A salvage excavation was conducted near the edge of the chalk quarry of the “Nesher-Ramla” cement plant in the wake of a plan to enlarge it. Remains of an agricultural settlement dating to two main periods were exposed:
  1. A village dating to the Early Roman period including ritual baths, hiding refuges and loculi tombs.
  2. A village from the Byzantine period that include a church, a number of buildings and agricultural installations.
The remains of the large church (12 x 22 m) were not well-preserved but in front of the bema, in the front section of the church, a four line Greek inscription remained that mentions a bishop by the name of Dionysus who built the church. According to historical sources a bishop by that name lived in the city of Lod at the end of the 4th century and the numismatic evidence that was found below the floor of the church also corroborates this dating. A rectangular structure (triclinium?) dating to the Late Roman period was excavated below the floor of the ancient church. The construction of churches in the 4th century CE was recorded in numerous historical sources but archaeological evidence of their presence is scarce; hence the importance of this church.