Gezer
Template:Short description Template:For-text Template:Infobox ancient site Gezer, or Tel Gezer (Template:Langx), in Template:Langx – Tell Jezar or Tell el-Jezari is an archaeological site in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains at the border of the Shfela region roughly midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It is now an Israeli national park. In the Hebrew Bible, Gezer is associated with Joshua and Solomon.
The archaeological site of Tel Gezer rises to an elevation of Template:Convert above sea-level, and affords a commanding prospect of the plains to the west, north and east.
Gezer became a major fortified Canaanite city-state in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. It was later destroyed by fire and rebuilt. It is first mentioned in several ancient Egyptian inscriptions. Its importance was due in part to the strategic position it held at the crossroads of the ancient coastal trade route linking Egypt with Syria, Anatolia and Mesopotamia, and the road to Jerusalem and Jericho, both important trade routes. In Roman and Byzantine times, the site was sparsely populated. Later, In the modern era, Tel Gezer was the site of the Palestinian village of Abu Shusheh, the residents of which fled<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> or were expelled by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
SourcesEdit
Late BronzeEdit
Egyptian PeriodEdit
18th Dynasty. Gezer is first mentioned as part of a list of cities taken by Thutmose III on the walls of the Precinct of Amun-Re, at Karnak.<ref name=":0">Template:Citation</ref> The Amarna letters mention kings of Gezer swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh.<ref name="Amarna">Template:Cite journal</ref>
19th Dynasty. Gezer is mentioned in the victory stele of Merneptah, dating from the end of the 13th century BCE, which states: "Plundered is the Canaan with every evil; carried off is Ashkelon; seized upon is Gezer; Yanoam is made as that which does not exist; Israel is laid waste, his seed is not".<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
Biblical conquest under JoshuaEdit
In biblical times, Gezer, which lay on the outskirts of Jewish land, was incorporated at a later time.<ref name=":0" /> The biblical story of the Israelite conquest of Canaan under their leader Joshua mentions a certain "king of Gezer" (Template:Bibleverse) who had gone to help his countrymen in Lachish, where he met his death. Gezer is listed in the Book of Joshua as one of the cities allotted to the tribe of Ephraim, as well as a Levitical city, one of ten allotted to the Levite children of Kehoth – the Kohathites (Template:Bibleverse). Eusebius (4th century CE), describing the biblical Gezer of his day, writes:
Gazer Template:Sic. The lot of Ephraim, set aside for Levites. And Joshua besieged it, killing its king (Josh. 10:33). Solomon also built here (1 Kings 9:15–16). It is now called Gazara, a village of Nikopolis (Emmaus), [which is a place located] 4 milestones from it in the north. The tribe of Ephraim did not expel the foreigners from it (Judges 1:29).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Egyptian sack of GezerEdit
According to the Hebrew Bible, the only source for this particular event, the Sack of Gezer took place at the beginning of the 10th century BCE,<ref name="IsraelFinkelstein"/> when the city was conquered and burned by an unnamed Egyptian pharaoh, identified by some with Siamun, during his military campaign in Philistia. This anonymous Egyptian pharaoh then gave it to King Solomon as the dowry of his daughter. Solomon then rebuilt Gezer and fortified it.
The Bible states:
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This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord and his own house, the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, Lower Beth-horon, Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness, within the land, as well as all of Solomon’s storage cities, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build... (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife;{{#if: (Template:Bibleverse)|{{#if:|}}
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries}}
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Identifying the biblical pharaohEdit
The only mention in the Bible of a pharaoh who might be Siamun (ruled 986–967 BCE) is the text from 1 Kings quoted above, and we have no other historical sources that clearly identify what really happened. As shown below, Kenneth Kitchen believes that Siamun conquered Gezer and gave it to Solomon. Others such as Paul S. Ash and Mark W. Chavalas disagree, and in 2001 Chavalas states that "it is impossible to conclude which Egyptian monarch ruled concurrently with David and Solomon".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Professor Edward Lipinski argues that Gezer, then unfortified, was destroyed late in the 10th century (and thus not contemporary with Solomon) and that the most likely Pharaoh was Shoshenq I (ruled 943–922 BCE).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> However, the archaeological evidence recovered at the site indicates that Gezer was previously destroyed in an earlier stratum, around the times of Siamun.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Lindelle C. Webster's excavation team concluded recently that correlation of Stratum IX, in Tel Gezer, with Solomon’s era and Siamun "[is] improbable [as the end] of Tandy Stratum 10A is estimated by [radiocarbon] within the 11th century BCE, contemporary with the 21st Dynasty of Egypt but too early for Solomon by any estimate," and that correlation of Stratum 7 "with Shishak/[Shoshenq I]'s [e]nd boundary, (927–885 BCE, 68.3% hpd), [included in] the biblical date for Shishak’s campaign [d]oes not fit well with current [radiocarbon]-based estimates for [Shoshenq I]."<ref name="WebsterEtAl">Template:Cite journal</ref> They estimate Shoshenq I's reign within the Stratum 8 destruction of Tel Gezer, which has been radiocarbon dated to the mid-10th century BCE (c. 969-940 BCE with 68.3% hpd, and 991-930 BCE with 95.4% hpd).<ref name="WebsterEtAl" />
Tanis temple reliefEdit
One fragmentary but well-known surviving triumphal relief scene from the Temple of Amun at Tanis believed to be related to the sack of Gezer depicts an Egyptian pharaoh smiting his enemies with a mace. According to the Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen, this pharaoh is Siamun.<ref name="Kitchen">Template:Cite book</ref> The pharaoh appears here "in typical pose brandishing a mace to strike down prisoners(?) now lost at the right except for two arms and hands, one of which grasps a remarkable double-bladed axe by its socket."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The writer observes that this double-bladed axe or 'halberd' has a flared crescent-shaped blade which is close in form to the Aegean-influenced double axe but is quite distinct from the Canaanite double-headed axe, which has a different shape that resembles an X.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Thus, Kitchen concludes Siamun's foes were the Philistines, who were descendants of the Aegean-based Sea Peoples and that Siamun was commemorating his recent victory over them at Gezer by depicting himself in a formal battle scene relief at the temple in Tanis. Alternatively, Paul S. Ash had put forward a detailed argument that Siamun's relief portrays a fictitious battle. He points out that in Egyptian reliefs Philistines are never shown holding an axe, and that there is no archaeological evidence for Philistines using axes. He also argues that there is nothing in the relief to connect it with Philistia or the Levant.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
LocationEdit
Gezer was located on the northern fringe of the Shephelah region, approximately Template:Convert northwest of Jerusalem. It was strategically situated at the junction of the Via Maris, the international coastal highway, and the highway connecting it with Jerusalem through the valley of Ayalon, or Ajalon. The nearest modern-Israeli settlement to the archaeological site is Karmei Yosef.
Verification of the identification of this site with biblical Gezer comes from a dozen bilingual inscriptions in either Hebrew or Aramaic, and Greek, found engraved on rocks several hundred meters from the tell.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> These inscriptions from the 1st century BCE read "boundary of Gezer" and "of Alkios" (probably the governor of Gezer at the time). The discovery of these boundary stones near the archaeological site makes it the first biblical city to be positively identified.
Today's archaeological site spans an area of 130 dunams (32 acres), and contains 26 levels of settlement, from the Chalcolithic to the early Roman periods (3500 BCE to 100 CE). Most of the remains date from the Middle and Late Canaanite and the Israelite periods.<ref>Tel Gezer, Israel Antiquities Authority</ref>
HistoryEdit
ChalcolithicEdit
The first settlement established at Tel Gezer dates to the end of the 4th millennium BCE during the Chalcolithic period, when large caves cut into the rock were used as dwellings.<ref name="Judaica">Gibson, Shimon (2007). «Gezer». Encyclopedia Judaica (2nd ed.). 22 Nov. 2023 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.</ref>
- Strata XXVI Beersheban Chalcolithic.<ref>Bourke 1993</ref>
Early Bronze AgeEdit
At the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (early 3rd millennium BCE), an unfortified settlement covered the tell. It was destroyed in the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE and subsequently abandoned for several centuries.<ref name="Judaica" />
- Strata XXV EB I.<ref>Bourke 1993</ref>
Middle Bronze AgeEdit
In the Middle Bronze Age IIB (MBIIB, first half of the 2nd millennium BCE), Gezer became a major city, well fortified<ref name="IsraelFinkelstein">Template:Cite book</ref> and containing a large cultic site.<ref name="AllAbout"/> It may have grown due to MBIIA-sites like Aphek becoming weaker.Template:Citation needed
- Stratum XVIII MB III/LB IA<ref>Webster et al 2023</ref>
- Fortifications
On the north side of the city, the fortifications consisted of at least two lines of defense surrounding the tell.<ref name="Finkelstein&Ben-Yosef">Template:Cite book</ref> Some excavators have noted as many as three defensive walls built in different periods: an outer earthen rampart, a central wall and an inner wall.<ref name="RASMacalister">Template:Cite book</ref> In what remained of the outer rampart, it reached a height of about 5 metres, and was built of compacted alternating layers of chalk and earth covered with plaster.<ref>Tel Gezer (Tel el-Jazari) Ancient Village or Settlement, The Megalithic Portal</ref> The inner wall measured 4 metres in width and was made of large stone blocks, reinforced with towers.<ref name="Finkelstein&Ben-Yosef"/><ref name="RASMacalister"/> The city gate stood near the southwest corner of the wall, was flanked by two towers which protected the wooden doors, a common design for its time.<ref name="IFinkelstein"/> The tell was surrounded by a massive stone wall and towers, protected by a Template:Convert earthen rampart covered with plaster. The wooden city gate, near the southwestern corner of the wall, was fortified by two towers.<ref name="IFinkelstein">Template:Cite book</ref>
- Cultic site with massebot
Cultic remains discovered in the northern part of the tell were a row of ten large standing pillars, known as Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration, singular Template:Transliteration, oriented north–south, the tallest of which was three meters high, with an altar-type structure in the middle, and a large, square, stone basin, probably used for cultic libations. The exact purpose of these megaliths is still debated, but they may have constituted a Canaanite "high place" from the Middle Bronze Age, ca. 1600 BCE, each masseba possibly representing a Canaanite city connected to Gezer by treaties enforced by rituals performed here. Both the number and size of the standing stones confer a unique character to this cultic site.<ref name="AllAbout">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Such massebot are found elsewhere in the country, but those from Gezer massebot are the most impressive examples.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The area was almost completely cleared by Macalister. The remains were re-excavated in 1968.<ref>Dever, William G, "The Middle Bronze Age "High Place" at Gezer", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 371, pp. 17-57, May 2014</ref> A double cave beneath the high place was shown to be predating it and not connected to it.Template:Citation needed
Late Bronze AgeEdit
In the Late Bronze Age (second half of the 2nd millennium BCE) a new city wall, Template:Convert thick, was erected outside the earlier one.<ref name="RASMacalister"/> It is a very rare example of Late Bronze Age fortifications in the country, witness for the elevated political status of Gezer in southern Canaan during Egyptian rule.Template:Citation needed
- Stratum XVII LB IB (unexcavated)<ref>Webster et al 2023</ref>
- Stratum XVI/13 LB IIA (two walls of a monumental building)<ref>Webster et al 2023</ref>
- Stratum XV/12B LB IIB (elite building)<ref>Webster et al 2023</ref>
Thutmosid PeriodEdit
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The Canaanite city was destroyed in a fire, presumably in the wake of a campaign by the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III (ruled 1479–1425 BCE). The oldest known historical reference to the city is to be found on an inscription of conquered sites at Thutmose's temple at Karnak.<ref name = Gauthier164/> A destruction layer from this event was found in all excavated areas of the tell.<ref name="Judaica" />
Amarna PeriodEdit
The Tell Amarna letters, dating from the 14th century BCE, include ten letters from the kings of Gezer swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The city-state of Gezer (named Gazru in Babylonian) was ruled by at least three leaders during the 20-year period covered by the Amarna letters.<ref name="IsraelFinkelstein"/> Discoveries of several pottery vessels, a cache of cylinder seals and a large scarab with the cartouche of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III attest to the existence of a city at Gezer's location in the 14th century BCE—one that was apparently destroyed in the next century<ref name=Bohstrom2017 />—and suggest that the city was inhabited by Canaanites with strong ties to Egypt.<ref>Template:Cite news, Haaretz, published October 24, 2013, retrieved November 27, 2013.</ref>
In the 14th century BCE, a palace was constructed on the high western part of the tell, the city's acropolis.Template:Citation needed Archaeologists also discovered remains of what might have been the Egyptian governor's residence from the same period in the northern part of the tell.Template:Citation needed
Ramesside PeriodEdit
In the late reign of Ramesses II, climate became drier and colder causing turmoil in the Mediterranean from around 1250 BCE, eventually leading to the Late Bronze collapse. The death of Ramesses II caused cities in Canaan to rebel to become independent. Merneptah of Egypt, who succeeded Ramesses II, had to regain control and boasted about his capture of Gezer. A massive fiery destruction seems to support this in excavations done by Prof. Steven Ortiz.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Toward the end of the Bronze Age, the city declined and its population diminished.Template:Citation needed
Iron AgeEdit
In 12th and 11th centuries BCE, a large building with many rooms and courtyards was situated on the acropolis. Grinding stones and grains of wheat found among the sherds indicate that it was a granary. Macalister describes the Iron Age construction of an olive press with collecting vats.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Local and Philistine vessels attest to a mixed Canaanite/Philistine population.Template:Citation needed
The 10th century BCE seems to have been a period of notable urban development for the city until it became destroyed in the third quarter of that century, probably as a result of Shoshenq I's campaign in Canaan at that time.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Archaeologist William G. Dever estimates its population at around 2,500 during the 10th century BCE.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite book</ref>
- Stratum XIV/12A Iron IA (repairs, rebuilding).<ref>Webster et al 2023</ref>
- Stratum XIII-XII/11 Iron IA/B (philistine pottery) <ref>Webster et al 2023</ref>
- Stratum XI/10B
- Stratum X-IX/10A Iron IB
- Stratum 9 Iron IC/IIA
- Stratum VIII/8 Iron IIA
- Stratum VII/7 Iron IIA
- Stratum VI/6B-A Iron IIB.<ref>Webster et al 2023</ref>
{{#invoke:Infobox military conflict|main}}By the 9th and 8th centuries BCE, the city is estimated by Dever to have had a population of around 3,000 people.<ref name=":02" />
Israelite city gate, wallEdit
On the southern slope about 200 meters east of the gate from the Middle Bronze Age IIB, there is what is now known as the "Solomon Gate". This area was excavated at the beginning of the 20th century by Macalister, who defined the remains discovered there as a "Maccabean citadel" from the 2nd century BCE, because on one of the stones a curse against Simon was found engraved in Greek (Macalister 1912, vol. I: 209–23; 236–56).
After the discovery of identical gates from the time of King Solomon in Megiddo and Hazor, and following what is told in the Bible about the construction projects of this king in the three cities, Yigael Yadin proved in 1957 that in fact the Hasmonean citadel was no other than a gate from the days of Solomon.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the excavations of the 1960s, the entire gate was revealed. It is identical in plan and size to the other two mentioned and is connected by a casemate wall.<ref name= "I-Finkelstein"/> On both sides of the passageway within the gate are four pairs of pillars and three pairs of cell-like chambers. In front of the entranceway stood two towers. At the gate, a construction of hewn-stone in the style typical of the days of Solomon is evident.<ref name= "I-Finkelstein">Template:Cite book</ref> The Solomon Gate has since been reinterpreted by some as dating from several centuries later, by virtue of the fact that the gate was rebuilt,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> although recent radiocarbon tests support an early date for the strata at the site.<ref name="WebsterEtAl" />
Tiglath-Pileser III and the Neo-Assyrian periodEdit
The Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III put Gezer under siege between the years 734 and 732 BCE.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The city was probably captured by the Assyrians at the end of the campaign of Tiglath-Pileser III to Canaan.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> At any rate, a fiery destruction so severe befell the city at this time, insofar that it reduced the upper two courses of stone in the inner casemate wall to powdery lime.<ref name="WGDever1985">Template:Cite journal</ref> A reference to Gezer's destruction appears in a cuneiform relief from the 8th-century BCE royal palace of Tiglath-Pileser III at Nimrud.<ref name="WGDever1985"/> The city inscribed on the relief is called 'Gazru'.<ref name="Judaica" />
Hellenistic periodEdit
Stamped Rhodian amphora handles, a Tyrian lead weight of the Tanit series, and a didrachm of Ptolemy VI found in situ suggest a Hellenistic occupation from the end of the 3rd century BCE to 142 BCE.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
According to the book of 1 Maccabees, Simon Thassi captured Gazara and expelled the population during the Maccabean Revolt. He then brought in new settlers of devout Jews and fortified it, making it part of the Hasmonean kingdom.<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> Gezer became known as Gazara in the Hellenistic period and became an important city for the Hasmonean rulers.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>The Excavation of Ancient Gezer</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Notwithstanding Simon's capture of Gezer in circa 142 BCE, Josephus alludes to the fact that Gezer returned under Seleucid control in the days of Antiochus VII Sidetes and during the high-priesthood of Simon's son, John Hyrcanus.<ref>Josephus, Antiquities (13.9.2.; 13.259).</ref>
Josephus, in both his Antiquities (12.7.4.; 13.6.7.; 13.9.2.) and in the Jewish War (1.2.2.), cites the Book of Maccabees as his primary source for these events and retains the Greek form of the name Gazara (Template:Langx), meaning, Gezer.
Elsewhere, Josephus (Jewish War 1.170) wrote that a certain "Gadara" (Template:Langx) was one of the five synedria, or regional administrative capitals of the Hasmonean realm, established by Aulus Gabinius, the Roman proconsul of Syria, in 57 BCE.<ref name=Meyers>Template:Cite book</ref> The name has been edited to "Gazara" in the Loeb edition (Jewish War 1.170). However, in this case, other researchersTemplate:Who prefer one of two candidates from Transjordan, Gadara in Perea, or Gadara of the Decapolis (see more at Perea and Gadara (disambiguation)).
Roman and Byzantine periodsEdit
Gezer was sparsely populated during Roman times and later times, as other regional population centers took its place.<ref name=Amarna/> Archaeological finds attesting to the Hellenistic and early Roman periods include two bath houses discovered in situ, as well as a number of ritual baths (mikveh) and rock tombs.<ref name="IsFink-TelGezer">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Efn The site continued to be occupied after the destruction of the Second Temple, but was gradually abandoned during the late Roman-early Byzantine period.<ref name="IsFink-TelGezer"/>
Crusader periodEdit
Template:See also In 1177, the plains around Gezer were the site of the Battle of Montgisard, in which the Crusaders under Baldwin IV defeated the forces of Saladin. There was a Crusader Lordship of Montgisard and apparently a castle stood there, a short distance from Ramleh.<ref name="Routledge">Template:Cite book</ref>
Early modern and modern periodsEdit
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R.A. Stewart Macalister who excavated the ruin in the years 1902–1905 and 1907–1909 has noted that around the year 1869 the mound and other parts of the lands of the village of Abû Shûsheh were acquired by Messrs. Bergheim, who had been bankers in Jerusalem. Their acquisition of these lands would prove "a fortunate circumstance" for the excavator, as the site was later put at the disposal of the Palestine Exploration Fund.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Archaeological highlightsEdit
Canaanite water systemEdit
A large Canaanite (Bronze Age) water system comprising a tunnel going down to a spring, similar to those found in Jerusalem, Tel Hazor and Tel Megiddo, was first excavated by Macalister and was re-excavated as part of the 2006–2017 campaigns of the Tel Gezer Excavation and Publication Project.<ref name=ToI2017 />
In 2010 a team from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary ("NOBTS"), in partnership with the Israeli Parks Authority and the Israeli Antiquities Authority, launched an effort to clear a massive water tunnel, discovered first by Macalister over a hundred years earlier.<ref name="nobts.edu">nobts.eduTemplate:Dead link</ref> Macalister never fully excavated the tunnel because a strong storm blew debris back into the tunnel and he considered it too expensive and time consuming to re-excavate the site.<ref>members.bib-arch.org</ref><ref>Gary D. Myers, Archaeological team moves 230 tons of Israel dig debris, baptistpress.com, USA, September 15, 2011</ref>
In 2011 professor Dennis Cole, archaeologist Dan Warner and engineer Jim Parker from NOBTS, and Tsvika Tsuk from the Israeli Parks Authority, led another team in an attempt to finish the effort.<ref name="nobts.edu" /> In just two years the teams removed approximately 299 tons of debris from the ancient water system.<ref name="nobts.edu" />
In 2012, the team uncovered a large sealed cavern about nine meters beyond the water pool and "Macalister's Causeway."
In 2013, the team began an effort to preserve the ancient Canaanite mudbrick gate and complex near the water system.
In the Water System: "Most of the first two weeks of the dig were spent searching for the bottom step and cleaning Macalister’s causeway. Tons of debris and rocks were removed in the process. When the bottom step was located and the causeway area clear, the team excavated three probes in the pool area. Each of the pool probes reached a depth of more than six feet before the end of the season and the bottom of the pool was discovered in only one probe (Eastern probe)—the one just below the bottom step of the water shaft."
The debris removal and excavation continued until the summer of 2017.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Gezer calendarEdit
One of the best-known finds is the "Gezer calendar". This is a plaque containing a text appearing to be either a schoolboy's memory exercises, or a text designated for organising the collection of taxes from farmers. Another possibility is that the text was a popular folk song, or child's song, listing the months of the year according to the agricultural seasons. It has proved to be of value by informing modern researchers of ancient Middle Eastern script and language, as well as the agricultural seasons.
Boundary stonesEdit
Thirteen boundary stones have been identified near the tell, distanced between less than 200 metres to almost 2 km from it, probably dating from the Late Hellenistic period (late 2nd<ref name=Strata2012 /> – 1st century BCE), the most recent having been found by archaeologists from SWBTS in 2012.<ref name=Jacobson2015 /> See also Location.
There are only a few "lost" biblical cities that have been positively identified through inscriptions discovered by means of archaeological work (surveys or digs).<ref name=Jacobson2015 /> Gezer is the first among them, thanks to Clermont-Ganneau's discovery of three such inscribed stones in 1874 and of a fourth in 1881.<ref name=Jacobson2015 />
Ten of the thirteen inscriptions are bilingual,<ref name=Corpus /> including the first three ones, containing two distinct parts, one in Greek and one either Hebrew or Aramaic,<ref name=Corpus /> and written in what is known as square Hebrew characters.<ref name=Jacobson2015 /> Clermont-Ganneau's reading of the Hebrew/Aramaic part as "the boundary of Gezer" was later confirmed.<ref name=Jacobson2015 /> The inscriptions' Greek part contains personal names, either (H)alkios, Alexas, or Archelaos, for instance Clermont-Ganneau's four stones were all bearing the inscription "of Alkios".<ref name=Jacobson2015 /> Sometimes the two parts are upside-down, or "tête-bêche", in relation to each other,<ref name=Jacobson2015 /> on the last discovered one the lines being separated by a line and the Hebrew/Aramaic inscription Template:Script/Hebrew > "Teḥum Gezer" ("the boundary of Gezer")<ref name=Strata2012>Template:Cite journal</ref> facing the tell.<ref name=Jacobson2015 /> With the discovery of the last nine inscriptions it became evident that their distribution does not support Clermont-Ganneau's initial interpretation, of them marking Gezer's Sabbath limit, but rather that they probably mark the boundaries between private estates, or between city land and these estates.<ref name=Jacobson2015 /> Analysis of the lettering have led to the conclusion that they were all contemporaneous, with opinions based on palaeography and history slightly diverging in regard to their date – either Hasmonean or Herodian.<ref name=Jacobson2015 /> The earlier date and the Hebrew script can be connected to what is known from the First Book of Maccabees about Simon replacing the gentile inhabitants with Jewish ones (Template:Bibleverse) The later date can be supported by a scenario in which Herod, after acquiring the lands of the vanquished Hasmoneans, gave them to (H)alkios, Archelaos and Alexas, all three names mentioned by Josephus for members of a powerful land-owning family from Herod's court.<ref name=Jacobson2015 />
Language: Hebrew or AramaicEdit
David M. Jacobson wrote that the inscriptions are in Hebrew and that this suggests a need for a closer look at their date.<ref name=Jacobson2015>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Other scholars are not convinced that the language of the inscriptions is Hebrew and not Aramaic, leaving both options as possible as is the case in the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae.<ref name=Corpus>Template:Cite book</ref>
Egyptian-era remainsEdit
In July 2017, archaeologists discovered skeletal remains of a family of three, one of the adults and a child wearing earrings, believed to have been killed during an Egyptian invasion in the 13th century BCE.<ref name="Gezer: Family Skeletons">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ToI2017>Template:Cite news</ref> A 13th-century BCE amulet, various scarabs and cylinder seals were also found on the site. The amulet bears the cartouches—or official royal monikers—of the Egyptian pharaohs Thutmose III and Ramses II.<ref name=Bohstrom2017>Template:Cite news</ref>
Archaeological excavation historyEdit
Archaeological excavation at Gezer has been going on since the early 20th century, and it has become one of the most excavated sites in Israel. The site was identified with ancient Gezer by Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau in 1871. R. A. Stewart Macalister excavated the site between 1902 and 1909 on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund.<ref>R. A. Stewart Macalister, "The Excavation of Gezer: 1902 - 1905 and 1907 - 1909", John Murray, Albemarle Street West, London, 1912, Volume 1: [1] Volume 2: [2] Volume 3: [3]</ref> Twentyone quarterly dig reports were published in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly.<ref>R. A. Stewart Macalister, Twenty-First Quarterly Report on the Excavation of Gezer, Palestine Exploration Quarterly, vol. 41, iss. 2, pp. 87-105, 1909</ref> Macalister recovered several artifacts and discovered several constructions and defenses. He also established Gezer's habitation strata, though due to poor stratigraphical methods, these were later found to be mostly incorrect (as well as many of his theories). In 1914 and 1921 Raymond-Charles Weill dug there, focusing mainly on the Bronze and Iron Age Tombs. Results were not published due the Weill's assistant Paule Zerlwer-Silberberg dying in a camp in occupied France and the excavation data was lost at that time.<ref>P. Silberberg-Zelwer, "Les fouilles Edmond de Rothschild" in Cahiers Juifs, no. 23, pp.472 – 476, June – July 1936</ref><ref>Aren M. Maier, "Bronze and Iron Age Tombs at Tel Gezer, Israel: Finds from Raymond-Charles Weill's Excavations in 1914 and 1924", BAR International Series 1206, Archaeopress, 2004 Template:ISBN</ref> Surprisingly, the master thesis of that assistant, about the dig, was recently discovered and was published in 2012.<ref>Zerlwer-Silberberg, Paule, Les Fouilles de M. Raymond Weill à Tell-Gezer (1914 et 1924): Le mémoire perdu et retrouvé de Mme Silberberg-Zelwer (1892–1942). Publication de deux campagnes de fouilles archéologiques conduites par M. Raymond Weill à Tell Gezer (1913–1924). 1942. Jerusalem: Centre de recherché français à Jèrusalem., 2012</ref> Alan Rowe briefly visited the site in 1934. Between 1964 and 1974 G.E. Wright, William Dever and Joe Seger worked at Gezer on behalf of the Nelson Glueck School of Archaeology in the Hebrew Union College and Harvard University.<ref>William G. Dever, G. Wright, H. Lance, "Gezer I", Hebrew Union College Press, 1970 Template:ISBN</ref><ref>William G. Dever, "Gezer II: Report of the 1967-70 Seasons in Fields I & II", Hebrew Union College Press; (June 1, 1974) Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Seymour Gitin, "Gezer III: A Ceramic Typology of the Late Iron II, Persian and Hellenistic Periods at Tell Gezer", Hebrew Union College Press (June 1, 1990), Template:ISBN</ref><ref>William G. Dever, "Gezer IV: The Nineteen Sixty-Nine to Seventy-One Seasons in Field Vi, the "Acropolis"", Hebrew Union College Press (December 1, 1988) Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Joe D Seger, "Gezer V : the field I caves", Jerusalem : Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology, 1988</ref><ref>Garth Gilmour, "Gezer VI: The Objects from Phases I and II (1964–74)", Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2014 Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Seger, J., and J. W. Hardin, Gezer VII: The Middle Bronze and Later Fortifications in Fields II, IV, and VIII. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013 Template:ISBN</ref> Dever worked there again in 1984 and 1990, with the Andrews University.<ref>Younker, R. W., "A Preliminary Report of the 1990 Season at Tel Gezer: Excavations of the “Outer Wall” and the “Solomonic” Gateway ( July 2 to August 10, 1990).”, Andrews University Seminary Studies, vol. 29, pp. 19–60, 1991</ref>
Latest excavations and surveys (2006–2017)Edit
Excavations were renewed in June 2006 by a consortium of institutions under the direction of Steve Ortiz of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) and Sam Wolff of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The Tel Gezer Excavation and Publication Project is a multi-disciplinary field project investigating the Iron Age history of Gezer. The effort completed in 2017.<ref>http://www.telgezer.com/gezer/assets/File/neareastarch%2075%201%200004%20(4).pdf Template:Webarchive Ortiz, Steven; Wolff, Samuel, "GUARDING THE BORDER TO JERUSALEM: The Iron Age City of Gezer", Near Eastern Archaeology; Chicago, vol. 75, iss. 1, pp. 4–19, Mar 2012</ref><ref>http://www.telgezer.com/gezer/assets/File/Gezer%202006-2015-Transformation%20of%20Border.pdf Template:Webarchive Oded Lipschitz and Aren Maeir (eds.), "Tel Gezer Excavations 2006-2015: The Transformation of a Border City in The Shephelah during the Iron Age: Recent Archaeological Studies.", Eisenbrauns, pp. 61–102, 2017</ref><ref>S. Ortiz, S. Wolff, G. Arbino, "Tel Gezer, 2006-2009."; in Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel 123, Israel Antiquities Authority 123 (2011)</ref>
The first season of the Gezer excavations concluded successfully and revealed some interesting details. Among other things is a discovery of a thick destruction layer may be dated to the destruction at the hands of the Egyptians, which some associate with the biblical episode from Template:Bibleverse: "Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer, killing the Canaanite population and burning it down. He gave the city to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married Solomon."
In 2013, two separate archaeological survey-excavations were conducted at Tel Gezer, one by Tsvika Tsuk, Yohanan Hagai, and Daniel Warner, on behalf of the IAA,<ref>Israel Antiquities Authority, Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2013, Survey Permit # A-6744</ref> and the other led by a team of archaeologists from the SWBTS and Andrews University's Institute of Archaeology.<ref>Israel Antiquities Authority, Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2013, Survey Permit # S-438</ref>
GalleryEdit
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Archaeologist or student with large, numerous massebot
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Excavations at Tel Gezer
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High place with "cup holders", cave mouth
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Courses of stone in old tower at Gezer
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recessed olive presses look similar to the cup holders at the same site, in a polka dot pattern
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Approach to Tel Gezer (seen in distance)
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See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
NotesEdit
Further readingEdit
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External linksEdit
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- New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary's Official Record of the Tel Gezer Excavation
- The Tel Gezer Excavation and Publication Project (as of 2021); see also 2010 version.
- Tel Gezer Excavation Ceramic Database
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