{"id":168263,"date":"2025-12-04T19:24:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T19:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/168263\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T19:24:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T19:24:11","slug":"israel-seizes-rare-artifacts-in-palestinian-villa-built-atop-major-archaeological-sit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/168263\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel seizes rare artifacts in Palestinian villa built atop major archaeological sit"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a targeted operation by the Civil Administration \u2014 carried out by its Inspection Unit under the guidance of the Archaeology Branch \u2014 archaeological artifacts were recovered today from the declared Burj Lasanan site in Area B, after Palestinians built a villa over the site and damaged its ancient remains.<\/p>\n

Among the recovered items were rare artifacts looted from the nearby Crusader fortress: old coins and ancient stones, capitals and stone columns from the Byzantine period, which had been used as decorative items inside the villa. A metal detector was also seized at the site. The artifacts were transferred to study and public display at the Good Samaritan archaeological museum, which is run by the Civil Administration\u2019s Archaeology Branch.<\/p>\n

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2 View gallery <\/p>\n

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Several ancient columns found at the site <\/p>\n

(Photo: Spokesperson, Foreign Ministry)<\/p>\n

The Burj Lasanan site crowns a hill overlooking Wadi Harmiyeh in the northern Benyamin region. It is considered one of the region\u2019s most significant archaeological sites. The area was inhabited continuously from the Iron\u202fAge through the Middle Ages. Over the years, surveys revealed remains of a Crusader fortress, fragments of a Byzantine\u2011era church architecture, burial caves, a ritual bath (mikveh) and agricultural installations from the early Roman period.<\/p>\n

According to the Civil Administration, all artifacts found at the site reflect a rich, multi\u2011period sequence. The main structure atop the hill likely represents the settlement\u2019s final monumental phase, dating to the Crusader era.<\/p>\n

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2 View gallery <\/p>\n

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Burj Lasanan site crowns a hill overlooking Wadi Harmiyeh in the northern Benyamin region <\/p>\n

(Photo: Spokesperson, Foreign Ministry)<\/p>\n

Following a directive at the political level, inspectors from the Archaeology Branch tracked the looting activity and identified those responsible for the damage. The unauthorized villa caused direct harm to ancient remains and disrupted the site\u2019s delicate historical continuity. The day\u2019s operation is part of an ongoing effort led by the Archaeology Branch to protect heritage sites, prevent antiquities theft and preserve the area\u2019s archaeological and historical assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtecting ancient sites is central to our work and our responsibility to safeguard the region\u2019s history. Any damage to an ancient site harms not only the artifacts themselves but also our ability to understand and document the historical narrative that the site represents,” said ‘A’, head of the Enforcement, Investigation and Intelligence Division (EIID) at the Archaeology Branch. “We will continue tirelessly \u2014 using all means at our disposal \u2014 to eradicate the destructive phenomenon of antiquities theft and protect national heritage and the history of the area.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a targeted operation by the Civil Administration \u2014 carried out by its Inspection Unit under the guidance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-168263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}