 Today it includes 200 families.Ancient Yodfat was first identified in 1847 by Ernst Gustav Schultz (1811–1851), Egyptologist and Prussian consul in Jerusalem, using the geographical and topographical descriptions provided by Josephus, as well as by the phonetic similarity to the adjacent ruin of "Khirbet Shifat".Six excavation seasons were carried out at the site between 1992 and 2000, under the direction of Mordechai Aviam on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Rochester.