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Archaeologists have uncovered a huge shopping district from the Islamic era believed to date back as far as the 7th Century while working on a new bus station in Ramat Gan.
The discovery was made during excavations that were being carried out ahead of the construction of a large bus terminal by state-owned transportation infrastructure company Netivei Ayalon.
“Although buildings and artifacts from ancient periods have been discovered in the area in the past, the results of the current excavation exceeded all expectations,” Dr Yoav Arbel and Lior Rauchberger, excavation directors said on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
The complex, which featured pottery kilns and industrial installations, appears to have been carefully designed.
The statement from Arbel and Rauchberger, published on the IAA’s website, said: “The excavation uncovered an organised, planned complex featuring straight, intersecting streets. Lining these streets were a series of rooms that served as shops or warehouses, plastered industrial facilities, pottery kilns and more.”
The location is likely to be significant, they believe, as it connected Jaffa, Ramla – then the district capital – and Jerusalem. It was also situated on fertile agricultural land, convenient for water sources, they said.
The researchers believe it was built in the 7th or 8th century CE during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods and operated for about 150 years before it was abandoned for reasons that remain unclear. It was left uninhabited once again in the 11th century CE before the Crusader conquest and was never resettled.
Besides the impressive remains of the buildings, archaeologists found pottery vessels, oil lamps, bronze tableware, coins and more at the site.
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