Inside the Gate
Tenth-century structures located well inside and beneath the pavement have been identified as granaries. They consist of parallel storage chambers, roughly 1 m x 6 m each, running perpendicular to a third chamber about 1 m x 2.5 m in size. The chambers are separated by a wall measuring roughly 1 m thick. At the east end of the chamber, capping the parallel sections, a pit was excavated to the depth of nearly 3 m. The pit contained a large number of charred animal bones, mostly bovine and caprid, which were likely offered at the high place discovered immediately south of the assemblage. The proximity of the storage chambers to the high place suggests ritual use of grain as well. Two of the seven steles found in proximity to the gate complex flank the pavement above the granaries.