 In 1967 to 1968 he was co-director of the Tel Bet Yerah (Khirbet Kerak) excavations.In the years 1968 to 1971 Ussishkin headed a survey of Silwan, in Eastern Jerusalem, across from the City of David.In the era of the First Jerusalem Temple, about 50 rock-cut tombs of rich and powerful people from the Kingdom of Judah were carved into the mountainside in this area (known as the Silwan Necropolis / Siloam).