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Marcus Heinrich Hermanns
Atlit Country - Israel Locality - Atlit
Coordinates – Latitude: 32º48’46’’ Longitude: 34º57’14’’
Land excavations carried out by C. N. Johns, in the 1930’s revealed a series of rock-cut shaft tombs and cremation burials along the SE part of the kurkar (sandstone) ridge. The burial and the settlement on the north coast were dated to the periods between the 9th and the 5th centuries BCE. While studying the Crusader’s north walls, Johns found an older understructure beneath. It was at the ground level of the gate with a kurkar-paved passage and two flanking towers. The remains of the Phoenician harbor were first located in 1963, during underwater survey by a team from the Underwater Exploration Society of Israel (UESI). The mapping and trial excavations continued for two years (1963-1965), as part of the "Atlit Map Survey" carried out by the Archaeological Survey of Israel. In the following year (1966), surveys and trial excavations continued. A check was made on the relationship between the structures found along the shore and the gate discovered by Johns’ excavations, near the northern poterna, east of the crusader fosse. Additionally, the remains of a settlement from the 10th to the 6th BCE centuries were found east of the Crusader cemetery.
Within the northern harbor and the area around it were revealed several wrecks. In 1976, Dr. E. Linder and A. Raban (University of Haifa) carried out underwater excavations to study the marine structures, digging down to their foundations. In 1981, within the North Bay and close to the shore was found a very large bronze, one piece cast, battering ram (476 kg) known as the "Atlit Ram", dated to the Hellenistic period of the 4th - 2nd centuries BCE. Other finds were bronze objects from the Late Iron Age, Persian and Hellenistic periods, along with the ammunition from a Mameluk warship, including canons and copper helmets. In the early 1980’, during the underwater surveys carried out by E. Galili from the Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa was revealed the unique site of a Neolithic (7000 BCE) submerged village (7th-12th m). Excavations were carried out between 1984 and 1991.
Cultural context – MB II age settlement and burials - Phoenican harbor and rock-cut shaft burials - Crusader Citadel and Fortress - Centuries – 16th century BCE - 7th-5th centuries BCE - end of 1291 Crusader rule was ended by the Mameluk Empire
There is not enough data to give a precise date for the ancient harbor at Atlit. The pottery vessels found during the underwater surveys and trial excavations was not earlier than the end of the 7th century BCE. The mole at Tabat el-Hammam, is dated to the 9th century BCE. The parallels between Akko, Tyre and Sidon are not earlier than 6th-5th century BCE. The Atlit harbor being more sophisticated than that at Tabat el-Hammam, and the pottery finds within the harbor basin, permit an estimated date for its construction to the 7th century BCE or even later. The Hellenistic and Roman pottery finds are quite limited, thus one may assume that during these periods the harbor was not at its high pick and use...
(must have been written before globull warming...I assume it's the same place?)