Photos from the Spring (April 2010) excavation have been added.  Included are the first ever photos of the new Columbarium found off the Large Columbarium.  You can also see from the photos of the Large Columbarium that significant progress was made in its excavation.  Our hope is that all the dirt in the Large Columbarium will be removed by this fall.  Other Photos will be added as they become available.

S. Michael Wilcox has produced an audio commentary with his impressions of the Beit Lehi site.  Please visit this page where you can listen to or read the commentary.  We also have a link available off our main page.

Photos of the December 2009 excavation have been added.  See Photos page.

We have completed two successful three-day weekend digs. Our primary focus was on the Large Columbarium. We have had from 12 to 20 people removing dirt from the site along with help from our 130 foot conveyor system and the Bobcat. While we have made good progress in clearing the site we believe it will take another 35 dig days to completely excavate the site. That is to let those coming to dig this spring know we will be leaving some of the fun and dirt for you.

This what our digging has discovered. We now believe what we thought was an unusable cistern was actually a quarry. Upon further excavation we have found areas where blocks of limestone being cut had not been removed.

In addition, in the area of the quarry/cistern we found a new hiding tunnel/cave. The archaeologists believe that this hiding cave will lead to an currently unknown underground chamber and is a very significant find. We have begun excavating the new cave and have gone about 60 feet into the cave. The cave is about 3 feet tall and wide and about 6 feet from the floor of the quarry.

During the second weekend we hired a front end loader to remove excavated dirt from the site. During the dirt removable a large part of the outer wall of the village site was uncovered. From first appearances the lowest portion of the wall will date to the Hellenistic Period. The wall is viewable from the road leading to the site and now makes the area look like an archaeological site.

Printing is completed. Alan, Oren & I will be bringing some Guides back with us when we return from the December excavation.

Our next excavations will be December 3,4,5,10,11,12,17,18 & 19 of 2009. The primary purpose of this dig will be to remove the dirt and uncover artifacts in the Large Columbarium. As you recall, we purchased 70 feet of a portable conveyor system (Miniveyor) last spring and used it for the first time during our May/June excavation. The process was so successful that we purchased another 60 feet this fall. This additional footage will allow us to reach to the far corners of the Columbarium. Since the Columbarium is so large we will probably not complete the excavation in December but we should make substantial progress. We will keep you up to date on our progress, on this website, after the excavation begins.

Our long awaited full color 8 1/2″ x 11″ publication “A Guide to Beit Loya (Lehi): AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IN THE JUDEAN LOWLAND” is at the printers and will be ready next week.  However, since it is being printed in Israel it will not be available in the USA until late December.  Those donors that we have promised the publication to will receive them by the end of December.

The publication will be available for purchase at the site or given to supporters of the Beit Lehi Foundation donating $100 or more.

Below is a copy of the front and back covers.

Our recently completed spring excavation, May 28 through June 20, 2009, was very successful.  Excavation was done in Pablo’s area called The Village,  Avner’s area above the Ritual Bath and Olive Press and Mical’s area above the Large Columbarium.  Significant archaeology discoveries were made.  In additions, with the  help of our new Bobcat and conveyor belt system a substantial amount of dirt and rocks were removed from the Large Columbarium.  See pictures from the excavation on our Photos page.  We had a professional photographer on site for a few days–some of his pictures are included in the Photos page others will be included in our Site Guide which will be published by the end of the summer.  Our next formal excavation will be in October and November 2009.  If you are interested in participating please contact us.

Last weekend, Yakov, Pablo and eight students from Hebrew University with the aid of the Bobcat worked on improving roads, walkways, rebuilding walls and other site improvement activities. They will be on the site again next weekend. Following is some pictures taken by Pablo last weekend.