2,300-year-old village discovered near Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Feb 18 (IANS) Remnants of a 2,300-year-old village were discovered west of Jerusalem, Israel Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday.

The village was unearthed last month near the so-called "Burma Road", some 35 km west of Jerusalem.

The discovery was made during salvage excavation, before the start of work on a 35 km-long natural gas pipeline to Jerusalem as part of a national project.

The excavations, which covered about 750 square metres, revealed a small rural settlement with a few stone houses and a network of narrow alleys, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said in a statement.

Each building, which probably housed a single nuclear family, consisted of several rooms and an open courtyard.

"The rooms generally served as residential and storage rooms, while domestic tasks were carried out in the courtyards," Xinhua reported citing a statement issued by Irina Zilberbod, excavation director.

The excavations also revealed large tracts of land which were used, as they still are today, to cultivate orchards and vineyards, Zilberbod said.

The Israel Antiquities Authority says that it is not known why the site was abandoned, but it was probably related to economic problems and not to any violent incident.