Working at Jam'a A-Sattin

Jam'a A-Sattin (the 'Friday Hangout' Mosque) is just outside and south of the main Tel Shiloh area.  It was a Roman period building that was converted to a mosque when the Arabs invaded, conquered and then occupied the Land of Israel.

I've blogged about it before.

Recently, it has been undergoing a cleaning out and the walls are being strengthened and the site is being extended to the fullest of its boundaries.

I visited this past week and here are some photographic evidence:

More here.

Here is what piqued my interest as an amateur archaeologist.  What was the purpose for what seems to be a large outside courtyard?  We can observe that the soil was raised by having the west side (to the right in the picture below) level to the eastern side of the structure:

The work being done to strengthen the walls:

The inside of the main room:

You can discern the added exterior support wall:

An additional room added on:

^