Khalet al-Jam’a. A Bronze and Iron Ages necropolis near Bethlehem (Palestine): results of the 2019 archaeological excavations

In Spring 2019 the Italian-Palestinian joint team of Sapienza University of Rome and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Palestine Dept. of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage resumed rescue excavations at the Necropolis of Khalet al-Jam’a, 2.2 Km south-east from the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. Works were focused on Tomb A7, identified in 2015, a huge underground burial place, dating back to the Iron IIC (8th-7th century BC), but also including earlier depositions dating from the EB IVB-MB. This suggests that an original EBIV tomb was modified and re-used in the following Middle Bronze and Iron Age. A provisional report of activities and finds is offered below.