בית קברות מהתקופה הפרסית ושרידים מהתקופות הרומית המאוחרת, הביזנטית, העבאסית והצלבנית במתחם בית החולים הצרפתי, יפו

Salvage excavations conducted in the St. Louis French Hospital compound in Yafo uncovered built tombs and burial caves, architectural remains, built installations and rock cuttings from the Persian, Late Roman, Byzantine, Abbasid and Crusader periods (Fig. 1). Fourteen Persian-period burial caves were uncovered, hewn in the kurkar bedrock with vertical shaft entrances (T1–T5, T7–T10, T17–T19, T22, T23; Plan 1, Figs. 2–21). The caves were filled with kurkar sand and stone fragments. Potsherds and intact pottery vessels found on the cave floors comprised mainly juglets and lamps dating from the mid-fifth to the mid-fourth century BCE (see Gendelman, this volume; Gendelman and Dayan, this volume). Two rock cuttings were also found (F6, F44; Fig. 22) that yielded potsherds from the Persian period. Burial in the Persian period was apparently familial and the caves were used for extended periods. The deceased were laid on their back, on an east–west axis, with their head in the east (see Nagar, this volume), and were accompanied by personal items, including metal artifacts and jewelry (see Sari, this volume). The burial practices resemble those of the Phoenician burials located along the coast, from Akhziv in the north to Gaza in the south, and seem to be a continuation from earlier periods, e.g., the Iron Age Akhziv burials. The presence of other Persian-period cemeteries at nearby Andromeda Hill attests that these tombs were part of one large necropolis that stretched southward from Tel Yafo and served the city, and possibly its periphery as well. Remains dating from the Late Roman period consist of a rock-cut tomb (T45; Fig. 23), an installation (F43; Fig. 24) and a rock cutting (F16); the finds include a characteristic candlestick-type bottle (see Ouhnouna, this volume). From the Byzantine period, a burial cave hewn in the kurkar rock (T39; Fig. 257), a single cist grave (T27; Fig. 27) and a section of a mosaic paving containing a Greek inscription that was read by those entering the cemetery (L552; see Di Segni, this volume: Fig. 1) were unearthed. Also dating to this period were a few installations (F26; Fig. 29) and rock cuttings (F29, F34; Figs. 28, 30). The large quantity of oil lamps found in the burial cave (see Gendelman and Dayan, this volume), the cross engraved on the stone that blocked the cave entrance (Fig. 26), and possibly also the mosaic pavement (L552), attest to the presence of a Christian population at the site during this period. A stone