An overview of the agricultural landscape of the 'Zippor Compound' in Modi'in

While the 'Zippor Compound' findings were being prepared for publication (see 'Ad, this volume), trial mapping was conducted at Horbat Tittora. The aim of the mapping was to provide a spatial view of the dozens of agricultural installations excavated, and to examine them as part of a nearby settlement and not merely as a collection of excavated installations. The GPS-assisted mapping was conducted over a 100 × 600 m area that is part of the agricultural layout on the edge of Horbat Tittora. The area yielded a dense cluster of farming terraces, water cisterns, building remains, a scattering of building stones, and rock-hewn agricultural installations that become sparser the more distant they are from Horbat Tittora (Fig. 1). On the eastern side of Horbat Tittora, a small winepress (F13), farming terraces and a large number of water cisterns were documented. An industrial winepress with a mosaic floor (F97) and installations from the Late Byzantine period were also detected. To the west of Horbat Tittora, four burial caves were recorded (F1, F4, F26, F181) near simple oil presses (bodeda), rock-hewn installations, and two small winepresses (F2, F183). A column fragment with a capital was recovered on the western side of Horbat Tittora, which may indicate that the site had a church, although no more evidence of this has yet emerged. In the event that remains of a church are to be found at the site, it would contribute to a better understanding of some of the features excavated in the 'Zippor Compound'. Khirbat Abu Fureij, located approximately 500 m north of Horbat Tittora, was also documented using GPS. Two burial caves (F34, F103) were mapped there, as were a simple oil press (bodeda; F101), a watchman's booth, numerous farming terraces and field walls.