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Hebrew U. Archaeologists Resume Diggings at Site of Bronze Age Town

March 27, 1940
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The fourth season of excavations of a hill marking the site of a Bronze Age town of unknown name has been begun by the Hebrew University archaeologist Prof. Eleazar Sukenik.

The hill, Tel Jerishes, is situated on the outskirts of Tel Aviv near the Yark on River. It marks the site of a town deserted at the beginning of the first millennium B.C., whose history goes back to the third millennium B.C.

The town, according to Prof. Sukenik, was destroyed at the end of the Bronze Age. Later, it was partly re-occupied and a fortress was built which, situated near the present Reading power station of the Palestine Electric Corporation, was excavated two years ago.

The three previous seasons of excavation were financed by the late J.L. Goldberg. The new season is being financed by the Morris Kootcher Fund (a legacy from a prominent South African Jew) on behalf of the Museum of Jewish Antiquities of the Hebrew University.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society has decided to resume excavations at Beth Shearim, in northern Palestine, where a Jewish cemetery and synagogue of the second century A.D. were previously unearthed. The archaeological party is headed by Dr. B. Maisler. The Beth Shearim excavations are historically important since they have indicated that Jewish life and culture in Palestine has been continuous.

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