Enclosure Gate

Overview

The Stratum VII settlement was served by a simple gate opening to the elegantly planned city of Strata V–II. In Stratum VII, the adjoining houses were built in a circle so that they opened into a shared courtyard, with the back of the houses forming the wall of the enclosure. It is unlikely that it served any real military function other than keeping unwelcome visitors from entering the settlement. The gate consists of two rectangular chambers that flank a passageway some 1.5-meter long. The west chamber is larger than the east chamber; it has much thicker walls and is better preserved. The east chamber was partially destroyed by a Herodian wall and a WWI bunker. A drainage channel that carried water out of the settlement runs through the passageway. The excavators also found remains of three buildings outside the settlement; however, they were too fragmentary for recreating their plans. One of the buildings was close to the well, leading excavators to think it may have been associated with it.