Hazor
תל חצור · Tell Hazor · Tell el-Qedah · Hatsor
Early Bronze to Hellenistic·Canaanite → Israelite → Assyrian·🇮🇱 Northern District, Upper Galilee, Israel
About
About Hazor
Largest Canaanite and Israelite tell in Israel (100 ha total: 12 ha upper acropolis + 70 ha lower city) — 'head of all those kingdoms' (Joshua 11:10) — with Middle Bronze earthen ramparts, Late Bronze Hazor palace and basalt orthostats, and Iron Age six-chamber gate attributed to Solomon (1 Kings 9:15) alongside Megiddo and Gezer. Yadin/Ben-Tor excavations exposed massive conflagration c.1220 BCE (Israelite/Joshua or Sea Peoples), Amarna archive letter to king Abdi-Tirshi.
Why it mattersCanaanite megacity; biblical archaeology gate debate; EB-MB urban leap.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Which destruction = Joshua conquest?
- 02Orthostat temple function
Theories
- 01Solomonic gate vs Omride gate (Finkelstein)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2800 BCE; MB ramparts c.1750 BCE
- Period
- Early Bronze to Hellenistic
- Culture
- Canaanite → Israelite → Assyrian
- Builders
- Canaanite kings Ibni-Addu, Abdi-Tirshi; Solomon traditionally gate
- Purpose
- Canaanite capital and Israelite fortified admin center
- Abandoned
- c.732 BCE (Tiglath-Pileser sack)
- Rediscovered
- 1926 Garstang; 1955–he Yadin/Ben-Tor
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.1750 BCE
MB rampart city (~30 m glacis)
c.1220 BCE
Violent destruction fire
c.732 BCE
Assyrian destruction
On the ground
Structures & features
33.0178° N · 35.5670° E · 200 m · 3 mapped features
Canaanite Orthostat Temple
templeLB temple with basalt statues and orthostats
33.0180° N · 35.5672° ESix-chamber gate (Solomonic)
gateIron Age triple gate
33.0175° N · 35.5668° ELower city rampart/ glacis
wallMB earthen rampart and moat
33.0170° N · 35.5680° E
Gallery