University of Haifa

Twisting and turning for 2,000 feet, a wavy city wall—if, indeed, that was its ancient function—encircles the site of el-Ahwat. Adam Zertal, the site’s excavator, has linked the wall’s construction style and el-Ahwat’s domed structures to the architecture on the island of Sardinia. Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein has contested Zertal’s assertions; here, Zertal responds to Finkelstein.