Little has changed in the region from those days of yore, it would seem, except that today’s “bandits” are now Arab terrorists.
Numerous bronze coins minted by the Hasmonean kings were also discovered in the excavation. They bear the names of the kings such as Yochanan, Judah, Jonathan — or Mattathias and his title: High Priest and Head of the Council of the Jews.
The finds indicate that the estate continued to operate throughout the Early Roman period, and once again verify for all time that Jews inhabited the Land of Israel thousands of years ago.
The Jewish inhabitants of the estate meticulously adhered to the laws of ritual purity and impurity: they installed ritual pools (mikva’ot) in their settlement and used vessels made of chalk, which according to Jewish law cannot become ritually unclean.
Evidence was discovered at the site suggesting that the residents of the estate also participated in the first revolt against the Romans that broke out in 66 CE: The coins that were exposed from this period are stamped with the date “Year Two” of the revolt and the slogan “Freedom of Zion”.
The estate continued to operate even after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.
“It seems that local residents did not give up hope of gaining their independence from Rome, and they were well-prepared to fight the enemy during the Bar Kokhba uprising”, said Tendler.
“During the excavation we saw how prior to the uprising the inhabitants of the estate filled the living rooms next to the outer wall of the building with large stones, thus creating a fortified barrier.
In addition, we discovered hiding refuges that were hewn in the bedrock beneath the floors of the estate house. These refuge complexes were connected by means of tunnels between water cisterns, storage pits and hidden rooms.
In one of the adjacent excavation areas a mikva of impressive beauty was exposed; when we excavated deeper in the pool we discovered an opening inside it. That entry led to an extensive hiding refuge in which numerous artifacts were found that date to the time of the Bar Kokhba uprising”.
The unique finds revealed in the excavation will be preserved in an archaeological park in the heart of the new neighborhood slated for construction in Modi‘in-Maccabim-Re‘ut.