Lifta

CONSERVATION CONTROVERSY: Paved paradise? The secrets of an ancient Jerusalem-area village revealed. Ahead of plans to a luxury neighborhood, architects and archaeologists find a treasure of ancient remains in the onetime Palestinian village of Lifta on Jerusalem's outskirts (Nir Hasson, Haaretz).

The Antiquities Authority has just completed a first-of-its-kind survey in the abandoned village of Lifta, on the western approaches to Jerusalem, ahead of plans to build a neighborhood of private homes on the site.

The survey, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, includes an archaeological, historical and geographic study, including measurements and digital reconstruction of each of the village’s structures, and how the entire village looked in various periods. Israel has never reconstructed any former village in this manner.

The study led to new insights regarding Lifta’s history and development, its function and architecture. Artifacts from the Hellenistic period were discovered, as well as subterranean spaces never known about before.

All this may not help conserve the village in face of a plan to build an upscale neighborhood on the site.

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