DWELLINGS FROM THE BYZANTINE PERIOD AT PI MAẒUVA IN THE WESTERN GALILEE

In 2007, two excavation seasons were conducted at Pi Maẓuva, located on a soft limestone (qirton) hill on the southern spur of Naḥal Ḥanita (map ref. 2149/7762; Fig. 1). Two areas were excavated (Areas 1, 2), revealing building remains and burials from the Byzantine period. Area 1. A building was uncovered in this area, of which two rooms survived (Plan 1). In Room 1 were found two superposing plastered floors (L116, L117), which included pottery dating from the sixth–seventh centuries CE (see Lerer, this volume: Figs. 2:3, 4; 11:1). The upper floor comprised some tesserae, on which a bronze cross was found (Fig. 2). Room 2 was adorned with a high-quality colorful mosaic floor (L119; see Talgam, this volume), which was laid upon a bedding of cement and crushed lime. The bedding yielded a unique bronze five-nomismata weight, dating from the sixth century CE (Fig. 6; studied by Danny Syon). The mosaic is adorned with floral motifs, animal and human figures, and two fragmentary Greek inscriptions. It was dated based on iconographic, stylistic and stratigraphic considerations to the seventh century CE. It is assumed that the mosaic adorned the floor of a local villa. Area 2. In the southern part of the excavation (Plan 2) were found three building complexes (Buildings I–III) separated by an alley. Building 1 (L302A) is square, and its walls are built of hewn stones. In the center of the building was exposed a circular clay ṭabun (Fig. 3). Building II was exposed to the southwest of Building I. A threshold, with hewn sockets for a double-leaf door, led from the alley into the building (L327; Fig. 3). Beneath the buildings’ wall foundation (W311) was found a coin dating to the seventh century CE (see Bijovsky, this volume: Coin No. 3). In a collapse of building blocks above the threshold was an ashlar stone (a lintel?) decorated with an encircled cross in relief (Fig. 4). Building III (Fig. 5) was revealed southeast of Buildings I and II. It comprised three rooms, well-built from ashlar stones and paved with plaster. The finds at the site point to the existence of a rural settlement, inhabited by a Christian population. The finds in the accumulations above the buildings attest to its destruction during the Persian conquest of the region in 613 CE, which affected many Christian settlements and churches in the Western Galilee, but did not abolish them.