New aerial photos of Khirbet Qeiyafa have been posted on its official web site. They show excellent, up-to-date views of the excavated areas.
Khirbet Qeiyafa after the 2011 excavation season. From left to right: Area B (western gate), Area D (abutting Area B), Area A (center/summit of site) and Area C (southern gate, facing Elah valley). Photo courtesy of the Khirbet Qeiyafa excavation.
A closer view of Area C. The casemate city wall is clearly visible with the abutting houses. The four-chambered gate had been closed and reconstructed in the Hellenistic period. 5 casemates above the gate is the foundation of a tower with a small stable adjoining. The 2 casemates above the tower are a two-building compound with a shared entrance. The top room of this compound yielded cultic finds featured on this blog a few posts back. Photo courtesy of the Khirbet Qeiyafa excavation.
My square from 2011 is the bottom room and casemate on the right in the above photo. It is part of a larger Iron Age building that will be more fully excavated in the 2012 season. The bottom-left of the excavated area was a quarry that appears to have produced stones for the fortifications. Workers quarried large stones and rolled them downhill to be used in construction of the city walls.
I worked the quarry area in 2011 with Mike Freikman and company. Found many interesting artifacts. Will post some pics later. It was a great year at KQ!
Luke, thanks for helping me keep track of what you and the team found at Qeiyafa. As I look at pictures of the gate area, I have tried to figure out where the ostracon was found. I have visited the site and am going back on my own in mid-May. Can you point out where in a picture of the gate area that the ostracon was located? Thanks.
The osctracon was found by the gate in Area B. I’ll be happy to post a photo showing that area.