חוקוק – 2014: דוח ראשוני [Huqoq – 2014: Preliminary Report]

During the month of June 2014, a fourth season of excavations was conducted at Horbat Huqoq in eastern Galilee (License No. G-16/2014; map ref. 245198/754556; Magness 2012; Magness et al. 2013; Magness et al. 2014). The excavations were undertaken and underwritten by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Brigham Young University (Utah), Trinity University (Texas) and the University of Toronto (Canada). Additional funding was provided by Dumbarton Oaks (Washington, D.C.), The Foundation for Biblical Archaeology (S. Bishop) and private donors. The excavation was directed by J. Magness, with the assistance of S. Kisilevitz (assistant director), M. Golan (administration), C. Spigel, M. Grey, and B. Gordon (area supervision), T. De’adle (consultant on the modern village), B. Coussens (assistant area supervisor), J. Bucko (surveying), J. Haberman (field photography), M. Robinson-Mohr (registration), D. Schindler (ceramics), K. Britt (mosaics), M. Belmaker (rodent remains), J. George (paleobotany), C. Swan (glass), N. Elkins (numismatics), P. Flesher (computer data and educational program), R. Mohr (drawing), V. Pirsky (drafting), O. Cohen (site conservation) and M. Lavie (cleaning and conservation of artifacts). Most of the volunteers were undergraduate and graduate students from the U.S.A. and Canada

The Huqoq Excavation Project : 2014-2017 interim report

Excavations at Huqoq in Israel’s eastern Lower Galilee are bringing to light a Late Roman synagogue, a medieval public building, and the remains of ancient and modern (pre-1948) villages. In this interim report, we describe the major discoveries of the 2014–2017 seasons, including the extraordinary figural mosaics decorating the synagogue floor. Our discoveries provide evidence of a Galilean Jewish community that flourished through the 5th and 6th centuries c.e.—a picture contrasting with recent claims of a decline in Jewish settlement under Byzantine Christian rule. The possibility that the medieval public building might also be a synagogue has important implications for understanding Galilean Jewish settlement in the Middle Ages, about which almost nothing is known. The excavations also shed light on the last phase of the settlement’s long history: the development of the modern village of Yakuk in the 19th through 20th centuries.peer-reviewe

Terracotta Figurines from the Iron IIA Temple at Moza, Judah

Four terracotta figurines, of which two are anthropomorphic and two are zoomorphic, were found within an assemblage of cult artifacts lying on the packed earth floor of an Iron IIA temple courtyard unearthed in the course of the renewed excavations at Tel Moza. The figurines are made of local clay, and likely produced with the intention of serving in rituals held at the temple. Though they are idiosyncratic, they incorporate motifs that are drawn from conventions prevalent throughout the Ancient Near East. These figurines are among the earliest Iron II figurines found in the southern Levant, and may constitute forerunners of the ubiquitous Iron IIB figurines prevalent throughout this region

Huqoq - 2017 : preliminary report

Preliminary report of the 2017 excavations at Huqoq, Lower Galilee.peer-reviewe

The Ḥuqoq excavations : interim report on the 2014–2017 seasons

This is an interim report (in Arabic) of the 2011-2017 seasons of the Huqoq Excavation Project.peer-reviewe

Huqoq-2016 : preliminary report

Preliminary report of the 2016 excavations at Huqoq, Lower Galilee.peer-reviewe

Huqoq – 2015 : preliminary report

Preliminary report of the 2015 excavations at Huqoq, Lower Galilee.peer-reviewe

Huqoq-2018 : preliminary report

Preliminary report on the 2018 excavations at Huqoq, Israel.peer-reviewe

Bible stories in the Huqoq Synagogue mosaic floor : interim report on the 2011–2017 seasons [in Hebrew]

Interim report on the 2011-2017 seasons of excavations at Huqoq, Lower Galilee.peer-reviewe

Huqoq 2019 - preliminary report

This is a preliminary report of the 2019 season of the Huqoq Excavation Project.peer-reviewe