Ottoman Era Fisherman’s House and Implements Discovered in Israel
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Naomi Zeveloff September 22, 2016
Remains of an Ottoman-era fisherman’s house and tools were among the findings of recent excavation in Ashkelon, a southern Israeli coastal city which has been used as a port for thousands of years.
The three-room house house was full of fishing implements such as metal hooks, lead weights, a bronze bell and a stone anchor. The building’s entrance is on the north side in order to block off high winds from the sea.
Archaeologists also discovered the remains of a lookout tower nearby, which archaeologists think could have been a lighthouse looking over the beach and the Mediterranean Sea.
The excavation was conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority with the help of a youth program meant to expose young people in Ashkelon and the surrounding areas to their city’s long-distant past.
It was in an area of Ashkelon where a new neighborhood is slated for development. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the fisherman’s house will be preserved and showcased in the new development.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected] or on Twitter @naomizeveloff
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
