Students from 4th to 12th grade were surprised to discover a collection of coins, jewelry and hairpins that are 900 years old. These were found in a dig from the Antiquities ministry in cooperation with the municipality of Modiin-Maccabim-Reut which is responsible for the Titura Hill site where the archaeological/educational dig is taking place.
The program is organized as such that every day a different class comes to dig at the archeological site along with volunteers and seniors from the town. The purpose of the project is to give the local townsfolk a taste of the cultural heritage of the region they live in a direct manner.
Titura Hill is a unique archaeological site within the (triple) city of Modiin-Maccabim- Reut. In past digs at the site findings tell of life dating back to the copper age(from 5,000 years ago) on the main road from Jerusalem to the coastal plain surrounded by fertile fields used for agriculture which supported and sustained the people living there for generations.
The Antiquities Ministry dig supervisor Abraham Tendler explains that “we’ve uncovered an ancient kitchen where they cooked and baked for hundreds of years throughout the middle ages. There were ‘tabun’ clay ovens, cooking pots, jars, serving plates and table utensils, remnants of food like olive pits, beans, petrified grape seeds and animal bones.”
Tendler adds: “”it seems the women cooking weren’t so careful with the jewelry they wore when cooking and baking because we found many pieces in the kitchen, some made from bronze and silver”.
Most of the jewelry was found by Mati Yochananoff a volunteer archaeologist that comes to the site often. He says: “Many metal items were found on this site. These include coins, rings, bracelets and makeup utensils. These findings point to the characteristics of the traditional activities of household women.”
The municipality wants to make an archeological natural park on the site with the purpose of making these findings accessible to the public. “We will continue to work cooperating with all the relevant bodies to make Titura Hill a natural urban park accessible to all which will be a learning resource about the treasures of this region”, the Modiin mayor promised.