Tel Shikmona

Tel Shikmona (Šiqmônah, , Tell as-Samakh), also spelt Sycamine, is an ancient tell (mound) situated near the sea coast on the modern city of Haifa, Israel, just south of the Israeli National Institute of Oceanography.
History.
In the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax it is mentioned the Sykaminon (Συκάμινον) as a city of the Tyrians, and also that there was a river of the same name. Stephanus of Byzantium called it Sykaminon (Συκαμίνων) and called it a city of the Phoenicians.
Josephus in his "Antiquities" mentions Shikmona ("Sycamine") as being a place where ships could be brought to harbor, and where Ptolemy Lathyrus, during an incursion in the country, had brought his army ashore. Strabo mentions the site (Sycaminopolis, Συκαμίνων πόλις) as being no more than a ruin in his own day. The Mishnah ("Demai" 1:1), compiled in 189 CE, mentions the region of Shikmona as being renowned for its cultivated variety of jujubes (Hebrew: "rīmīn"). The Bordeaux pilgrim in 333 CE passed through "Sycaminon" while traveling through the Holy Land.
Archaeology.
Excavation history.
The main archaeological excavations conducted at the tell and in the Byzantine city south of it, were carried out by the archaeologist J. Elgavish in the 1960s–70s on behalf of the Department of Museums, Municipality of Haifa.
Salvage excavations were conducted in the 1990s by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and concentrated in the eastern part of the Byzantine city, west of the Carmel Mountain slopes, were the city's necropolis is. In 2010–2011 a new series of excavation seasons was conducted by a team from the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, headed by Dr. Michael Eisenberg with Dr. Shay Bar directing the excavations on the tell itself. The goals of the project were to re-expose excavated archaeological complexes south and east of the tell previously excavated by Elgavish, expand those areas and undertake extensive conservation work in order to preserve the antiquities and present them to the public as part of Shikmona Public Park. The work also aimed to study the stratification of the tell and create a precise chronological framework.
Findings.
The remains on the tell date from the Late Bronze Age to the Late Byzantine period. The lower city, east and mainly south of the tell, is dated to the Late Roman period-Byzantine period. No remains have been found dating to the Early Arab period, leading the archaeologists to conclude that Shikmona was abandoned before the 7th century CE.
Tel Shikmona has yielded various types of sherds, the most common of which belonging to the red-slipped plates and bowls (Eastern "sigillata" A) made on the Phoenician coast during the 1st century CE. In addition, archaeologists discovered evidence for dyeing industry based on the Murex sea snail, also known as Tyrian purple, dating back to the Iron Age.
Nature reserve and national park.
Shikmona was declared a 1677-dunam nature reserve in 2008. A small area (73 dunams) was declared a national park, as well.