Ancient Port of Palestine

For more than four millennia, the natural harbor of Dor—a small but important bay nestled between the Carmel range and the Plain of Sharon—attracted sailors, merchants and generals from across the ancient world. History tells us that the originally Canaanite harbor town of Dor had become a focus of Philistine and Phoenician settlement by the time the Egyptian Wen-Amon arrived at the port in the late 12th century B.C. From the Book of Kings, we learn that Solomon made Dor one of his 12 administrative governorates, a status the city retained throughout much of its Assyrian and Persian history. During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Dor became a significant Greco-Roman port city with paved streets, monumental temples, a theater, a complex water and sewer system and a major walled fortress.

For most of the past three decades, an international team of archaeologists has been piecing together the material remnants of Tel Dor’s long and continuous occupation. Major finds include a huge stone gate dated to the time of Solomon, intricately designed cylinder seals of the Assyrian province, beautiful terracotta figurines from the Persian period and, of course, the well-preserved architectural remains and fortification walls of the Greco-Roman city. Recent excavation at the site has also revealed one of the largest murex dye industrial complexes ever found along the Levantine coast.

This season, archaeologists will be focusing on the relatively poorly known Bronze Age levels of the site, as well as expanding the investigation of the site’s murex industry. Volunteers will also help investigate strata uncovered within the Greco-Roman temples of Tel Dor. Volunteers can work with one of two groups; one, affiliated with the University of Washington, concentrates on the classical period and art history, the other, led by Professor Elizabeth Bloch-Smith of St. Joseph’s University, focuses on the Biblical period and on archaeological methods and theory.

Participants will stay three to four to a room in the nearby Nahsholim Seaside Hotel. Rooms are air-conditioned and include private bathrooms, cable TV and kitchenettes.