Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 117, September 2014, pp. 1-33. | Page 2

2

The Beit Zeit tracks are of prime scientific value. They record one of the major
links in the biological chain of development on earth.
I visited Beit Zeit, West of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), on 09.07.2013 and examined the
Beit Zeit Dinosaur Tracks accompanied with my beloved wife Ola and my
beloved daughter Nora.

Map of Beit Zeit, West of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), Occupied Palestine. The map is showing
the Dinosaur Tracks site. Photo by: Prof. Dr. Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf-von Jaffa.
09.07.2013. http://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/12191054606/

The Discovery:
The discovery of the Beit Zeit (Beit Zayit) dinosaur tracks, just a few kilometers
west of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), was made by Mr. Mordechai Sofer, a former
geology student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During the summer of
1962, Mr. Mordechai Sofer informed Prof. Moshe Avnimelech that mysterious
imprints were left in the rocks in the garden of Mr. Schwarzwald, who was as
Mr. Sofer, a resident of the Beit Zeit village. The next day Prof. Moshe
Avnimelech visited the construction site. What he found was a continuous row
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 117 – September 2014