Mareshah (Marisa)
EXCAVATIONS
Several excavations and cave surveys were directed by A. Kloner at Mareshah in 1972, 1980, and 1984–1988 on behalf of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums. The large-scale excavation, conservation, and restoration project headed by Kloner was conducted from 1989 to 2001 on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
THE UPPER CITY
The city built on the mound, dated to the second century BCE, is referred to as the upper city. The report on the excavations conducted by F. J. Bliss and R. A. S. Macalister in the summer of 1900 on the mound describes the remains of a city laid out in accordance with an orthogonal plan. The main east–west street, which varied in width between 2 and 6 m, divided the city into southern and northern sectors; perpendicular north–south and parallel east–west streets formed 12 insulae. The fortification walls of the upper city, uncovered in the 1900 excavations, remained in place until the Hasmonean conquest in 111 BCE. Bliss and Macalister’s report does not mention caves or quarries in the upper city. Their excavations revealed at least one Iron Age layer, 3–6 m below the floor level of the Seleucid city, above which there may have been Persian and Early Hellenistic period layers. Extensive Iron Age remains were subsequently found above the bedrock in later excavations. Since bedrock was reached in only a very limited area of the 1900 excavations, the excavators’ conclusion that there are no caves in the upper city remains debatable. While there is insufficient data to determine its actual function, the fortified upper city appears to have served as an acropolis. Bliss and Macalister, as well as H. Thiersch and M. Avi-Yonah, were only aware of the existence of the upper city at Mareshah. Part of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s area 100 in the lower city extends into the upper city (see below).
THE LOWER CITY—EXCAVATION RESULTS
It is now clear from the recent excavations that the site of Mareshah includes a vast lower city on the slopes surrounding the upper city. While some of the underground installations in the lower city were known and explored as early as the nineteenth century, it was not realized that this area had buildings above ground and constituted an extension of the upper city of Mareshah. The artifacts found during the excavations constitute one of the richest Hellenistic assemblages found in the Levant, including several thousand oil lamps and a wide variety of other pottery vessels.

AREA 61. Excavated in 1992 and 1993, area 61 is an insula of the lower city located southeast of the upper city. It was divided from north to south into three excavated complexes (A, B, D) and a fourth partially excavated complex (C), bordered on the south and west by two streets, each c. 5 m wide. The insula was built in accordance with an orthogonal plan, similar to that of the upper city. Its streets were paved with crushed limestone mixed with sherds. The structures consist of rooms grouped around a central courtyard, with subterranean complexes hewn below them and staircases leading to the upper floors or rooftops. The rich finds include complete or intact pottery, grinding installations, loom weights, lamps, figurines, and coins, which dated the abandonment of the site to the late second century BCE. A total of 24 Greek ostraca, 2 lead sling projectiles, and 16 lead weights were found in structures A, B, and D; an additional lead weight was found in subterranean complex 61 beneath the insula. These lead weights are crucial evidence attesting to the commercial activities conducted in the ground-floor rooms of houses at Mareshah.
In the northern structure (A), the beaten earth floor of the central courtyard sealed the entrance to the subterranean complex below. Amphorae imported from Rhodes, Kos, Knidos, Brindisi, and North Africa, as well as locally made storage jars, were stored in the western rooms of the structure. Staircases in these storerooms led to an upper story. An installation consisting of four small plastered pools connected by pipes and channels was excavated to the south of the storerooms. Tabuns and basalt mortars on tripods were found in the eastern rooms. Extensive weaving activity is evidenced by concentrations of unbaked clay loom weights. Eight Greek ostraca and eight lead weights were also found in the structure.

The central structure (B) consists of 18 rooms surrounding a central courtyard, some of which had as many as five sub-phases and evidence of repairs. A vault led to the subterranean complex. A row of rooms faced the street on the western side of the structure; three staircases led to the roof or to a second story. Five Greek ostraca, a lead sling bullet, and five lead weights were found in the structure. The partially excavated remains of another structure (C) were found between structures B and D.
Access to the southern structure (D) is through a narrow passage between it and structure C. The rooms of structure D were built on several levels, connected by staircases; some were hewn in the bedrock. A staircase leading to a second story was built around a pillar in the southwestern corner of the courtyard. Another staircase, in the northeastern corner of the courtyard, led to the cisterns of the subterranean complex. The rooms on the western side of the structure were used as shops/workshops and opened onto the street, with a passage linking them to the residential section. The eastern part of the structure had five construction phases, evidenced by raised floor levels and the addition of wings. An olive-oil press (A14) found below the structure opened directly onto the southern street. Eight Greek ostraca, a lead sling bullet, and three lead weights were found in the structure.
AREA 100. Area 100 was excavated in 1989, 1991, and 1993, and includes the fortification system in the northwestern corner of the upper city and part of an insula in the lower city to its north. The fortification system was comprised of a tower, a sloping accumulation of earth, and a lower outer wall.

The tower is roughly trapezoidal in plan and was constructed in the northwestern corner of the upper city in the first of its two Hellenistic building phases, attributed to the early third century BCE. It was built of local chalk (soft limestone), quarried in brick-shaped blocks in the caves of the lower city, and laid mainly as headers; stones of local nari limestone were also incorporated into some of the courses. At the end of the third century BCE or in the first half of the second century BCE, a later tower was constructed, consisting of two rooms. The entrance to this tower was not found in the excavation. Stamped handles of Rhodian amphorae from the second quarter of the second century BCE and coins were found in the fill inside this tower. The foundation trenches for both Hellenistic phases were cut into earlier accumulations of earth and debris. Two layers were identified: a stratum of ash and charcoal-laden debris at a 40-degree incline, dating to the Persian period (second half of the fifth century BCE); and beneath it a hard-packed crushed limestone level. Sherds from below this level and down to bedrock were dated to the late Iron Age. Two pre-Hellenistic walls were found in the eastern room of the tower, both of which had been destroyed when the tower was built. One wall, which continued beneath the foundations of the tower, was provisionally dated to the Persian period. The second wall, constructed of a core of fieldstones and earth sealed by larger stones, also continued beneath the tower and was dated to the eighth century BCE. It is possible that this wall was part of the inner fortification system of the upper city. Two earlier walls were also found in the western room of the tower: one continued beneath the Hellenistic wall separating the two rooms of the tower and the other beneath the tower itself. The tower was destroyed in the late second century BCE.

Two massive walls constructed of large nari blocks were found in the upper part of the northern and western slopes of the mound, to the south and east of the tower. These may have served as retaining walls or even as a platform supporting the upper city fortifications. To the west of these walls, in a leveled area on the western slope, crudely constructed walls of chalk and fieldstones were exposed. A retaining wall built of well-dressed nari blocks laid as headers and stretchers was also found; this wall may predate the Hellenistic period, although it continued in use during that period, when additional walls were built. The walls were founded on a thick earth fill. Beneath the fill were the remains of massive walls, constructed of large, smoothed nari blocks, dated to the Iron Age.
An Iron Age wall of nari stones laid as headers was built around the northwestern corner of the tower, from south to northeast. This wall, partially constructed on a fill of large stones sealed by a stepped wall, was part of the topographically lower outer city wall, which functioned as an outer defensive line for the upper city. The wall was repaired with small chalky stones and continued in use in the Hellenistic period as a retaining wall at the foot of the tower.
Part of an insula, consisting of five structures (A–E) running roughly east to west, was excavated to the north of the tower, along the line of the lower Iron Age wall. The rectangular structures, built of dressed limestone blocks, faced north onto a street and were probably shops or workshops. The commercial nature of the ground floor of the insula is suggested by the presence of an administrative building. Based on the rich finds found in the fills, the insula was constructed in the second quarter of the second century BCE; its last occupation phase was dated to c. 150–111 BCE. Structure B was associated with a subterranean cistern; in one room of this structure steps were built into the Iron Age wall. Structure C probably served as a merchant’s store, under inspection by the agoranomos, judging by a limestone measuring table inscribed with the names of two magistrates and a date in the Seleucid calendar corresponding to 143/142 BCE. A stepped wall, which probably sealed the foundations of the Iron Age wall, was found beneath the floor of a room in structure C. A measuring table used for measuring liquids was found in structure D; two well-preserved staircases abutting the Iron Age wall led to an upper story. A spacious courtyard in structure E contained steps leading to an underground cistern, which apparently was abandoned shortly after its construction. Found in area 100 were 18 Aramaic ostraca, 12 Greek ostraca, a lead sling bullet, 2 gaming dice, and 2 lead weights.
AREA 600. A trench was manually and mechanically excavated in 1990 in the lower city, in preparation for laying electrical lines. Soundings were carried out where appropriate, and showed that the lower city was densely built-up in the Hellenistic period of the third–second centuries BCE. Most of the structures were finely constructed houses built of local chalky stone laid on nari foundations; industrial installations were also found. Since the buildings were oriented north–south and east–west, it is likely that this area of the lower city was also built in accordance with an orthogonal plan. Many dozens of oil lamps and complete pottery vessels were found in the rooms encountered. Nine Greek ostraca were discovered in the trench, between area 53 to its north and subterranean complex 44. West of the find spot of this assemblage, closer to subterranean complexes 29 and 31, the remains of a Byzantine period occupation were found. The site had been reoccupied from the fifth century until the beginning of the seventh century CE, on a settlement extending over an area of approximately 4 a. A church in its southern part was excavated in 1985 and 1987. The settlement area may also have been in use for a short time in the Early Islamic period, but evidence for such is very limited.

AREA 30. Area 30 is situated above the well-known columbarium called es-Suk. Residential and commercial buildings were exposed there during the 1990 season.

AREA 930. Excavated simultaneously with adjoining area 940 in 1994, area 930 consists of streets, surface structures, and related subterranean complexes in the lower city, southeast of the upper city. Two streets and two insulae consisting of houses and a possible fortress were exposed. The structures were built in the first half of the second century BCE of nari stone and/or chalky limestone; the overall layout was orthogonal on a north–south and east–west axis. Since the buildings were constructed on a slope, some were cut into bedrock, while others were built on an earth fill; street D was partly constructed of steps leading down the slope. In some of the buildings, changes and additions occurred during the second century BCE and some of the subterranean structures went out of use. This part of the lower city was finally abandoned in the late second century BCE. No traces of fire or violent destruction were found, only ruins that yielded abundant finds. Among these finds are a Greek ostracon and two lead weights.

One insula had three complexes (A–C) bordered on the west by street E. The paving of the street did not survive, but two coins of Antiochus III (223–187 BCE) were recovered in an associated fill. Complex A is a 16-room house. The entrance was not found, but it may have been located off street E and led to an upper story, since this area was built on a slope. Two staircases were exposed; one leading to an underground cistern and the other to a subterranean complex. The eastern part of the complex was eroded and no floors were found, while the floors in the western part of the complex were either plastered or consisted of tamped earth and/or crushed chalk, or simply bedrock. The rich finds included pottery, lamps, stone installations, glass vessels, and coins. Several building phases were identified in the complex. Four coins were recovered on two of the upper floors: one of Ptolemy III (246–221 BCE), two of Antiochus IV Epiphanies (175–164 BCE), and one of Alexander Ballas (150–145 BCE). Two rooms of complex B were excavated north of complex A; an opening in one of the rooms led to a cistern (subterranean complex 165). South of complex A, two rooms of complex C were excavated; these rooms were built on top of subterranean complex 145. One of the rooms contained a rich assemblage of intact or restorable vessels, including a stamped Rhodian amphora dated to 126 BCE. Other finds included grinding installations, weights, coins, and a ceramic horse-shaped rhyton. A rock-cut installation for a storage jar was found in the room beneath the floor.
The second insula, located west of street E, contained complex F. A coin of Alexander Ballas was found in the fill under the floor of one of the rooms. Street D, a short street branching off of street E, included six large stone steps leading down the slope to complexes G and H, which were severely eroded; most of the floors and upper parts of the walls were not preserved. These two complexes contained a large stone-built staircase and hall, large rooms, doubled compartments, a stone-built pilaster, and doubled walls. Their construction differed from that of the residential buildings excavated at Mareshah and they should probably be considered public buildings of a defensive function. Such buildings may have served as a substitute for the eastern city wall of the lower city, which to date has not been identified.
Complex I, severely eroded and in poor condition, was only partially excavated. Complex J is an open area beyond the assumed line of the city walls. The fill in this complex contained pottery, ceramic figurines, and coins, all dating to the Persian and Early Hellenistic periods.
AREA 940. Area 940 was excavated simultaneously with adjoining area 930 in 1994. Eleven surface complexes (G–H, K–P, and R–T) were identified. Seven cave entrances were also revealed; two were surveyed as separate subterranean complexes. No city wall was found in this area, and unlike area 930, no clear plan of insulae was discerned. The very rich ceramic corpus consisted mainly of Persian and Early Hellenistic pottery, with a significant amount of earlier Persian and Iron Age material. Twenty-five stamped amphora handles, 132 lamps, figurine fragments, a loom weight, and 21 coins were found. Two Greek ostraca were retrieved in complexes L2 and N2.
Complexes G and H are part of the possible fortress excavated in area 930. Complex K consists of large public areas; seven cist graves were found hewn into the chalky bedrock below the fills of two of its courtyards. A wall of the complex bisects the arched entrance to subterranean complex 162, an unexcavated cave system with 18 halls, including an olive-oil press, cisterns, a bathing facility, stables, and storage areas. Human figures were carved on pillars in two of the halls, and a frieze, a carved inscription, and graffiti were found on the walls of the bathing facility and two of the halls. Complex L consists of two large public areas. Complex M is a domestic area; a staircase may have led to an upper floor. A spiral staircase descends to subterranean complex 161, with its seven halls and two cisterns, bathing facility, storage areas, and especially well-preserved olive-oil press including a finely carved cultic niche. Complex N contains two long trapezoidal rooms that may have served as storerooms. Complex O is a large courtyard with a possible staircase leading to underground installations. Complex P is a corridor dividing two other areas; a square shaft entrance to an underground chamber is an integral part of a wall in this complex. Complex R consists of domestic rooms. Complex S is an extra-domestic area used as a ceramic dump, which contained over 125 amphorae, 500 jars, 750 jugs and bottles, 1,200 small plain bowls, a similar number of small slipped bowls, more than 1,300 other types of bowls and plates, and over 400 cooking vessels. Complex T is a domestic area with one staircase ascending to an upper floor and another descending to underground installations and a cistern.
AREA 800. A rectangular building made of large nari limestone blocks was revealed southeast of the acropolis, between it and complexes 57 and 86. The building consisted of two parallel halls (naoi), apparently of a temple. The deep foundations laid on bedrock and the single course of building stones that was preserved above the surface attest to the monumental character of this structure.
AREA 920. Area 920 is the southern wall of the lower city, dated to the second century BCE.
AREA 900. Area 900 is the siege wall, south of area 920, dated to the Hasmonean conquest at the end of the second century BCE.

THE SUBTERRANEAN COMPLEXES. Bliss and Macalister numbered the subterranean complexes they found from 1 to 63 and published a map of their locations. They pointed out that many of these complexes were not surveyed, although their positions were indicated; some were defined as “impenetrable” or “unreachable.” With the renewed systematic investigation of Mareshah and its subterranean complexes, it was decided to continue Bliss and Macalister’s numbering system. The numbers 64–69 were intentionally left unused, however, and newly discovered subterranean complexes were numbered from 70 to 170. Numbers in the 400s were allocated to subterranean complexes east of the modern road that runs from north to south along the eastern slope of the lower city. Numbers in the 500s were reserved for burial caves: nos. 500–509 for the tombs of the southwestern necropolis, nos. 510–549 for the tombs of the northern necropolis, and nos. 550–599 for the tombs of the eastern necropolis.
Surface areas located above subterranean complexes that had previously been assigned numbers by Bliss and Macalister were designated by the same number as the related underground complex. For example, the excavation area above the es-Suk cave of subterranean complex 30 was designated area 30; the surface excavation above subterranean complex 53 was designated area 53; and the excavation above subterranean complex 61 was designated area 61. In the areas excavated from 1993 onwards, the subterranean complexes and their associated surface areas were assigned different numbers (for example, in areas 100 and 930–940), since it was found that several subterranean complexes could be related to the same surface unit.
The following are the larger or more important subterranean complexes excavated since 1989: 1
Subterranean Complex 1. After an initial survey of the large subterranean complex 1 in 1900, a room by room survey was conducted by the Mareshah Expedition and Cave Research Center of Israel in 1980 and 1985. The complex was partially excavated by the Mareshah Expedition between 1995 and 2001. It has 70 rooms on several levels, with large interconnected halls, square and oval rooms, filtering chambers, columbaria, cisterns, stables, and an olive-oil press. An Aramaic ostracon, an ostracon written in Jewish script, 11 Greek ostraca, 4 astragals, and 2 lead weights were found in rooms 19–22.
Room 19 is a large space that shares an entrance with rooms 16 and 18. Two breaches in the southern wall connect it to room 20. Traces of worn columbarium niches are visible on the walls. Room 20 is a large square room; an opening descending to a bottle-shaped cistern is located in its northwestern corner. A breach in the wall of the cistern allows passage to the lower level of the room. The room has entrances in the northern wall, in the northeastern corner connecting it with room 19, and in the eastern wall connecting it with room 21. A trough is carved in the upper level of the southern wall and industrial installations are located in the southeastern corner. A window in the southwestern corner of the southeastern extension of the room leads to three cisterns and two baths. This area contains feeding troughs and perforations in stone for tying up animals; an oven was built on the bedrock floor. An opening within the oven leads to a large storage area.
Room 21 is a large columbarium with square niches; broken niches remain in the walls of the southern part of the room and a large niche was cut in its northeastern corner. A small opening in the southwestern corner leads into room 23. The fill of the room yielded a relief on soft limestone depicting a man at an altar and a miniature carved soft limestone altar. One passage descends to a large cistern; another, high in the wall, connects it via a small broken bottle-shaped cistern, to an another room; an additional breach nearby leads to another space. The unusually large cistern had a supporting pillar, as indicated by marks on the ceiling. The staircase and rail had collapsed to half their height. Breaches leading to adjoining spaces had been sealed.
Subterranean Complex 29. A large cave complex first surveyed in 1900 and again in 1985, subterranean complex 29 was excavated in 1990 and 1992. Revealed during these excavations were its stepped pillared entrance and the several rooms adjacent to this entrance. A Greek ostracon was found in the dirt that had accumulated in the common entrance to three rooms: B9, B10, and B12. It has now become clear that this system and complex 31 jointly constitute one of the largest subterranean complexes at Mareshah.
Subterranean Complex 30. Subterranean complex 30 is a columbarium, called es-Suk, excavated in 1986–1987, 1989, and 1990. The cave was quarried in the shape of a double cross. It is a particularly large and well-designed columbarium, with over 1,900 coves visible today; originally it contained about 2,600. The columbarium was no longer used as such from the beginning of the second century BCE, at which point it appears to have been utilized as a warehouse. Furthermore, during the second century CE, burrows were cut and other changes made that attest to the use of this and another neighboring columbarium as a hiding complex. Evidence of burrows characteristic of the hiding complexes of the Second Jewish Revolt is found in at least four other subterranean complexes at Mareshah. At the end of the seventh and the eighth centuries CE, the cave was once again used.
Subterranean Complex 44. First excavated in 1989 and again in 1990, the small subterranean complex 44 contains an olive-oil press. The press consists of a staircase entrance, three pressing installations in the central hall, a crushing installation, collection vats, service cells, a storage room, a cistern, and a bathtub. A cultic niche was cut into the wall between two of the pressing installations. Three Greek ostraca were found in the press: two in the central hall between the two pressing installations, and one in a trench.
Subterranean Complex 51. Excavated in 1991, subterranean complex 51 is one of the large underground complexes at Mareshah, containing 33 rooms in its 19 systems. System 1 is a round cistern. System 2 consists of an entrance hall leading into three rooms, one of which has a staircase without a rail. System 3 is a round space in which a staircase was originally hewn. System 4 is an entrance hall opening into three rooms: a round room, a room with a railed staircase, and a plastered cistern. System 5 is an entrance hall opening into two rooms (rooms 8 and 9) and two cisterns. Room 8 has a buttressing wall; arches and holes for tying up animals in the other walls; a socket in the northern wall; and a large schematic cruciform figure in relief in another area of the northern wall, with eyes and a neck depicted at the top of the figure, perhaps representing the god Kos with arms outstretched to the sides. Three small receptacles connected by channels were hewn at different levels in the room. All of the room’s finds were dated to the Hellenistic period; a lamp with seven spouts may indicate cultic use of the space. System 6 is a round space with a staircase without a rail. System 7 is an entrance leading to two rooms (rooms 15 and 16) and a stepped cistern; room 15 contains what were termed “filtering chambers” by Bliss and Macalister, but are now believed to have been bathing rooms. System 8 is an entrance hall opening into two rooms (rooms 18 and 19); room 18 has sockets used as troughs, holes in its walls for tying up animals, a central support pillar, and a small cultic niche cut into one of the walls. System 9 is one of the largest quarries found at Mareshah. System 10 is a stepped room with a well-hewn filtering installation. System 11 is a long rectangular space, its ceiling supported by three pillars. System 12 is a round, cracked, plastered cistern. Systems 13–16 consist of rooms full of earth. Systems 17–19 are rooms that were exposed by a collapse. Noteworthy finds from the subterranean complex are an Aramaic ostracon from room 8 and three Greek ostraca from rooms 15 and 18.
Subterranean Complexes 58 and 84. A large double complex of 11 systems, containing over 40 rooms, was excavated together from 1990–1996. Eight Aramaic ostraca, 81 Greek ostraca, a lead sling bullet, and a lead weight were found in rooms 2, 12, and 20 of subterranean complex 58 and in rooms 35
Subterranean complex 58 is made up of systems 1–4. System 1 has seven rooms, including an olive-oil press, a service hallway, a room for storing liquids, and other plastered rooms. System 2 consists of three rooms, one of which is a filtering installation. System 3 is a round stepped space entered by means of a descending staircase. System 4 has two rooms: a cruciform columbarium and a long narrow space whose walls are pierced by cells with small bottle-shaped cisterns.

Subterranean complex 84 is divided into systems 5–11. System 5 contains three rooms: a round stepped space accessed by a descending staircase, a plastered columbarium with a well-constructed gabled entrance, and a round space connected to the columbarium. System 6 consists of a relatively small square room and a long corridor. System 7 is a rectangular space, the sole remaining wing of a cruciform columbarium, with columbarium niches hewn in the walls. System 8 is the only surviving room of an olive-oil press—the pressing wing, with two installations and a service passage between them, and no cultic niche. System 9 consists of a round stepped space, a square room with supporting columns and well-hewn cells, and a third room. System 10 is a single room apparently used as a quarry. System 11 has nine rooms and a long winding corridor with hewn spaces below it and at its sides and ends. System 12 is a large room filled with debris. System 13 consists of five rooms with a common stepped entrance bordered by a water channel that leads to room 35—a round, stepped cistern; among its other rooms is a round chamber (room 36), a columbarium (room 38), and a square chamber (room 39) containing various niches and kokhim, a hewn pillar supporting its ceiling. System 14 consists of two rooms, one of which (room 43) is comprised of a number of small hewn and built square chambers and is accessed via a well-hewn staircase, which also leads to an adjacent stepped cistern. System 15 has two spaces; one of these, room 41, is a stepped chamber divided by a wall into two parts, 41a and 41b.
Subterranean Complex 61. Excavated in 1992 and 1993, subterranean complex 61 consists of the underground installations beneath area 61. The complex is divided into 14 systems (systems 13–26), including columbaria, an olive-oil press, rooms, and cisterns. Two Aramaic ostraca, two Phoenician ostraca, one Edomite ostracon, two ostraca written in Jewish script, 30 Greek ostraca, and a lead weight were found in the complex.
System 13 is a cruciform columbarium whose original entrance was in the ceiling above the juncture of the arms of the cross. Openings were later pierced in the walls of the hall, linking it to a cistern to the west and a network of cisterns and rooms belonging to systems 15 and 16 to the north. Another opening leads into the eastern part of the hall. In its last phase, before it was sealed, the hall was used as a quarry. The fill, which almost reached the ceiling, contained a rich assemblage of pottery dated to the third–second centuries BCE.
System 14 is a two-roomed olive-oil press, originally reached via a staircase and gate. When its southern room was converted into a quarry, the press continued to function in the northern room. A crushing installation was installed in the center of the room; the presses and their counterweights were completely preserved. A deep cistern had originally been hewn between the counterweight basins; it contained a late fill that leveled the floor.
System 15 is a network of two rooms and two cisterns, reached via a stepped, roofed corridor; traces of Greek letters were discernible on the doorposts of one of the gabled cisterns, which may originally have had some other function. System 16 is a rectangular room, entered through a square ceiling shaft that had been sealed and superimposed by a wall. The room itself was found intentionally filled, almost completely, with earth and stones. Openings leading to a room to the south and a cistern to the west were cut in the walls. The room was probably originally a quarry; its later uses are unclear. Complete Hellenistic lamps were recovered from its fill.
System 17 is comprised of a network of cisterns and rooms reached via a stepped passage found sealed by masonry. A cistern (A37) was discovered to the west of the entrance passage, a flight of steps with a rail hewn along the eastern and southern sides of the cistern. A shallow deposit of silt was found on the floor, attesting to the use of this cistern up to the end of the second century BCE. Another cistern (A50), found sealed almost up to its ceiling, was exposed to the east of the stepped passage; many whole pottery vessels dated to the Hellenistic period, including lamps and a Rhodian amphora, were found in the cistern. Staircases and later openings link the cisterns and rooms to each other, to a room belonging to system 19 to the east, and to a columbarium belonging to system 18 to the north.
System 18 is a cruciform columbarium. The original entrance was from the ceiling above the juncture of the arms of the cross. Later openings pierced the walls, leading to other rooms and cisterns, including a cistern belonging to system 20. Parts of the hall were later used as a quarry. Its earth fill contained Hellenistic pottery including many lamps, a figurine of a horse and rider, an ostracon, and fragments of a colored fresco. The upper layer of fill in the southwestern arm included scattered remains of human bones, indicating that the hall was used for burial toward the end of the Hellenistic period or in the Early Roman period. The rich assemblage of pottery beneath the fill includes intact lamps and Hellenistic vessels. One layer of ash contained an unusually large quantity of burnt olive pits.
System 19 has two sub-systems, each consisting of a room and two cisterns. Each sub-system is reached via a staircase with a completely preserved rail. The plan of the northern sub-system was altered by later quarrying and building activities; a square shaft was cut to allow access to one cistern. Intact Hellenistic lamps and jar sherds were found on the floor of one of the cisterns. Whole lamps and Hellenistic sherds were discovered on the floor of the room of the southern sub-system. As in system 18, scattered human bones were found. System 20 consists of two unexcavated cisterns.
System 21 is a square columbarium. Access was originally via a staircase, which was blocked when it went out of use, perhaps as early as the Hellenistic period. Later, openings connected it with a room and two cisterns belonging to system 22. Several phases were discerned: the hall was originally hewn as a quarry, then reused as a columbarium, subsequently filled with an earthen deposit over which a square cell was built, filled once again with a deposit covering over the cell, extended to the south, and abandoned.
System 22 contains cisterns and rooms reached via steps descending from one of the surface buildings; a small altar was cut in the rail along the steps. The southern cistern was reached via a flight of stairs from the northern cistern, which was later converted into a quarry. Breaches in the walls of both cisterns connected them to one of the rooms. Two additional rooms were found, one apparently used as a bath.
System 23 consists of carefully hewn rooms, probably dated to the third century BCE. A staircase originally led to a small room and onward into a rectangular room with a bath at one end; a stepped channel provided water to the bath. Hewn to the east of the bath was a bench with legs carved in the shape of an animal’s legs. An opening led to a room of system 25; a vaulted stepped passage led to a small room that was deepened in a later phase. System 24 consists of an unexcavated columbarium. System 25 is a room whose original entrance was not identified, although later openings linked it to system 23. The finds, dated to the Hellenistic period, include small earthenware bottles, whole lamps, and pieces of plaster. System 26 is an unexcavated cistern.
Subterranean Complex 75. Subterranean complex 75 was surveyed and partially excavated in 1989–1995 and 1997, after several pottery figurines were found in the area, including a Persian horse-and-rider, mold-made figurines of a woman nursing an infant, a standing woman, and the lower part of an Iron Age standing male figure. Four strata were identified in the complex’s central hall, which is a circular chamber with a domed ceiling and rock-cut steps. The first and uppermost is a Late Hellenistic period stratum, dated mainly to the second century BCE on the basis of hundreds of complete and broken pottery vessels, a pottery figurine of a figure playing a stringed instrument, and a bronze Harpocrates figurine. The second stratum includes four floor levels of the Early Hellenistic period, mainly of the third century BCE, when the cave seems to have been used in an industrial capacity. The third consists of two fragmentary Persian period levels. The fourth has four Iron Age phases (eighth to sixth century BCE); four lamelekh stamped jar handles were found, among other pottery vessels, in this stratum. In sum, many hundreds of complete pottery vessels were found in the complex, as were 7 Aramaic ostraca, an Edomite ostracon, 16 Greek ostraca, and a lead sling bullet.
Subterranean Complex 90. Identified and surveyed in 1991 and partially excavated in 2005, subterranean complex 90 consists of 18 rooms, including a large, beautifully hewn and possibly unfinished olive-oil press, and three cisterns. The complex was found by clearing a vertical shaft in the ceiling of a cistern. Room 1 is a large oval cistern whose stepped staircase also descends to a second cistern (room 2) and a filtering installation (room 3). These two rooms contained the largest repertoire of pottery, found as it had been left at the end of the second century BCE. A shelf at the bottom of the cistern (space 4) conceals a secret entrance to room 5, a square room whose original entrance was a large square shaft. A large entranceway in the wall of room 5 opens into the beautifully carved olive-oil press (rooms 6 and 7). In its room 7, a cultic niche was carved between the two pressing installations. A bronze figurine of Heracles was found in the room. A passage in the southern wall of room 7 leads to a series of rooms (rooms 12–13, 15–18) including a large square cistern. One opening in the southern wall of room 6 leads to room 14, which may have been the original entrance to the olive-oil press; an opening in the same wall leads to an oval space (room 10); another in the northwestern corner of room 6 leads to room 8. A Greek ostracon was found in room 9, a small passage off of room 8. The fills of this complex yielded terracotta figurines, pottery, and a water spout made of hard marble-like limestone, carved in the shape of a lion’s head, evidence of the decorated and ornamented nature of the unexcavated buildings on the surface above.
Subterranean Complex 97. First surveyed in 1991–1992 and excavated in 1998 and 2000, subterranean complex 97 consists of seven rooms, including an olive-oil press, a burial niche, and a cruciform columbarium. An Aramaic ostracon and a lead weight were found in a small excavation conducted in 1998 in a courtyard between this complex and tomb 559.
Subterranean Complex 128. Excavated in 1994–2000, subterranean complex 128 is located at the southern end of the lower city. The complex consists of 11 systems containing 30 rooms, including an olive-oil press, filtering installations, cisterns, quarries, and columbaria. System 1 is a round space with passages to four other rooms. System 2 is a columbarium. System 3 consists of a beautifully hewn vestibule with troughs for liquids, two filtering installations, a small square room with a cultic niche, a room of an unknown function, and a round stepped space. System 4 has a central hall that was used as a columbarium, an extension of the hall, two round rooms (rooms 11 and 18), and a tiny square room with a blocked staircase. System 5 is an olive-oil press flanked by rooms: the square room 13, with its two passages, one leading to the back of the press near the press beam sockets and the other into the central hall of the press; and room 14, which contains two intact pressing installations, with no service passage between them. System 6 consists of two rooms, one of which, room 16, is a round space with a possible cultic niche in the eastern wall. System 7 is comprised of a round space, room 19. System 8 is a large space hewn in stages, with a large supporting pillar that has a cell carved into it. System 9 consists of a vestibule with an arched cell next to the entrance, which opens into a round stepped plastered cistern, a beautifully hewn square room with a finely carved entrance, and a trough that may originally have been a filtering installation. System 10 is a blocked entrance hallway (room 25), both quarried and constructed, which leads to a square space with a few columbarium niches. System 11 consists of three main spaces, one containing columbarium niches and opening into the remaining two: a round stepped cistern and a three-roomed filtering installation. A Hebrew ostracon, 14 Aramaic ostraca, 22 Greek ostraca, an altar, a lead sling bullet, and three astragals were found in rooms 13–14
Subterranean Complex 147. Subterranean complex 147 was excavated between 1994 and 2000 and consists mainly of a large rectangular columbarium and two rectangular rooms projecting off its southern side. A stairway gave access to the complex. Three square piers in the middle of the columbarium hall buttress the roof. The small niches for the columbarium are arranged in rows along the walls. Three building phases were discerned. The first is the construction phase of the southern part of the hall, the stairway, the round roof aperture, and the two southern rooms, dated to the first half of the third century BCE. In the slightly later second phase, the northeastern part of the hall and the square niches were added. In the final phase, dated to the mid-third century BCE, the northwestern part of the hall was constructed, triangular niches were added, and other architectural details were added or modified. An irregularly shaped room that may have served as a water reservoir was hewn east of the columbarium, probably in the third century BCE. Access to this room was via a staircase from the ground surface. The lower, intentional fills contained finds mainly dated to the second century BCE, as well as Persian and Iron Age sherds, including an ostracon in Hebrew script dated to the seventh century BCE. The Hellenistic period pottery included hundreds of intact and complete vessels and many ceramic figurines of Heracles, Isis, nursing women, and horse-and-riders, as well as rhyton fragments. A Hebrew ostracon, 10 Aramaic ostraca, 35 Greek ostraca, 2 altars, 3 astragals, 2 game dice, and 3 lead weights were found in the complex.
THE LOWER CITY—GENERAL REMARKS. The construction of the upper city predates that of the lower city by several decades. While no data is available that could provide an exact dating of the initial construction of the lower city, it may reasonably be assumed that it had been established by c. 280 BCE. Several excavation areas yielded the remains of even earlier structures, dating to the end of the fourth century BCE. The street grid of the lower city, as well as buildings adjacent to the streets, was obviously pre-planned, with provisions made for public buildings. The town planners needed to take into account the various limitations of the area, including previous construction and rock-hewn caves from the Iron Age and Persian period, as well as the topography of the site. A system of drainage channels exposed in area 61 during the 1992 excavation season provides a reliable indication of well-organized, advanced city planning; one of the drainage channels—a large, well-built, covered channel belonging to a very sophisticated drainage and sewage system—predated the construction of the insula in area 61. Advance planning is also clear from the orientation of the channels running parallel to the city streets and buildings. Construction work was carried out using roughly rectangular blocks of local chalky limestone.
As the lower city developed, subterranean complexes began to be used for manufacturing activities, the processing of agricultural crops, water storage, the keeping of livestock, and pigeon raising. It is noted, however, that the quarrying of some complexes began in the Iron Age and Persian period (e.g., subterranean complexes 75, 128, and 147); these quarries may have been related to surface constructions, but this hypothesis cannot be proved, since the development of third-century BCE Mareshah completely removed all evidence of earlier buildings. Mareshah rapidly became an important economic center, a status attested to by the imported wares found in the excavations, its administrative and commercial connections with Egypt, the presence of luxury goods, and the evidence of advanced technologies and production techniques. The archaeological finds in the lower city indicate that the inhabitants enjoyed a very high standard of living, similar to that of the residents of the upper city.
THE FORTIFIED AREA OF THE LOWER CITY. The suggested course of the fortificaton wall surrounding the lower city is based on the assumption that the burial caves must have been located outside the inhabited area. These caves were developed and modified mainly during the second half of the third century BCE, and, on the basis of dated ostraca and the pottery and other artifacts found in some of the caves, continued in use throughout the second century BCE, until the city’s destruction in 111 or 108 BCE.
AMOS KLONER
Color Plates


EXCAVATIONS
Several excavations and cave surveys were directed by A. Kloner at Mareshah in 1972, 1980, and 1984–1988 on behalf of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums. The large-scale excavation, conservation, and restoration project headed by Kloner was conducted from 1989 to 2001 on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
THE UPPER CITY
The city built on the mound, dated to the second century BCE, is referred to as the upper city. The report on the excavations conducted by F. J. Bliss and R. A. S. Macalister in the summer of 1900 on the mound describes the remains of a city laid out in accordance with an orthogonal plan. The main east–west street, which varied in width between 2 and 6 m, divided the city into southern and northern sectors; perpendicular north–south and parallel east–west streets formed 12 insulae. The fortification walls of the upper city, uncovered in the 1900 excavations, remained in place until the Hasmonean conquest in 111 BCE. Bliss and Macalister’s report does not mention caves or quarries in the upper city. Their excavations revealed at least one Iron Age layer, 3–6 m below the floor level of the Seleucid city, above which there may have been Persian and Early Hellenistic period layers. Extensive Iron Age remains were subsequently found above the bedrock in later excavations. Since bedrock was reached in only a very limited area of the 1900 excavations, the excavators’ conclusion that there are no caves in the upper city remains debatable. While there is insufficient data to determine its actual function, the fortified upper city appears to have served as an acropolis. Bliss and Macalister, as well as H. Thiersch and M. Avi-Yonah, were only aware of the existence of the upper city at Mareshah. Part of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s area 100 in the lower city extends into the upper city (see below).