A large farmhouse - dating back some 2,800 years - has been discovered in central Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday. Thestructure, located in Rosh Ha'ayin, apparently dates back to the period of the Assyrian conquest in the 8th century B.C.E.

It's early days to say exactly who lived in the huge house, which had 23 rooms. It can be said that the house had been in use for roughly 600years, from the Iron Age II through to the Hellenistic empire. But a farmhouse of the time would have been more like a settlement than some Big Houseon the Prarie, possibly housing a farming clan, according to the archaeologists.

The farmhouse was occupied by farmers for some 600 years, based on ceramics and other indications, from the time of the Assyrian conquest throughthe Persian period in the 6th century B.C.E., and into the Hellenistic period, which began with the conquest of the region (and Persia) by Alexanderthe Great.

One of the most exciting finds on the floor of one of the rooms - which being from about 325 B.C.E. also helped to date the site, says Shadman -was a rare silver Greek coin, bearing the military leader's name - ?????N????, around the image of the god Zeus. The flip side of the coin showsHeracles.

Ultimately, the farmhouse with the abandoned coin on its floor had stood empty for centuries on end - but at least it stood. With the Ottomanconquest of the region came an appetite for lime and, to use the stone, they destroyed the building, says Shadman. Yet what does remain is in anexcellent state of preservation, says the Israel Antiquities Authority, which - together with the Construction Ministry - has decided to conserve thesite as is, for visitors

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