נמל יפו: תוואי החומה בתקופות הצלבנית והעות'מאנית ושרידי רציף מימי המנדט הבריטי

In 2007–2008 and in 2010, salvage excavations were conducted in the area of the harbor in Yafo (Jaffa), between the northern gate of the harbor and Hangar 1 (Fig. 1). Five strata (I–V) were uncovered, dating from the Byzantine period to the modern era, including a short section of the Byzantine-period seawall and sections of the Crusader seawall, which were partially uncovered in previous excavations by Kaplan. In addition, four phases of the construction of the harbor in the Ottoman period were uncovered, including facilities such as wharfs, a customs house and the seawall. Also documented were changes that the harbor underwent at the end of the Ottoman period and in the days of the British Mandate, alongside surface remains from the modern era. The harbor of Yafo extends from the concrete wharf east of the breakwater, built on the ridge of reefs in the west, to the Andromeda rock in the north. Access to the harbor today is from the north and west, at the edge of the modern breakwater. Large ships never docked in the harbor of Yafo due to its shallowness. They anchored in the open sea, west of the ridge of reefs, and passengers and cargo were transported to the wharf in small boats that crossed the narrow passage between the reefs. Six areas (A–F; Fig. 2) were excavated in a disturbed area of modern infrastructure that crosses the area of the quay from north to south.