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| engraving of two horned figures with outspread arms |
A fortified building complex from the time of King David has been discovered in the southern Golan Heights, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced on Wednesday.
The archaeologists who uncovered the complex during IAA excavations in Moshav Haspin assess that it was a fort built by the Kingdom of Geshur (Iron Age, 11th-10th centuries BCE).
The excavation—conducted ahead of the construction of a new neighborhood in Haspin—was carried out predominantly by residents of Haspin and nearby Nov, in addition to youth from the pre-military academies at Natur, Kfar Hanassi, El Rom, Metzar and Katzrin. It was funded by Israel’s Housing and Construction Ministry and the Golan Regional Council.
According to IAA excavation directors Barak Tzin and Enno Bron, the fortified structure was built strategically on a hilltop above the Nahal El Al Reserve and encompassed by 5-foot-thick walls made of basalt boulders.
“In the excavation, we were astonished to make a rare and exciting find: a large basalt stone with a schematic engraving of two horned figures with outspread arms,” they said.







