Background:

AVAR is honored to be an integral part of the FIRST scientific, academic excavation at the Hyrcania fortress in Israel’s Judean Desert. The fortress was constructed on a hilltop near the northern edge of the Dead Sea during the Hasmonean/Hellenistic period and subsequently refortified by no less than Herod the Great. Several centuries later it became a Christian monastery.

The project is in conjunction with Project Directors Dr. Oren Gutfeld and Michal Haber from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with logistical support provided by Israel Archaeological Services.