High-Rise to Keep Canaanite Citadel
The remains of a 3,400-year-old Canaanite citadel near the beach in Nahariya will be incorporated into the basement of a high-rise apartment building planned by the Kochav Co., the Israel Antiquities Authority announced in early January.
When the apartment building is complete, the archaeological find will be open to tourists.
The large excavation, which the Israel Antiquities Authority conducted with youth groups, including students from Shchakim High School in Nahariya, was carried out as part of the Kochav project, which includes underground parking.
The excavation directors, Nimrod Getzov, Yair Amitzur and Ron Be’eri, said the fortress likely was an administrative center for mariners who sailed along the Mediterranean coast in the final centuries before the Israelite conquest of the Promised Land. A dock probably was alongside the citadel.
The fortress was destroyed by an intense conflagration at least four times and rebuilt. Cereal grains, legumes and grape seeds were found in the burnt layers. Artifacts at the site include ceramic figurines of humans and animals, bronze weapons, and imported pottery.
Photos by Guy Fitoussi and Eran Gilvarg, Israel Antiquities Authority
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