Tel Hazor ( he, תל חצור), also Chatsôr ( he, חָצוֹר), translated in
LXX
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
as Hasōr ( grc, Άσώρ),
[ identified at Tell Waqqas / Tell Qedah el-Gul] ( ar, تل القدح, Tell el-Qedah), is an archaeological tell at the site of ancient Hazor, located in Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mounta ...
, north of the Sea of Galilee, in the northern Korazim Plateau
The Korazim Plateau ( he, רמת כורזים, ''Ramat Korazim'', also spelled Corazim), is a volcanic plateau, located in northern Israel. The plateau is bounded between by the Hula Valley in the north, Sea of Galilee in the south, the mountai ...
. In the Middle Bronze Age (around 1750 BCE) and the Israelite period (ninth century BCE), Hazor was the largest fortified city in the country and one of the most important in the Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent ( ar, الهلال الخصيب) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern region of ...
. It maintained commercial ties with Babylon and Syria, and imported large quantities of tin for the bronze industry. In the Book of Joshua, Hazor is described as “the head of all those kingdoms” (Josh. 11:10). Though some scholars do not consider the Book of Joshua to be historically accurate,[Killebrew, Ann E., (2005)]
Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, and Early Israel, 1300-1100 B.C.E.
Society of Biblical Literature, p. 152: "Almost without exception, scholars agree that the account in Joshua holds little historical value vis-à-vis early Israel and most likely reflects much later historical times." archaeological excavations have emphasized its importance.
The Hazor expedition headed by Yigal Yadin
Yigael Yadin ( he, יִגָּאֵל יָדִין ) (20 March 1917 – 28 June 1984) was an Israeli archeologist, soldier and politician. He was the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Deputy Prime Minister from 1977 to 1981.
...
in the mid-1950s was the most important dig undertaken by Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in its early years of statehood. Tel Hazor is the largest archaeological site in northern Israel, featuring an upper tell of 30 acres and a lower city of more than 175 acres.
In 2005, the remains of Hazor were designated a World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
as part of the ''Biblical Tels - Megiddo, Hazor, Beer Sheba''.
Excavations
The site of Hazor is around in area, with an upper city making up about 1/8 of that. The upper mound has a height of about 40 meters. Initial soundings were carried out by John Garstang
John Garstang (5 May 1876 – 12 September 1956) was a British archaeologist of the Ancient Near East, especially Egypt, Sudan, Anatolia and the southern Levant. He was the younger brother of Professor Walter Garstang, FRS, a marine bi ...
in 1926.
Major excavations were conducted for four seasons from 1955 to 1958 by a Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
team led by Yigael Yadin
Yigael Yadin ( he, יִגָּאֵל יָדִין ) (20 March 1917 – 28 June 1984) was an Israeli archeologist, soldier and politician. He was the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Deputy Prime Minister from 1977 to 1981.
B ...
.
Yadin returned to Hazor for a final season of excavation in 1968. The excavations were supported by James A. de Rothschild
James Armand Edmond de Rothschild DCM DL (1 December 1878 – 7 May 1957), sometimes known as Jimmy de Rothschild, was a British Liberal politician and philanthropist, from the wealthy Rothschild international banking dynasty.
Biography
De R ...
, and were published in a dedicated five volume set of books by the Israel Exploration Society
The Israel Exploration Society (''IES'') (Hebrew:החברה לחקירת ארץ ישראל ועתיקותיה - Hakhevra Lekhakirat Eretz Yisrael Va'atikoteha), originally the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society, is a society devoted to historic ...
.
Excavation at the site by Hebrew University, joined by the Complutense University of Madrid
The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loc ...
, resumed in 1990 under Amnon Ben-Tor. Those excavations continue to the present. The work from 1990 to 2012 is detailed in two IEF books.
In the 2010 excavation season, two cuneiform tablet fragments, made of local clay, were discovered dating to the Old Babylonian period
The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty ...
of the Middle Bronze Age. The 2nd fragment is small, containing only 7 signs. They are inscribed with laws in the style of Hammurabi's Code
The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Ham ...
, the Laws of Eshnunna The Laws of Eshnunna (abrv. LE) are inscribed on two cuneiform tablets discovered in Tell Abū Harmal, Baghdad, Iraq. The Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities headed by Taha Baqir unearthed two parallel sets of tablets in 1945 and 1947. The two tablets ...
, the Book of Exodus, and Hittite laws, seven in total. The fragments include laws pertaining to body parts and damages including those of slaves.
The 2013 excavation season involved the Late Bronze Age (LBA) area M-East, and M-West. M-East included small elements of MBA and represented a major destruction event with extensive burning. In the 2014 and 2015 seasons the Iron Age II thru 8th century BCE layer of area M3 and the Iron age M4 area were worked. A number of unbaked loom weights were found there. The excavation of 2016 was in the LBA administrative palace destruction layer of area M3. Finds included fragments of an Egyptian statue. The 10 century BCE standing stone complex and 9th century BCE fortifications, built on top of the LBA destruction layer, were also further explored. In 2017 excavation work concentrated in the LBA M3 area containing an administrative palace with a basalt monumental entrance stair. Work also continued on the Iron Age II fortifications. In the 2018 excavation season, the 29th season, from June to July 2018, areas worked were the LBA M3, the 8th century BCE and Persian M4, and the 8th and 10th century BC M68. In the 2019 season, the 13th of the current excavation, areas M4 and M68 were worked, both Iron Age.
In total, Hazor has provided more cuneiform tablets than any other site in the Southern Levant. They fall into two groups. Those from the Middle Bronze period are in standard Old Babylonian Akkadian language while those from the Late Bronze Age are in a local dialect typical of New Kingdom Egyptian times.
Finds from the dig are housed in a museum at Kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
Ayelet HaShahar
Ayelet HaShahar ( he, אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר) is a kibbutz in northern Israel acquired in 1892 and settled in the second Aliyah, located on the Korazim Plateau, by the Rosh Pina – Metulla road, it is approximately south of Kiryat S ...
. In 2008, some artifacts in the museum were damaged in an earthquake.
Chronology
This table lists the strata (layers) of ruined settlements that accumulated to form Tel Hazor according to Hazor archeologist Sharon Zuckerman
Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname.
In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...
. The shades represent the different archeological periods: Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
, Persian period
Yehud, also known as Yehud Medinata or Yehud Medinta (), was an administrative province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the region of Judea that functioned as a self-governing region under its local Jewish population. The province was a part ...
and Hellenistic period
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
. Some layers are associated with the content of contemporary historical sources.
In a recent article (2021), Israel Finkelstein, quoting his past articles regarding stratum X in Tel Hazor (shown in the table above), formerly attributed to Solomon, states:
Finkelstein's Low Chronology is disputed by other archaeologists, such as William G. Dever
William Gwinn Dever (born November 27, 1933, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American archaeologist, Old Testament scholar, and historian, specialized in the history of the Ancient Near East and the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah in biblical ...
, who considers that although the “larger-than-life” portrait of the Bible is exaggerated, Judah was a centralized kingdom around 10th century BCE and likely ruled by Solomon. The conventional date of stratum X in the 10th century is also supported by Amnon Ben-Tor, the chief excavator at the site. A more nuanced position is held by Avraham Faust Avraham Faust is an Israeli archaeologist and professor at Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Rama ...
et al. (2021), who consider the chronological difference between Finkelstein and his opponents was already narrowed when he agreed that "not only the Iron Age IIA, but perhaps even the late Iron Age IIA, started already in the 10th century", but that most scholars have instead adopted various versions of the traditional, or modified, chronology.
Among scholars who support Finkelstein's Low chronology, regarding Tel Hazor's stratum X, is Merja Alanne, which in her (2017) Doctoral dissertation, quoting late Dr. Orna Zimhoni's work (1997), writes:
History
Early Bronze Age
The first settlement excavated in Tel Hazor is dated to the Early Bronze Age II and III periods, existing at around the 28th and 24th centuries BCE. It was part of a system of settlements around the Hula Valley
The Hula Valley ( he, עמק החולה, translit. ''Emek Ha-Ḥula''; also transliterated as Huleh Valley, ar, سهل الحولة) is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water, which used to be Lake Hula, prior to ...
, including Abel Beth Maachah, Dan
Dan or DAN may refer to:
People
* Dan (name), including a list of people with the name
** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark
* Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa
**Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...
and Kedesh
Kedesh (alternate spellings: Cadesh, Cydessa) was an ancient Canaanite and later Israelite settlement in Upper Galilee, mentioned few times in the Hebrew Bible. Its remains are located in Tel Kedesh, 3 km northeast of the modern Kibbutz M ...
. The settlement was exposed in limited areas where a few houses were discovered. Based on these finds, Early Bronze Age Hazor was not a significant settlement. With that said, it seems that a large monumental structure dated to the following Middle Bronze Age period was already erected in the Early Bronze Age, sometime after the 27th century BCE. If this is true it implies that already in its beginnings, Hazor was a well-planned settlement that served as an urban center. It also shows one of the earliest examples of Basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
slabs used as foundations to walls (Orthostates
In the context of classical Greek architecture, orthostates are squared stone blocks much greater in height than depth that are usually built into the lower portion of a wall. They are so called because they seem to "stand upright" rather than ...
) in the Southern Levant
The Southern Levant is a geographical region encompassing the southern half of the Levant. It corresponds approximately to modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan; some definitions also include southern Lebanon, southern Syria and/or the Sinai P ...
, only preceded by a temple from Tel Megiddo
Tel Megiddo ( he, תל מגידו; ar, مجیدو, Tell el- Mutesellim, ''lit.'' "Mound of the Governor"; gr, Μεγιδδώ, Megiddo) is the site of the ancient city of Megiddo, the remains of which form a tell (archaeological mound), situa ...
. The transition to the Early Bronze Age III period is characterized by the movement of people from rural areas within the valley to major urban sites such as Hazor, Dan and Abel Beth Maachah. Thus the establishment of a possible palace in Hazor, as well as in Dan, attest to this phenomenon.
A large part of Hazor's pottery from that time belongs to the Khirbet Kerak
Khirbet Kerak ( ar, خربة الكرك , "the ruin of the fortress") or Beth Yerah ( he, בית ירח , "House of the Moon (god)") is a tell (archaeological mound) located on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee in modern-day Israel. The ...
type. A petrographic
Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. The class ...
study of these vessels has shown that they were made with local clays and that Hazor played a key role in distributing them across the country. The study also showed that other types of pottery were made of a different source of local clay. This use of two different local clays for two different families of vessels might indicate a technical decision or otherwise the presence of two or more workshops. One theory suggests that the manufacturers of the Khirbet Kerak tools, which were introduced to the settlement, chose or were forced to use a different source of clay, not controlled by the other workshops. Noteworthy is the discovery of 15 cylinder seal
A cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch (2 to 3 cm) in length, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally ...
impressions on pottery from this period, added to another found some 2 kilometers south. This assemblage is one of the largest in the southern Levant and the fact it was found in such a small excavation area further supports the reconstruction of Hazor as an important city during this period.[Sharon Zuckerman (June 2013)]
Hazor in the Early Bronze Age
Near Eastern Archaeology
Near Eastern archaeology is a regional branch of the wider, global discipline of archaeology. It refers generally to the excavation and study of artifacts and material culture of the Near East from antiquity to the recent past.
Definition
Th ...
, Vol 76, No. 2, pp. 68–73
Intermediate Bronze Age
This period, at the end of the 3rd millennium BCE, is a period of urban decline, separating the Early Bronze Age, which is the Levant's first urban era, from the re-urbanization of the region in the Middle Bronze Age. Throughout the country, most cities were abandoned and archaeologists found mainly small agricultural villages and tombs. Hazor is one of the few exceptions. Remains of several structures from this period were discovered on the site reveal that Hazor was indeed settled in this period. A large amount of pottery belonging to the Megiddo Ware family was discovered in the site and forms the largest assemblage of this kind in the southern Levant. Also, a large amount of copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
ingots were collected. These two discoveries might shed light on pottery and metal industries that existed in Hazor during this period, proving its regional importance during this period of decline.
Middle Bronze Age
During the Middle Bronze IIA (MBIIA; 1820-1550), Hazor was a vassal of Ishi-Addu
Išḫi-Addu or Ishi-Addu was king of Qatna in the first half of the 18th century BC. He is known for his correspondences with Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria who was his closest ally. Qatna was at its height during Išḫi-Addu's reign, which was, howev ...
of Qatna
Qatna (modern: ar, تل المشرفة, Tell al-Mishrifeh) (also Tell Misrife or Tell Mishrifeh) was an ancient city located in Homs Governorate, Syria. Its remains constitute a tell situated about northeast of Homs near the village of al ...
.
Execration Texts
In Egypt, Hazor is mentioned in the Execration texts
Execration texts, also referred to as proscription lists, are ancient Egyptian hieratic texts, listing enemies of the pharaoh, most often enemies of the Egyptian state or troublesome foreign neighbors. The texts were most often written upon sta ...
.
Mari Archive
At Mari (Syria), on the Euphrates River, letters mention Hazor during the reigns of Yasmah-Adad
Yasmah-Adad (Yasmah-Addu, Yasmakh-Adad, Ismah-Adad, Iasmakh-Adad) was the younger son of the Amorite king of Upper Mesopotamia, Shamshi-Adad I. He was put on throne of Mari by his father after a successful military attack following the assassinati ...
and Zimri-Lim __NOTOC__
Zimri-Lim (Akkadian: ''Zi-im-ri Li-im'') was king of Mari c. 1775–1761 BCE.
Zimri-Lim was the son or grandson of Iakhdunlim, but was forced to flee to Yamhad when his father was assassinated by his own servants during a coup. He ha ...
. Hazor is part of a trade route Hazor-Qatna-Mari. A tablet fragment was also found at Hazor which listed an expected trade path from Hazor to Mari and then on to Ekallatum.
Late Bronze Age
During the Egyptian Second Intermediate Period
The Second Intermediate Period marks a period when ancient Egypt fell into disarray for a second time, between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom. The concept of a "Second Intermediate Period" was coined in 1942 b ...
and early New Kingdoms (together running between 18th century BCE and 13th century BCE), Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
was an Egyptian vassal state
A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...
; thus 14th century documents, from the El Amarna archive in Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, describe the king of Hazor (in Amarna letters called ''Hasura''), Abdi-Tirshi, as swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh.
According to the Book of Joshua, Hazor was the seat of Jabin
Jabin ( he, יָבִין ''Yāḇīn'') is a Biblical name meaning 'discerner', or 'the wise'. It may refer to:
* A king of Hazor at the time of the entrance of Israel into CanaanJoshua 11:1, whose overthrow and that of the northern chiefs with w ...
, a powerful Canaanite king who led a Canaanite confederation against Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
, but was defeated by Joshua, who burnt Hazor to the ground. According to the Book of Judges
The Book of Judges (, ') is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom ...
, Hazor was the seat of Jabin, the king of Canaan, whose commander, Sisera
Sisera ( he, סִיסְרָא ''Sîsərā'') was commander of the Canaanite army of King Jabin of Hazor, who is mentioned in of the Hebrew Bible. After being defeated by the forces of the Israelite tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali under the com ...
, led a Canaanite army against Barak
Barak ( or ; he, בָּרָק; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; ar, البُراق ''al-Burāq'' "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephrai ...
, but was ultimately defeated. Textual scholars believe that the prose account of Barak, which differs from the poetic
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...
account in the Song of Deborah
According to the Book of Judges, Deborah ( he, דְּבוֹרָה, ''Dəḇōrā'', "bee") was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. Many scholars ...
, is a conflation of accounts of two separate events, one concerning Barak and Sisera like the poetic account, the other concerning Jabin's confederation and defeat.['' Peake's commentary on the Bible''] In addition, the Book of Judges and Book of Joshua may be parallel accounts referring to the same events, rather than describing different time periods,[ and thus they may refer to the same Jabin, a powerful king based in Hazor, whose Canaanite confederation was defeated by an ]Israelite
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
army.
Israel Finkelstein claims that the Israelites emerged as a subculture within Canaanite society and rejects the biblical account of the Israelite conquest of Canaan.[ Israel Finkelstein, '']The Bible Unearthed
''The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts'', a book published in 2001, discusses the archaeology of Israel and its relationship to the origins and content of the Hebrew Bible. The author ...
'' In this view, the Book of Joshua conflates several independent battles between disparate groups over the centuries, and artificially attributes them to a single leader, Joshua.[ One archaeological stratum dating from around 1200 BCE shows signs of catastrophic fire, and cuneiform tablets found at the site refer to monarchs named ''Ibni Addi'', where ''Ibni'' may be the ]etymological
Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words a ...
origin of ''Yavin'' (''Jabin''
ref name=Finkelstein/> The city also show signs of having been a magnificent Canaanite city prior to its destruction, with great temples and opulent palaces, split into an upper acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
, and lower city; the town evidently had been a major Canaanite city. He theorized that the destruction of Hazor was the result of civil strife, attacks by the Sea Peoples
The Sea Peoples are a hypothesized seafaring confederation that attacked ancient Egypt and other regions in the East Mediterranean prior to and during the Late Bronze Age collapse (1200–900 BCE).. Quote: "First coined in 1881 by the Fren ...
, and/or a result of the general collapse of civilization across the whole Eastern Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age.[
Amnon Ben-Tor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem believes that recently unearthed evidence of violent destruction by burning verifies the Biblical account. In 2012, a team led Ben-Tor and Sharon Zuckerman discovered a scorched palace from the 13th century BCE in whose storerooms they found 3,400-year-old ewers holding burned crops; Sharon Zuckerman did not agree with Ben-Tor's theory, and claimed that the burning was the result of the city's numerous factions opposing each other with excessive force.
There had been claims by Christian polemicists that an artifact found at Hazor is that of "Allah, the moon god".
]
Israelite Hazor
The archaeological remains suggest that after its destruction, the city of Hazor was rebuilt as a minor village within "the territory of Naphtali" (Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
19:36). According to the Books of Kings, the town, along with Megiddo Megiddo may refer to:
Places and sites in Israel
* Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley
* Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel
* Megiddo church (Israel)
* Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel
* Megiddo Junction, ...
, and Gezer
Gezer, or Tel Gezer ( he, גֶּזֶר), in ar, تل الجزر – 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 Av ...
, was substantially fortified and expanded by Solomon. Like Megiddo and Gezer, the remains at Hazor show that during the Early Iron Age the town gained a highly distinctive ''six chambered'' gate
A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...
, as well as a characteristic style to its administration buildings; archaeologists determined that these constructions at Hazor were built by the same leadership as those at Megiddo and Gezer.[ Some archaeologists conclude that they were constructed in the tenth century by King Solomon; others date these structures to the early 9th century BCE, during the reign of the ]Omrides
The Omrides, Omrids or House of Omri ( he, , translit=Bēt ʿOmrī; akk, 𒂍𒄷𒌝𒊑𒄿, translit=bīt-Ḫûmrî) were a ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) founded by King Omri. According to the Bible, the Omride rulers of ...
.[
]Yigael Yadin
Yigael Yadin ( he, יִגָּאֵל יָדִין ) (20 March 1917 – 28 June 1984) was an Israeli archeologist, soldier and politician. He was the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Deputy Prime Minister from 1977 to 1981.
B ...
, one of the earliest archaeologists to work on the site, saw certain features as clearly being Omride; Megiddo, Gezer, and Hazor, all feature deep rock cut pits, from the base of which were rock cut tunnels leading to a well that reached the water table
The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated.
T ...
, as water-supply systems, which Yadin attributed to the rule of Ahab
Ahab (; akk, 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍 ''Aḫâbbu'' 'a-ḫa-ab-bu'' grc-koi, Ἀχαάβ ''Achaáb''; la, Achab) was the seventh king of Israel, the son and successor of King Omri and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, according to the Hebrew Bib ...
; Yadin also attributed to Ahab a citadel, measuring 25 x 21 m, with two-meter thick walls, which was erected in the western part of Hazor. Yadin's dating was based on the assumption that the layer connected with the gates and administration buildings were built by Solomon.[
Archaeological remains indicate that towards the later half of the 9th century BCE, when the king of Israel was ]Jehu
) as depicted on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
, succession = King of Northern Israel
, reign = c. 841–814 BCE
, coronation = Ramoth-Gilead, Israel
, birth_date = c. 882 BCE
, death_date = c. 814 BCE
, burial_place ...
, Hazor fell into the control of Aram Damascus
The Kingdom of Aram-Damascus () was an Aramean polity that existed from the late-12th century BCE until 732 BCE, and was centred around the city of Damascus in the Southern Levant. Alongside various tribal lands, it was bounded in its later ye ...
. Some archaeologists suspect that subsequent to this conquest Hazor was rebuilt by Aram, probably as an Aramaean city. When the Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
ns later defeated the Aramaeans, Hazor seemingly returned to Israelite control; Assyrian records indicate that Joash, king of Israel at the time, had paid tribute to Assyria and Israel had become an Assyrian vassal state.[ Subsequently, the town, along with the remainder of the kingdom of Israel, entered a period of great prosperity, particularly during the rule of ]Jeroboam II
Jeroboam II ( he, יָרָבְעָם, ''Yāroḇə‘ām''; el, Ἱεροβοάμ; la, Hieroboam/Jeroboam) was the son and successor of Jehoash (alternatively spelled Joash) and the thirteenth king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, over which ...
. Some archaeologists attribute the later large scale constructions at Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer, including the rock cut water supply systems, to this era.
Israel's attempted rebellion against Assyrian domination resulted in an invasion by the forces of the Assyrian ruler, Tiglath-Pileser III
Tiglath-Pileser III ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "my trust belongs to the son of Ešarra"), was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 745 BC to his death in 727. One of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings, T ...
; the evidence on the ground suggests that hasty attempts were made to reinforce the defenses of Hazor.[ Despite the defences, in 732 BCE Hazor was captured, its population deported,][2 Kings 15:29] and the city was burnt to the ground.[
]
See also
*Archaeology of Israel
The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultu ...
*Cities of the ancient Near East
The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending on the interpretation of the term, either with the conquest by ...
*Early Israelite campaigns
The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isra ...
* National parks and nature reserves of Israel
References
Further reading
*Ruhama Bonfil and Anabel Zarzecki-Peleg, The Palace in the Upper City of Hazor as an Expression of a Syrian Architectural Paradigm, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 348, pp. 25–47, Nov 2007
*Ruhama Bonfil, Coming before the King—A Ceremonial Basin in Hazor’s Throne Room. Eretz-Israel 30 (Amnon Ben-Tor Volume): 59–72 (Hebrew), 145*–46* (English summary).
* Zarzecki-Peleg, A and Bonfil, R. (2011) A Syrian City-State in Mitanni’s Orbit? Ugarit-Forschungen 43: 537-567
*Yadin Yigael and Et Al. Yadin, Hazor I : An Account of the First Season of Excavations, 1955, Magnes Press, 1958
*Yadin Yigael, Hazor II: An Account of the Second Season of Excavations, 1956 ames A. De Rothschild Expedition at Hazor Oxford University Press, 1961,
*Yadin Yigael, Hazor III - IV. An Account of the Third and Fourth Seasons of Excavations, 1957–1958. The James A. De Rothschild Expedition at Hazor, Biblical Archaeology Society, 1989,
*A. Ben Tor and Robert Bonfil, Hazor: v. 5: The James A De Rothschild Expedition at Hazor (Ancient synagogues studies), Israel Exploration Society, 1997,
*Yadin Yigael, Hazor (Schweich Lectures on Biblical Archaeology), British Academy, 1972,
*Yadin Yigael, Hazor: Rediscovery of a Great Citadel of the Bible, Littlehampton, 1975,
*Schulamit Geva, Hazor, Israel (British Archaeological Reports (BAR)), BAR, 1989,
*S. Zuckerman, Where is the Archive of Hazor Buried?, Biblical Archaeology Review, vol. 32, pp. 28–37, 2006
*S. Zuckerman, "'...Slaying oxen and Killing Sheep, Eating Flesh and Drinking Wine...': Feasting in Late Bronze Age Hazor," ''Palestine Exploration Quarterly'', 139,3 (2007), 186-204.
*Zarzecki-Peleg, A and Bonfil, R. (2011) A Syrian City-State in Mitanni’s Orbit? Ugarit-Forschungen 43: 537-567
*Bonfil R. and Zarzecki-Peleg A., 2022, The iron which the king, my lord, gave to the smiths for work”: Aspects of Authority and Prestige in the City Plan of Hazor Stratum VIII. in U. Davidovich, N. Yahalom-Mack & S. Matskevich (eds.), Material, Method, and Meaning: Papers in Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology in Honor of Ilan Sharon, Ägypten und Altes Testament , vol. 110 , Zaphon, Münster, pp. 313-335
External links
The Hazor Excavations Project
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"Yadin photographs & footage of the excavations"
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem
UNESCO World Heritage site for Hazor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazor
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