupation during the Hellenistic period,
noted in the course of the 1975 season, was con
firmed. Non-stratified sherds also confirmed
the presence of a substantial occupation of
the site during all phases of the Early Bronze
Age. Neolithic sherds and an incised limestone
pebble paralleling one from Sha'ar ha-Golan,
two Chalcolithic stone hammers and MB II
sherds were also found.
A narrow depth sounding was undertaken
in Area A, within the area excavated in 1975,
to determine the sequence of occupation at
the northern edge of the mound. A limited
exploratory probe was also conducted to the
west of the 9 m. trench in Area A to determine
the westernmost limit of the Phase II Byzantine
building and whether its north-south walls
turned to the north or south of the wall dis
covered in 1975.