Or ‘Aqiva: Remains of a Farming Complex and Irrigation System from the End of the Byzantine–Beginning of the Early Islamic Periods in the Agricultural Hinterlandof Caesarea (Hebrew, pp. 49*–60*; English summary, pp. 133–134)

Salvage excavations in the northern industrial zone of Or ‘Aqiva unearthed a complex belonging to the agricultural hinterland of Caesarea during the late Byzantine–Early Islamic periods. The complex included a building, a well, a water channel, a large round plaza and walls that delimited paths in the cultivated area. The finds included pottery, glass vessels and coins, mainly dating to the late Byzantine–Early Islamic periods. The architectural finds and the impressive size of the round plaza imply that the complex was built under state initiative. The irrigation system exposed here is the fist evidence of agricultural activity in a region of sand dunes that underwent betternment, resembling that of the muwassi in Gaza.