A salvage excavation at Horbat Asad in the eastern Galilee has unearthed a Hellenistic/Hasmonean-era farmstead and an earlier, Iron Age agricultural settlement. The Hellenistic/Hasmonean farmstead appears to have been suddenly abandoned, with iron tools and loom-weights discovered as if they’d been left behind. Coins were also found which, when cleaned, may provide a more specific chronology of the site. These are the first remains from this era discovered in the Galilee. According to the lead excavator, “It is a very important and valuable site to teach us about the spread of the Hasmonean Empire and daily life in the Hellenistic period.” Archaeologists also uncovered the remains of a substantial agricultural settlement from the 10th century BC. Loom weights indicated herds of sheep and goats were kept, and cooking pots helped the excavators date this layer at the site.
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