Once the largest fortified city in Israel, Hazor, or Chatzor, sits right on the ancient Via Maris, or "Sea Road" that traders used when crossing through Israel. Joshua 11:10 calls it the 'head of the kingdoms of Syria and Babylon' because of its important location.
Now, there is an ancient tell on the site, much like Megiddo. And I was so excited to visit!
Dating back to 2500 BC, many civilizations called Hazor home, and this is evident from the expanse of its lower city (over 175 acres) and the upper city (over 30 acres). That's a lot of land... all with an incredible view of Mount Hermon!
When you first walk into the upper city, there's an incredible view of the plain where the lower city is buried (above). Then, the iconic, Solomonic 6-chambered city gates!
Directly behind them are the ruins of an ancient Canaanite temple.
Then the ancient palace, where you can walk through the throne room!
The line in the walls separates the original walls from what's been rebuilt to give people an idea of what the building looked like inside.
From there, it's on to the water system. WOW! It's over 45 meters deep! It reminds of me of the water system at
Megiddo- I still need to go and walk through that!
And after that, more of the upper city:
This is a pretty cool guard tower that looks over the valley (below the field). I love the statue of the sentry, because it helps us see what it could have been like to watch over this stretch of the Via Maris.
Tel Hazor fell in 732 BC, when Assyrian King Tiglath-Pilieser III invaded northern Israel. The defences fell, the townspeople were carried away, and the city was burned.
It remained in this state for millennia, until an archeological expedition in the 1950s went to the area and began uncovering its secrets...but only some of them. I'm sure there are more beneath the surface!
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