|
|
|
|
Khirbet Qeiyafa
|
| |
|
| |
Khirbet Qeiyafa (Elah Fortress), recently proposed as the biblical Sha'arayim, is an archaeological site overlooking the Elah Valley where, according to the Biblical account, David fought Goliath. It was a key location in the kingdom of Judah along the main road from Philistia and the Coastal Plain to the eastern Hill Country.
site is understood to have been occupied for a period of only about 20 years in the tenth century BCE, before being destroyed.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Khirbet Qeiyafa' Start a new discussion about 'Khirbet Qeiyafa' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Khirbet Qeiyafa (Elah Fortress), recently proposed as the biblical Sha'arayim, is an archaeological site overlooking the Elah Valley where, according to the Biblical account, David fought Goliath. It was a key location in the kingdom of Judah along the main road from Philistia and the Coastal Plain to the eastern Hill Country.
History
The site is understood to have been occupied for a period of only about 20 years in the tenth century BCE, before being destroyed. The tenth century is the period ascribed to the kingdoms of David and Solomon. The site is dated by pottery styles and by two burned olive pits tested for carbon-14 at Oxford University and found to date from between 1050 and 970 B.C., the period most scholars consider to be during the reign of King David. As of October 2008, two more olive pits are being tested.
Oldest Hebrew text
Five lines of proto-Canaanite text in black ink were discovered on a piece of pottery at the site. Archaeologists believe it is a letter or document written some 3,000 years ago, pointing to urban cities and a centralized authority in Judah in the 10th century B.C.”
Archaeological findings
The Philistine city of Gath, located seven miles west, has been demonstrated to have different pottery types than Qeiyafa, establishing the distinct ethnic identities of the two sites.
The initial excavation by Saar Ganor and Garfinklel took place from August 12 to 26, 2007 on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Archaeology. They presented a preliminary report at the annual ASOR conference on November 15. During this public lecture, they hypothesized that the site could be Biblical Azekah, which until then had been exclusively associated with Tell Zakariya in 2008, when they discovered another gate, wich make them identify the site with the biblical Sha'arayim.
The site consists of a lower city of about 10 hectares and an upper city of about 3 hectares surrounded by a massive defensive wall ranging from 2-4 metres tall. At the center of the upper city is a large rectangular enclosure with spacious rooms on the south, equivalent to similar enclosures found at royal cities such as Samaria, Lachish, and Ramat Rachel. On the southern slope, outside the city, there are Iron Age rock-cut tombs.
Area "A" extended 5x5 metres & consists of two major layers: Hellenistic above, and Iron Age II below. Area "B" contains four squares, about 2.5 metres deep from top-soil to bedrock. Aside from these two strata, there were also some small Bronze Age sherds.
The Hellenistic/upper portion of the wall was built with small rocks atop the Iron-II lower portion, consisting of big boulders in a casemate design. Part of a structure identified as a city gate was uncovered, and some of the rocks where the wall meets this gate are estimated to weigh 3 to 5 tons.
Sha'arayim
In the city list of Judah's tribal inheritance Sha'arayim appears after Socoh and Azekah (Jos 15, 36). After David killed Goliath the Philistines run away through the “way to Sha'arayim " (1 Sam 17:52). In the city list of the tribe of Simeon, Sha'arayim is mentioned as one of the cities “unto the reign of David" (1 Chr 4:31).
See also
External links
|
| |
|
|
