In January–October 2022, a salvage excavation was conducted on the southern outskirts of the city of Rahat (Permit No. A-9213; map ref. 176223–8260/586123–900), prior to the expansion of the city. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the Authority for the Development and Settlement of the Bedouin in the Negev, was directed by O. Shmueli, E. Kogan-Zahavi and N.D. Michael, with the assistance of R. Abu Halaf, Y. Alamor and J. Auerbach (administration), D. Aladjem, Y. Arbel, L. Davis, A. Dobrinin, Z. Firer, I. Kapranov, A. Montagu, I. Peretz, N. Lect Ben Ami, A. Shatil and J. Vasiutin (area supervision), L. Spierer (preliminary inspections), E. Aladjem, E. Marco and M. Kahan (surveying, drafting and photogrammetry), Y. Schmidov (3D model), D. Salman (plans), A. Peretz and D. Eisenberg-Degen (field and aerial photography and Reflectance Transformation Imaging RTI), D. Gazit (studio photography and RTI), F. Kobrin (metal detection), J. Tirosh Hacohen and M. Diab (fresco conservation), A. Anber (conservation), Y. Schaffer and A. Levy (engineering and conservation consultation), T. Erickson-Gini and I. Taxel (pottery), A. Fraiberg (3D scanning of finds), Y. Gorin-Rosen (glass), Y. Nagar (physical anthropology), Y. Asscher and M. Shor (analytical laboratory), N. Sukenik (organic finds), N. Wieler (geology and geomorphology), E. Boaretto (radiocarbon dating), D. Cvikel (graffiti), S. Halevi (Multispectral imaging), H. Ettel, H. Azrat, S. Lipshiz, A. Garbia, M. Kot, G. Zohar, I. Peretz, I Azulai and R. Dagan (educational program) and W. Atrash (consultation and educational program). Further assistance was provided by M. Ajami, S. Talis, H. Kahalaily, O. Barzilai, G. Avni, J. Seligman, S. Zur, Y. Tepper, Z. Greenhut, U. ‘Ad, P. Gendelman, E. Ayalon, T. Tsuk and R. Avner, as well as by K. Cytrin-Silverman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Y. Tchekhanovets (Ben-Gurion University).
Michael et al. (Tue,) studied this question.