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Yavneh Yam (Minet Rubin)

The Byzantine Period (Yavneh-Yam Archaeological Project)

The site of Yavneh-Yam is located on the Mediterranean shore of Israel approximately equidistant (20 kilometres) between Jaffa and Ashdod. Yavneh-Yam served as a harbor together with other maritime sites along the Israeli coast. The site of Yavneh-Yam has a long history lasting from the 2nd millenium BC up to the Middle Ages. This is evident from archaeological finds rather than historical sources. For the earliest periods we do not possess any historical evidence as to the place and the role that the site played. The Bible does not mention this specific place.

From the Persian Period (6th - 4th centuries BC) onwards various sources begin to mention Yavneh-Yam. At the end of the 6th century BC the Near East was included into the huge Persian Empire. Yavneh-Yam however is not mentioned in the main sources of the Persian Period - such as the writings of Herodotus. Only The Book of Judith (Apocrypha) gives an insight into the fate of the place during the complicated political situation towards the end of the Persian Period (mid-4th century BC). It seems however that Yavneh-Yam had been settled by Phoenicians from Sidon in Lebanon as evident from both material culture and later historical evidence ...

Yavneh-Yam Archaeological Project

The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium