Excavations by the Supreme Council of Antiquities at Tell Heboua began in 1988.[10] Archaeologists first proposed that Tell Heboua, not Tel Abu-Seifa, was the Pharaonic-era fortress of Tjaru around 2000.[2] In July 2007, the confirmation of the ancient fortress at Tell Heboua as Tjaru was announced, with graves of soldiers and horses, mud-brick walls, and a moat.[11] Further discoveries were announced in 2008, including reliefs depicting Pharaohs Thutmose II, Seti I and Ramesses II.[12] In January 2015, new discoveries at the site were announced that confirmed its identification as the fort of Tjaru.[13]