Tel Zayit (, ) is an archaeological tell in the

Shephelah The Shephelah () or Shfela (), or the Judaean Foothills (), is a transitional region of soft-sloping rolling hills in south-central Israel stretching over between the Judaean Mountains and the Coastal Plain. The different use of the term "Jud ...

, or lowlands, of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, about 30 km east of

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

. The site had previously been known as the Arab village of Zayta; its population was moved 1.5 km north during the period of

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, and depopulated by Israel’s

Givati Brigade The 84th "Givati" Brigade () is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade formed in 1947. During the 1948 war, it was involved in capturing Palestinian villages in operations ''Hametz'', ''Barak'', and ''Pleshet''. Before Israel's 2005 ...

in 1948.Walid Khalidi, "All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948," page 227. Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington D.C. 1992. Quote: "The village stood on a hill 1 km north of Wadi Zayta. It was linked by a dirt track to ‘Iraq al-Manshiyya, which was located on a highway that ran from east to west between the city of al-Majdal on the coast and Bayt Jibrin. The old Zayta (Khirbat Zayta al-Kharab, 133115) was located 1.5 km south of this village on the southern bank of the wadi. (Because the wadi's stagnant waters bred insects and diseases, the population was moved during the Mandate to the new site.)"

History

The site, roughly , shows evidence of human settlement throughout the

Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, and

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

I and II. The city was destroyed by fire twice, in 1200 BCE and the ninth century BCE.

Hazael Hazael (; ; Old Aramaic 𐤇𐤆𐤀𐤋 ''Ḥzʔl'') was a king of Aram-Damascus mentioned in the Bible. Under his reign, Aram-Damascus became an empire that ruled over large parts of contemporary Syria and Israel-Samaria. While he was likely ...

of Aram may have been the military leader who ordered the destruction of the city in the ninth century BCE. The Arameans' siege tactics are known from the Zakkur stele, which records that Hazael's son, called Ben-Hadad, employed spectacular siege warfare against his enemies. The

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Philistine Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...

city of Gath. The similar siege and destruction in 9th century BCE of Tell es-Safi, a nearby site usually identified as Gath, has been cited by archaeologists as possible evidence of Hazael's campaign. Work at Tel Zayit began with a preliminary survey in 1998 by a

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PTS) is a Presbyterian graduate seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1794, it houses one of the largest theological libraries in the tri-state area. History Pittsburgh Theological Seminary was for ...

team led by Ron Tappy. During the 2005 season, archaeologists discovered the Zayit Stone among the ruins of a fire dating to the tenth century BC. Alternatively, a 9th-century BC date has been suggested. The stone includes an inscription identified by some scholars as an

abecedary An abecedarium (also known as an abecedary or ABCs or simply an ABC) is an inscription consisting of the letters of an alphabet, almost always listed in order. Typically, abecedaria (or abecedaries) are practice exercises. Non-Latin alphabet ...

, among the oldest ever discovered.Tappy, Ron E., McCarter, P. Kyle, Lundberg, Marilyn J., & Zuckerman, Bruce. "An Abecedary of the Mid-Tenth Century B.C.E. from the Judaean Shephelah," ''BASOR'' 344(November): 5-46. 2006.

References

External links

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Tel Zayit excavations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zayit Bronze Age sites in Israel Populated places disestablished in the 9th century BC 1998 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Israel Former populated places in West Asia

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links