According to the IAA<\/a>, the earliest parts of the site date to the seventh or eighth century CE, during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, and the later sections date to the Fatimid period.<\/p>\n While nearby communities at the time were home to Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Samaritans, the excavations did not uncover any artifacts with a clear indication of a certain religious or ethnic group.<\/p>\n However, IAA researchers have proposed two main theories about what the site served as: either a major trade and industrial station or part of a currently undiscovered nearby settlement.<\/p>\n The site is estimated to have been operational for about 150 years before being abandoned for reasons researchers do not yet know, but it was later resettled in the 10th century CE.<\/p>\n Residents built buildings and production facilities there, and installed numerous tabuns (clay baking ovens).\u00a0<\/p>\n In the late 11th century CE, before the Crusader<\/a> conquest, the site was abandoned once again and was never resettled.<\/p>\n In addition to the ruins, archaeologists unearthed dozens of pottery vessels and intact oil lamps, along with numerous bronze tableware, cosmetic implements, iron pickaxe heads, a sickle, numerous nails, dozens of coins, and a large quantity of fragments of local and imported pottery and glass vessels.<\/p>\n The discoveries provide vivid insight into the period\u2019s culture, trade, and economy.<\/p>\n Discovery ‘exceeds all expectations’<\/p>\n While ancient buildings and artifacts have previously been discovered in the area, the recent discovery has \u201cexceeded all expectations,\u201d said IAA Excavation Directors Dr. Yoav Arbel and Lior Rauchberger.<\/p>\n \u201cThe excavation uncovered an organized, planned complex featuring straight, intersecting streets,\u201d they said. \u201cLining these streets were a series of rooms that served as shops or warehouses, plastered industrial facilities, pottery kilns and more.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cClearly, its main phase was planned in advance in detail by engineers and was built with the knowledge of the regional authorities, and perhaps even on their initiative and with their funding.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIts location was also likely not coincidental,\u201d explained Arbel Rauchberger. \u201cThe site was situated near the main road that connected Jaffa, Ramla, then the district capital, and Jerusalem.\u201d<\/p>\n The excavation directors noted that the complex may have stood on a secondary road branching off the main one, adding that the area also offers \u201cfertile agricultural land and available water sources.\u201d<\/p>\nCollection of oil lamps uncovered in the Ramat Gan excavation, August 16, 2026. (credit: EMIL ALADJEM\/ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY)Site abandoned twice\u00a0<\/p>\n