Prof. Aren Maeir, Director, Ackerman Family Bar-Ilan University Expedition to Gath A recent excavation in Israel has uncovered the historic fortifications and monumental gate of a Biblical-era city called Gath.
[From article]It was the Biblical city where the giant Goliath lived and one of the most powerful in the Philistine empire before it was destroyed in the ninth century BC.
Archaeologists have now uncovered the remains of an enormous gate and fortified wall which are giving clues to just how formidable the city of Gath may have been.
The monumental gate is the largest to ever be found in Israel and much like its most famous inhabitant – Goliath - it would have intimidated any who approached it.
The gate of Gath is referred to in the Hebrew Bible in the story of David's escape from King Saul to Achish, the King of Gath.
[. . .]
Professor Maeir and his colleagues say they have found evidence of the widespread destruction that took place in the city after the siege.
The site has been excavated for nearly 20 years now under the Ackerman Family Bar-Ilan University Expedition.
They have also found evidence of an earthquake which damaged the city in the 8th century BC and may be the disaster mentioned in the Book of Amos in the Hebrew Bible.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3185125/Giant-gates-Goliath-s-home-discovered-Monumental-fortification-belonging-Biblical-city-Philistine-Gath-unearthed.html
Giant gates to Goliath's home discovered: Monumental fortification belonging to the Biblical city of Philistine Gath unearthed
Archaeologists say the gates appear to be the largest ever found in Israel
They have also uncovered formidable fortified walls around the gate
The gates to Gath are mentioned in the Bible as David flees from King Saul
Gath is also reputed to have been the home of the Philistine warrior Goliath
By RICHARD GRAY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 11:47 EST, 4 August 2015 | UPDATED: 03:57 EST, 5 August 2015
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The city of Gath was supposed to be the home of Goliath, who was killed by David, as illustrated in the drawing by Gustave Doré below. Archaeologists have uncovered fortifications either side of of the gate, shown above, which they say would have made it a formidable place to attack.
[From article]
A massive gate unearthed in Israel may have marked the entrance to a biblical city that, at its heyday, was the biggest metropolis in the region.
The town, called Gath, was occupied until the ninth century B.C. In biblical accounts, the Philistines — the mortal enemies of the Israelites — ruled the city. TheOld Testament also describes Gath as the home of Goliath, the giant warrior whom the Israelite King David felled with a slingshot.
The new findings reveal just how impressive the ancient Philistine city once was, said lead archaeologist of the current excavation, Aren Maeir, of Bar-Ilan University in Israel.
"We knew that Philistine Gath in the 10th to ninth century [B.C.] was a large city, perhaps the largest in the land at that time," Maeir told Live Science in an email. "These monumental fortifications stress how large and mighty this city was."
[. . .]
The gates were uncovered in Tell es-Safi, which was occupied almost continuously for nearly 5,000 years, until the Arab village at the site was left in 1948, Maeir said. Though archaeologists have been excavating at the site since 1899, it wasn't until the past few decades that they realized how massive the Iron Age remains really were.
Both the impressive settlement size and mentions in biblical accounts suggest to scholars that the site is the historic city of Gath, which was ruled by the Philistines, who lived next to the Jewish kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Most scholars think that Gath was besieged and laid to waste by Hazael, King of Aram Damascus, in 830 B.C., Maeir said.
[. . .]
The mighty fortifications would have formed a rather imposing boundary that prevented the Kingdom of Judah from expanding westward, he added.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/goliath-gates-entrance-to-famous-biblical-metropolis-uncovered/ar-BBlocam
Goliath Gates: Entrance to Famous Biblical Metropolis Uncovered
LiveScience
Tia Ghose
August 4, 2015
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