Hannathon: Tell el-Badawiya (“mound of the Bedouins”) is among the largest archaeological sites in northern Israel, dating from the Bronze and Iron Ages. It is strategically located on the ancient route that connects the Hauran and the Akko Plain, known in more recent times as the Darb el-Hawarna. The site is unanimously identified as the location of ancient Hannathon/Ḫinatuna, mentioned in the Amarna Letters (EA 8 and 245), the royal annals of Tiglath-Pileser III (Ann. 18, Line 5), and the Hebrew Bible (Josh 19:14). The project's objective is to gather archaeological data concerning the attack of the Assyrians mentioned in Tiglath-Pileser III’s royal annals, to understand its mechanism and intensity, and to explore the events that followed this event.
Nessana: The project of Nessana Excavations started in 2022 and aims to focus on the problematics of the archaeology of pilgrimage. During the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, Nessana served as a main hub on the way of Christian pilgrims, moving from the Holy Land to Mount Sinai. Pilgrimage played a major role in the life of the settlement, as clearly reflected in numerous church buildings erected at the site, inscriptions and graffiti in various languages and in the testimony of the Nessana papyri. An arid environment with outstanding preservation of the organic remains (textile, leather, basketry), proven by previous research, shows the great archaeological potential of the site.
