Survey of Western Palestine, saying that they noted on the south-side of the summit an ancient olive-press, among other ruins. Excavations by the English archaeologists Frederick J. Bliss and R. A. Stewart Macalister in the period 1897-1900 at Tel Azekah revealed a fortress, water systems, hideout caves used during Bar Kokhba revolt and other antiquities, such as LMLK seals. The principal areas of excavation were on the summit's southwestern extremity, where were found the foundations of three towers; the southeastern corner of the tell, where the fortress was located and built primarily of hewn stones; and at an experimental pit located in the center of the summit. Azekah was one of the first sites excavated in the Holy Land and was excavated under the Palestine Exploration Fund for a period of 17 weeks over the course of three seasons. At the close of their excavation Bliss and Macalister refilled all of their excavation trenches in order to preserve the site. The site is located on the grounds of a Jewish National Fund park, Britannia Park. In 2008 and 2010, a survey of the site was conducted by Oded Lipschitz, Yuval Gadot, and Shatil Imanuelov, on behalf of Tel-Aviv University's Institute of Archaeology. The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition, part of the regional Elah Valley Project, commenced in the summer of 2012. It is directed by Prof. Oded Lipschits of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, together with Dr Yuval Gadot of TAU and with Prof. Manfred Oeming of Heidelberg University. and is a consortium of over a dozen universities from Europe, North America, and Australia. In its first season 300 volunteers worked for six weeks and uncovered walls, installations, and many hundreds of artifacts. As part of the Jewish National Fund park, whenever possible structures will be conserved and displayed to the public. Further reading E. Stern, "Azekah," in: The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land'', E. Stern (ed.), Israel Exploration Society: Jerusalem 1993, pp. 123–124 References Bibliography (from Lipschitz, Tel Azekah 113) External links Survey of Western Palestine, Map 16: IAA, Wikimedia commons The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition- Current website The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition Archaeological sites in Israel Tells (archaeology) Canaanite cities Ancient Jewish settlements of Judaea Hebrew Bible cities Biblical geography Ancient sites in Israel Valley of Elah Archaeology of Palestine (region) Iron Age sites in Israel