Research Excavations: Tel Yafo

In 2008 the JCHP initiated its first research excavations within the visitor’s center in Qedumim Square atop the tell of ancient Jaffa (Tel Yafo). These excavations were carried out within Jacob Kaplan’s Area C excavations of 1961 and 1965, and where excavations were continued by Etty Brand in 1992. The JCHP’s excavations, which continued on a larger scale during 2009, served as a pilot project demonstrating the project's goals and its relationship to former research and salvage excavations at the site.

In 2011 a long-term excavation project began within Area A of Jacob Kaplan’s excavations with the goal of clarifying the stratigraphic sequence exposed during his work from 1955 to 1974 and better understanding Egyptian and Canaanite interactions with and around the Egyptian fortress in Jaffa. The renewed excavations include intensive recovery techniques in an effort to recover aspects that can be studied owing to the analytical tools now available. This work is being conducted as an extension of the Kaplan Excavations Publication Initiative and the excavations from 2013 to 2016 are funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Salvage Excavations: Lower Yafo

Salvage excavations in Jaffa, off of the tell in the surrounding lower town, are predominantly the domain of the Israel Antiquities Authority, with limited involvement by archaeologists from Israeli universities bidding for the opportunity to run salvage excavation projects.

Salvage excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority published since 2005 can be accessed on the website of Hadashot Arkheologiyot—Excavations and Surveys in Israel. Additional links to earlier HA-ESI bibliography can be found on the project’s bibliography.