 |
Gath
Also known
as Tel es-Safieh, Tel Safit, Tell es-Safi, Tell es-Safiyeh, Blanchegarde |
|
 |
|
Gath from East The
Philistine city of Gath was located near Israelite territory at the end
of the Elah Valley, and frequently Gath figured in the biblical
record. The most famous inhabitant of Gath was Goliath, the giant
who battled David in the Elah Valley, in an attempt to take territory
away from the Israelites. |
|
Gat at Gath The
name of the city in Hebrew is "gat," which means
"winepress." This picture has an ancient winepress in the
foreground, with the city behind. The area around Gath was very
fertile and it's likely that the city had a number of winepresses.
Archaeological excavations at Gath's neighbor, Ekron, found an abundance of
oil presses on the site. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
White Cliffs Most
scholars agree today that Gath is to be identified with Tell es-Safi.
This Arabic name for the site means "the white mound" and is
appropriate because of the white chalky cliffs visible on the sides of
the tell. The biblical site of Libnah (which means
"white") is probably not to be identified with Tell es-Safi in
spite of the meaning of the names. |
|
Excavations The
site was identified as Gath in 1887 and excavated by Bliss and Macalister
in 1899. At the time the site was occupied by an Arab village,
which was later abandoned in 1948. Bar Ilan University recently
began excavations on the site under the supervision of Aren Maier. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
City Moat
Recent excavations uncovered a 1.5
mile long moat that surrounded the city on three sides. This moat
dates to the 9th century B.C., and was apparently built by Hazael and
his Aramean army when they were besieging the city in 811 B.C. A
brief notice of this battle is given in 2 Kings 12:17. |
|
