Ancient 1,300-Year-Old Industrial City Discovered Beneath Israeli Stadium

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered a well-planned industrial and commercial complex dating back over 1,000 years beneath the Winter Stadium parking lot in Ramat Gan. The excavation, conducted ahead of a new bus terminal construction by Netivei Ayalon Company, revealed streets, kilns, industrial facilities, and numerous ovens from the 7th or 8th century CE.

Dr. Yoav Arbel and Lior Rauchberger, excavation directors, described the site as an organized complex with intersecting straight streets lined with rooms that served as shops or warehouses. The site’s design suggests it was engineered by regional authorities, possibly as a major trade and industrial station near a secondary route branching from the main road connecting Jaffa, Ramla (the district capital), and Jerusalem. The fertile land and water sources nearby likely supported its function.

The complex operated for about 150 years before abandonment under unknown circumstances. It was resettled in the 10th century during the Fatimid period, with new residential buildings, production facilities, and many tabuns (clay ovens). The site was deserted again by the late 11th century, prior to the Crusader conquest, and never reoccupied.

Finds include intact pottery, oil lamps, bronze cosmetic tools, iron farming implements, numerous coins, and a large quantity of local and imported pottery and glass fragments, reflecting the era’s culture and economy. The site spans the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, with later habitation in the Fatimid era. The region’s population then was ethnically and religiously diverse, including Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Samaritans, though no clear evidence identifies the site's inhabitants.

This discovery sheds new light on the region’s historical trade networks and urban planning during early Islamic rule in the Land of Israel.