Area A5
Located on the northeastern slope of the lower hill, above the steep descent to Naḥal Natuf, the area is characterised by high bedrock, partly exposed or covered by only a thin layer of soil. Until recently, it was largely covered by olive trees. Area A constituted one of the two principal foci of the major salvage project conducted in the 1990s (alongside Area D) and, owing to its extent, was subdivided into 16 sub-areas. The remains identified in this area include settlement remains from the Iron Age II, burial caves dating to the Persian and Early Roman periods, and agricultural installations from the Intermediate Bronze Age, the Iron Age II, and the Early Roman period.
Area A5, located in the southeastern corner of Area A, yielded several domestic units arranged in a grid and sharing a uniform orientation (Figure 1). The ceramics recovered from their floors date to the Iron Age II. On the floor of one of these units, a cuneiform tablet was discovered, documenting a loan transaction with a pledge clause and dated to 664/663 BCE (Figure 2). Together with the tablet recovered in Area B3, dated to 698/697 BCE, these finds provide direct evidence for the presence of deportees at Hadid during the seventh century BCE.
Area D
Located on the southwestern slope of the lower hill, above a wadi draining the hills south of Tel Ḥadid, the area is characterised by high bedrock, partly exposed or covered by only a thin layer of soil. Until recently, it was largely covered by agricultural terraces, which were removed as part of the salvage project in the 1990s. Area D constituted one of the two principal foci of that project (alongside Area A) and, owing to its extent, was subdivided into 16 sub-areas. The remains identified in this area include a natural rock cavity filled with a cultic repository dating to the Iron Age IIA–IIB, a cremation jar burial from the late Iron Age II (Figure 1), burial caves from the Late Hellenistic period, and agricultural installations, mainly olive oil presses and wine presses, dating to the Iron Age II and the Byzantine period (Figure 2).
