Gezer

Scholars believe that Gezer is Tel Gezer (also known as Tell el-Jezer or Abu Shusheh ), a site around midway on the route between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv . Today the site is a national park in modern Israel .

Gezer ( ) was a Canaanite city-state in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains at the border of the Shfela region. Tel Gezer (also Tell el-Jezer ), an archaeological site midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv , is now an Israeli national park . In the Hebrew Bible, Gezer is associated with Joshua and Solomon. It became a major fortified city in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. It was later destroyed by fire and rebuilt. The Amarna letters mention kings of Gezer swearing loyalty to the Egyptian Pharaoh. Its importance was in part because of the strategic position it held at the crossroads of the Via Maris (the "Way of the Sea") and the road to Jerusalem and Jericho, both important trade routes. Discoveries related to biblical archaeology are eight monumental Canaanite megaliths (up-ended stones, each of which is called a masseba or matseva (plural massebot/matsevot) and are found elsewhere in Israel ); a double cave beneath the high place , but predating and not connected to it; 13 inscribed boundary stones, making it the first positively identified Biblical city; a six-chambered gate similar to those found at Hazor and Megiddo ; and a large water system comprising a tunnel going down to a spring, similar to that found in Jerusalem. On the History of the High Place at Gezer .

Gezer , or Tel Gezer ( ), in Arabic Tell Jezer or Tell el-Jazari , the site of the abandoned Arab village of Abu Shusheh , 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 . It became a major fortified Canaanite city-state in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. It was later destroyed by fire and rebuilt. The Amarna letters mention kings of Gezer swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh. 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. The Biblical Archaeologist . 30 (2).

Archaeological site in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains For the kibbutz in Israel, see Gezer (kibbutz) . Gezer , or Tel Gezer ( ), in – 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 . 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. The Amarna letters mention kings of Gezer swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh. 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.

Archaeological site in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains For the kibbutz in Israel, see Gezer (kibbutz) . Gezer , or Tel Gezer ( Hebrew : גֶּזֶר ), in Arabic : 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 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 229 metres (751 ft) 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. The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited .