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3. Inspection of the excavations at Ras in Palestine. The Commission des fouilles had instructed me to assume the scientific supervision of the excavations at Ras carried out by the École Biblique et Archéologique de Jerusalem under the direction of Père de Vaux. I visited the excavations on 11 and 12 October and found Père de Vaux on the site surrounded by three collaborators, themselves Dominican fathers acting as draughtsmen, surveyors and pottery specialists.
The first sounding on the flank of the tell produced only late antiquities and was complete. Père de Vaux then shifted his effort to a location in the northern area of the tell. Here an excavation of about 30 x 50 m was undertaken and reaches bedrock at one point at about 7 m c. depth. The well-defined stratigraphic levels above belong to the Early, Middle and Late Bronze. Père de Vaux is inclined to date the oldest section above the virgin soil to the Eneolithic. A period of centres, whose extent attests a general catastrophe at the site, separates this level from the upper layers. After examining the finds and the stratigraphy I have doubts about the antiquity attributed to the intermediate level at Ras. But one must await publication of the report before pronouncing.
Père de Vaux proceeded with great caution in clearing the chosen location and the structures encountered. His excavation method is well understood and promises well-observed stratigraphic results. The interpretation of the stratigraphic indications at Ras poses problems, several of which are at first sight difficult to reconcile with certain earlier classifications. Père de Vaux's interpretation of these indications is objective and perceptive.
On the other hand, the site is of prime importance for its size and its geographical position along the most important route of penetration into northern Palestine coming from the interior of Syria. It would be desirable that an adequate and fairly long-term effort could be undertaken at this site.
To avoid burdening the budget of the excavations at Ras, considerable sums that the rental of land and the transport of spoil for reconstitution currently require, it would be preferable to proceed with the purchase of the part of the tell currently chosen for its investigation. This solution would be less costly than the rentals and damages demanded by the owners. It would allow the excavations to be conducted at minimum expense. On the other hand, one could leave exposed the most important buildings uncovered, some of which already appear to be of fairly large dimensions.
I proposed to Père de Vaux that an estimate be drawn up for the purchase of the land most indispensable for the investigation, whose perimeter we determined together. Mr Hamilton, Director of Antiquities of Palestine, whom I visited, promised to have the question examined by the commission in charge of purchases and expropriation.
Handwritten: signature
C.F.A. Schaeffer Director of Research Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
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