| This once
large mound is now represented by individual portions which have survived,
but the original footprint of the site can be seen from the satellite photographs.
The north-east part is covered by a modern cemetery, extending as far as
the current edge of the cultivation, the advance of which into the site
can be seen from the the new fields laid out within a boundary line
which marks the former eastern limit of the mound. This boundary has been
preserved by a track lined with trees. To the north of the cemetery mound
the cutivation curves in to take a substantial piece out of the tell. West
of the cemetery the ancient mound survives as archaeological land
with an patchy cover of vegetation. On the west the mound continues northwards
for some 200m beyond he cemetery, as far as a small cluster of houses.
To the west of the main mound is another area, marked by uncultivated land
with wild vegetation, and what appear to be a couple of cratered areas
where earth may have been removed. This zone is separated from the main
tell by a strip of cultivation which has been created by levelling some
of the site. The south limit of this area is marked by a small village,
the east part of which stands on the mound. To the east of this settlement
is another large area of the tell with coarse plant growth. This part of
the mound continues to the south side of an irrigation canal which has
cut through the site from west to east. The part south of the canal was
very extensive, but it has been reduced by the levelling of areas to new
fields. This process has split off the southernmost parts of the ancient
mound by the introduction of field-plots from the west. The south-eastern
quadrant of the site extends some 380m south of the canal, but the straightness
of the south edge indicates that there was once more beyond this
point. Remains of four structures for wine production were noted at the
site by Mohamed Kennawi in 2009.
In the fields some 250m south-east of the southern limit of the main site there is another mound of 230 x 220m, clear of any modern overbuilding. It is not clear whether this was an outlying site or once part of the main one. |
To
follow the details of the description, the satellite image of this site
should be viewed in Google EarthTM. Click
on the logo 
Alternatively, type the latitude and longitude of the site into Google Earth directly. |