Remains of 5000-year-old city found in Israel

Israel : Israeli archeologists on Sunday unveiled the remains of a 5000-year-old city that they claim to be the biggest from its era in the region, including fortifications, a ritual temple and a cemetery.

"We have here an immense urban construction, planned with streets that separate neighbourhoods and public spaces," Yitzhak Paz of the Israel Antiquities Authority told AFP at the site near the Mediterranean in the country's centre.

The discovery has been tagged as the biggest from the Bronze Age till date.

The archaeological site known as En Esur "is the largest site and the most important from that era" in the region, said Itai Elad, another archaeologist overseeing the excavation.

"It is 650 dunams (0.65 square kilometres), meaning double what we know."

A ritual temple has also been located in the site along with rare figurines with human and animal faces, they said.

In the temple, archeologists also spotted burnt animal bones in a stone basin that they called proof of sacrificial offerings.

Around four million fragments were found at the site, including pieces of pottery, flint tools and vases of stone and basalt, said Elad.

Some of the tools came from Egypt, the archaeologists said.

With the participation of over 5000 teenagers for the time course of around 2 and a half years, the excavations process was carried out.