Ancient Secrets Revealed: Inside the 5,500-Year-Old Canaanite Blade Workshop Unearthed in Southern Israel
“This is an important find in that it deepens the understanding of both the beginnings of urbanization and of professional specialization in the Land of Israel,” IAA Excavation Directors Dr. Martin David Pasternak, Shira Lifshitz, and Dr. Nathan Ben-Ari, explained, “phenomena that led to the establishment of large settlements and that catalyzed the creation of new social structures.”
Perhaps most surprising, the researchers unearthed a huge cache of unused blades buried together. As expert Dudu Biton remarked, “It’s only speculation at this point, but we’re exploring the possibility that this was some kind of ritual offering. That could explain why so many unused blades were intentionally buried together.”
A Peek Inside The Ancient History Of Kiryat Gat
Israel Antiquities AuthorityThe archaeological site revealed that the ancient settlement that once existed in Carmei Gat was much larger than previously known.
The blade workshop is one small piece of the larger Early Bronze Age society that once existed in Kiryat Gat. According to IAA, the modern-day archaeological site where the blade workshop was found was an active settlement for centuries, from the Chalcolithic period through to the Early Bronze Age.
While excavating the area ahead of the construction of the new Carmei Gat neighborhood, archaeologists also discovered that the ancient settlement was much larger than they had previously estimated, stretching across more than half a square kilometer. Not only that, they found that it included hundreds of “underground pits,” some of which were fortified with mud bricks.
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