The Discovery
The excavation took place over several months in the parking lot of Ramat Gan's Winter Stadium, carried out by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) ahead of planned construction of a new bus terminal. What began as a standard salvage dig quickly revealed a network of straight, intersecting streets meeting at right angles, lined with shops, warehouses, large pottery kilns and a series of industrial installations once used to produce liquids on a substantial scale.
Yoav Arbel, one of the site's excavation directors, told The Times of Israel that the discovery far exceeded expectations. While the team anticipated finding archaeological remains at the site, the scale and organisation of an entire commercial and industrial complex dating to the seventh and eighth centuries CE came as a considerable surprise, with the layout's precision suggesting deliberate advance planning, likely involving government authorities of the period.
What Archaeologists Found
Arbel, who led the excavation alongside Lior Rauchberger, described a complex featuring straight streets intersecting at ninety-degree angles, lined with rooms that functioned as shops or warehouses, alongside plastered industrial facilities, pottery kilns and further production installations. Beyond pottery manufacture, several installations appear to have been used for the industrial production of liquids whose exact nature has not yet been identified by researchers.
The site's remarkable organisation aided the excavation itself, with Arbel noting that the layout's consistency allowed the team to predict where new walls would be found based on the logical structure of the surrounding streets. Alongside the building remains, archaeologists recovered dozens of pottery vessels and intact oil lamps, coins, fragments of glass vessels, bronze tableware and cosmetic implements, iron pickaxe heads, a sickle, and numerous nails — artifacts that have together allowed researchers to date the site with a high degree of confidence, even ahead of formal scientific dating results such as radiocarbon analysis.
Historical Background
Archaeologists believe the industrial quarter flourished for roughly 150 years during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, before being abandoned in the second half of the ninth century CE for reasons that remain unclear. Around thirty to forty years later, during the tenth century Fatimid period, the site was resettled, this time taking on a more domestic character, with residential buildings and tabun ovens for baking constructed directly over the ruins of the earlier industrial complex. This later phase of settlement continued until the late eleventh century CE, shortly before the Crusader conquest, after which the site was abandoned once more and never resettled.
The complex sat along a significant early Islamic-period route connecting the coastal city of Jaffa, the then-district capital of Ramla, and Jerusalem, or possibly along a secondary road branching from this main artery. This road would have carried a steady stream of travellers, merchants and goods past the site throughout its centuries of use.
Scientific Analysis
Similar industrial facilities have previously been identified elsewhere in Israel, as well as in Syria and Lebanon, though such sites are typically found within major urban centres. The Ramat Gan complex stands out for its location along a secondary route rather than within a large city itself, suggesting it was purpose-built to serve travellers and traders passing along the Jaffa–Ramla–Jerusalem corridor.
Arbel confirmed that the site was "definitely" designed with these travellers in mind, though it remains unknown whether it also formed part of a wider distribution network shipping goods to other parts of the region. The ownership and operation of the facilities also remain unclear. While the ruling authority at the time was Muslim, the surrounding population was notably diverse, including Muslim, Christian, Samaritan and Jewish communities, and no houses of prayer or other identifying features have yet been found at the site to indicate which group operated it.
Why This Discovery Matters
The scale, planning and evident government involvement suggested by the complex's design offer valuable evidence for how commercial infrastructure was organised along key transport corridors during the early Islamic period. Its location along a secondary route, rather than within a major city, also broadens understanding of how such industrial hubs were distributed across the wider landscape, rather than being confined solely to urban centres.
The site's long and layered history, spanning industrial use under the Umayyads and Abbasids, domestic resettlement under the Fatimids, and eventual abandonment before the Crusader period, provides a valuable continuous record of how a single location's function shifted across several centuries of political and social change in the region.
What's Next?
Excavation at the site concluded roughly two weeks before the discovery's announcement, with fieldwork having begun in November 2025 as part of the bus terminal's construction process, interrupted by a winter break of several months. This limited timeframe restricted the scope of the dig, and Arbel believes substantially more of the complex remains buried beyond the current excavation boundaries, potentially extending west, north, south and possibly east of the area investigated so far.
Following full scientific documentation, the site will be covered to ensure its preservation as construction of the bus terminal proceeds. Other IAA excavations in the surrounding area have already uncovered additional related remains, suggesting the newly documented complex may represent just one part of a considerably larger economic landscape linking fields, workshops and road networks across early Islamic-period central Israel.
Conclusion
What began as routine salvage archaeology ahead of a bus terminal project has instead revealed a meticulously planned commercial and industrial hub with roots stretching back 1,300 years. As researchers continue to piece together fragments of this wider early Islamic-era economic landscape, the Ramat Gan complex stands as a compelling reminder of how much organised infrastructure once linked the region's cities, roads and communities — and how much of that story likely still lies buried nearby.
FAQ
Q: Where was the industrial complex discovered? A: In the car park of Ramat Gan's Winter Stadium, Israel, during a salvage excavation ahead of new bus terminal construction.
Q: How old is the site? A: The complex dates to approximately the seventh and eighth centuries CE, roughly 1,300 years old.
Q: What was found at the site? A: Straight intersecting streets lined with shops, warehouses, pottery kilns, liquid-production installations, pottery vessels, oil lamps, coins, glass fragments, bronze implements and tools.
Q: Who built and operated the complex? A: This remains unknown; while the ruling authority was Muslim, the population was religiously diverse, and no identifying religious structures have been found.
Q: What happened to the site after it was abandoned? A: It was resettled around 30–40 years later during the Fatimid period as a residential area, before being abandoned again in the late 11th century CE, shortly before the Crusader conquest.
