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Area B (Fig. 21) has yielded remains of a larger bath complex (Fig. 22), containing an octagonal basin surrounded by mosaic pavements (probably the frigidarium), and an elaborated water tower (castellum aquis) consisting of a central round shaft-like pool and four lateral square-shaped pools. All of them have plastered walls and mosaic pavements, whereas lead pipes enabled the water circulation between the central shaft and the adjacent pools. Along the slopes to the coast, remains of mosaic pavements and plastered structures belonged to larger pithoi or dolia, which have been partly unearthed in the past. A funerary cave was excavated in 1995 in the eastern outskirts of the site, below the Bronze Age ramparts (Area T). The walls of its last room were covered with plaster and frescoes depicting medallions containing crosses, one of them flanked by the letters A and W. Yavneh-Yam owes its development during this time to the building and philanthropic activity of the empress Eudocia who settled down in the Holy Land around mid-5th century CE and held an estate at Yavneh-Yam. Now Yavneh-Yam also became the home for the monophysit bishop of Gaza, Peter the Iberian, as revealed by his biography Vita Petri Iberi representing a valuable source for its history. Among others, we are told there about a Jewish fisherman who might be associated with a group of oil lamps decorated with the menorah motif found at the site (Fig. 23). Stratum II (Early Islamic period, 7th – 11th centuries CE) Two main phases of this period could be discerned, namely Phase IIB (Umayyad-Abbasid period, 7th to 8th centuries CE), and Phase A II (Abbasid-Fattimid period, 9th to 11th century CE). Phase IIB is mainly visible in area B, including mosaic pavements incorporating the octagonal pool from the Byzantine period bathhouse (above, Figs. 21-22). During the later Islamic phase (Phase IIA), building activity is evident mainly in Areas A and C, when the naval fort of “Minet Rubin” (Area C) was built. A strong tower of square shape (ca. 5 X 4,80m) was preserved here to a height of ca. 5m (Fig. 24); this tower probably belonged to those famous coastal outposts (ribatat) serving the ransom of prisoners, thus confirming sources naming Yavneh-Yam (as Mahuz Yubna or Mahuz e-Tanieh (al-Muqaddasi, ca. 985 CE; Idrissi, Geography 12th century CE [ca. 1154]) among those ribatat. A rich pottery assemblage dates to the Early Islamic IIA Stratum (the Abbasid and Fattimid periods, 8/9th to 11th centuries CE) (Fig. 25) to which coins and inscribed glass weights can be added. Judging from the material evidence of the Early Islamic period dated until the 12th century, it seems likely that the site was uninhabited during the Crusader and Mamluk periods, reflecting at least for the latter the neglect of the coastal area. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS In antiquity, Yavneh-Yam was the sea gate of inland Yavneh but was shadowed by the latter due both to its geographical location and its fame of being a leading Jewish center. On the other side, archaeological remains of Yavneh-Yam have revealed its long durée, dated from the Late Bronze age to Middle Ages (mid-2nd millennium BCE – 12th century CE). The ethnic encounter of the area as reflected by the archaeological find is definitely one of the most interesting aspects: oriental cultures encounter Mediterranean ones such as the Egyptian and the Greek cultures. Late Iron Age remains from Yavneh-Yam make the latter a further link in the geo-political encounter of that period. The archaeological finds from the Persian and Hellenistic periods enable us to better understand of the background of the political events focused around the Greco-Jewish conflict. Furthermore, archaeology brings its exclusive contribution to a more accurate picture of the Hasmonaean conquests in general and those of John Hyrcanus in particular. After its revival in the 1st century CE, various “ethno-archaeological” artifacts seem to point to a multi-ethnic society as typical of other Palestinian towns during the Roman and Byzantine period. Yavneh-Yam played a rather special finale during the Early Islamic periods, serving as a link in the vital chain of sea fortresses watching over the security of the coast and ransom of prisoners. Acknowledgments Thanks are going to all those volunteers from Israel and abroad and collaborators who contributed to the field work and the research activity and to those who supported the project actively. Finds from all the excavations carried out at Yavneh-Yam are on display at “Beit Miriam” Regional Museum, Kibbutz Palmahim. Drawings are by Rodica Pinchas and Yura Smertenko; photos of artifacts are by Pavel Shrago and Yoram Weinberg; air photo is by “Albatros” (© by the author); and field photos are by the author.
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR MAIN ANCIENT SOURCES SEE : Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J. 1994. Tabula Imperii Romani: Iudaea-Palaestina. Jerusalem: s.v.: Iamnia Paralios, Maoza. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Fischer, M. 2002a. Yavneh-Yam 1992-1999 – Interim Report. Qadmoniot 123:2-11 (Hebrew). Fischer, M. 2002b. The Excavations at Yavneh-Yam (Israel): East Mediterranean Settlements and their Relationship with the Aegean World. In Pont-Euxin et commerce (Actes du IXe Symposium de Vani [Colchide] – 1999). Paris: 45-56. Fischer, M. 2003 Yavne-Yam (Israel) Archäologie und Geschichte einer Hafenstadt am Mittelmeer. Antike Welt 34 (3): 241-252. Fischer, M. 2004 (forthcoming). Yavneh-Yam Papers Volume One. With contributions by Werner Eck, Peter Eich, Alexander Fantalkin, Zvi Gur, Ruth E. Jackson-Tal, Sarah Japp, Sonia Klinger, Yudith Navarro, Rachela Seligman, Itamar Taxel, and Susan Weingarten (BAR International series; forthcoming). Fischer, M. Ed. 1991. Yavneh-Yam and its Neighborhood (Yavneh - Yam Studies I). (in collaboration with B. Dashti). Jerusalem. (Hebrew). Fischer, M. Ed. 2004 (in press). Yavneh, Yavneh-Yam and the Neighborhood – Studies in the Archaeology and History of the Judean Coastal Plain. Tel Aviv University Press (in press). Fischer, M. NEAEHL (in press). The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (NEAEHL) Vol. 5: Yavneh-Yam. Isaac, B. 1991. A Seleucid Inscription from Iamneia-on-the-Sea: Antiochus V Eupator and the Sidonians. IEJ 41: 132-144. Kaplan, J. 1993, Yavneh-Yam. In: The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (NEAEHL). Jerusalem, Vol. 4: 1504-1506. Vitto, F. 1998. Mahoza D-Yamnin: A Mosaic Floor from the Time of Eudocia? ‘Atiqot 35: 109-134. View Yavneh Yam maps and sketchesView Yavneh Yam Photo Gallery
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