Tel Gezer: Watch out for bats!

What do you know about Tel Gezer?

Tel Gezer lies in central Israel, south of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem. A major biblical city that was conquered by Joshua (Joshua 10), given to the Levites, and fortified by Solomon in 1 Kings 9 after it was given to him as a wedding present from Pharaoh, its ruins date back to the Bronze Age and including civilizations like the Canaanites, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.

There's so much here in this park that we're going to explore in 2 posts. First, the ruins!

We first come to the Canaanite tower, which is close to the city gates. What's interesting here is how far down the archeologists had to dig just to get to it! Can you see the contrast from the tower remains to the height of the wall directly behind it?

Above is the remains of the tower. 

Next to it is the water system. I was going to go down there and then I heard that one was in fact full of bats- more than 1 million!- and my tour guide said: "Remember, 1 million bats = a lot of poop." I said, "That's okay, I'll take a picture of the entrance, haha."

From there, you go around to the Canaanite Gate:

Made of mud, I can't help but think of the 4,000-year-old gate at Tel Dan. Remember how well preserved it is? This one is not as well preserved.

But, can you see the mud bricks that still remain? How cool is that?

From here, you go up the hill and can see the ancient Solomonic-era city, complete with its city gates—the same ones that match Megiddo and Hazor!

The views to the valley beyond are beautiful. On the opposite hill you can see the caves mentioned where the kings of the conquered cities were buried in Joshua.

The 6-chambered Solomonic Gate!

In these photos, you can see the walls of the city are actually double-walls, with a chamber between them. It reminded me of Masada, where the families of the warriors were right there in the room with them. 

What was cool about this part were the families picnicking near the ruins. Children were exploring, walking around the walls and jumping between rocks. It's so mind-boggling to see ancient and modern side-by-side, and such a picture of how time moves on.

That's it for part 1 of Tel Gezer. Next week's post is about the most powerful part of the visit for me. See you then!

Was King Herod born here?

Last week, we talked about the history of Maresha and the EPIC battle that happened below it.

This week, we'll talk about the tel, its views, and something intriguing directly below it.

The tel hasn't been full excavated yet, so I definitely need to go back in the future! Also, to see the Sandahanna (St. Anne's) ruins. We could see it from far away, but there wasn't time to go close to it. Still, the view of it surrounded by spring's beautiful was enough for a first visit!

The 360-degree views from the top are incredible!

Below the tel, on the way to the cave with the olive press, are these interesting ruins. The villa here has been partially reconstructed, and it's too dangerous to walk on right now. It's from the Hellenistic era, and a hoard of 25 coins were found under the floor of one of the rooms. The latest coin was 113 BC, and it's assumed the house was destroyed that year (or else there would have been newer coins).

Excavation revealed cisterns directly underneath the village, which stored rain water.

The reason this is interesting, is because when Maresha was conquered by John Hyrcannus I, he left a small group there. At the time, this area had Idumean immigrants. Idumean comes from the word "Edomean", or from Edom. These were descendants of Esau, BibleWalks says this fulfills the prophecy of Obadiah 1:19: "and they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau".

Josephus says that the Hasomeans force-converted the Idumeans to Judaism, allowing them to remain there.

Who do we know, from about 50 years later, was an Idumean?

King Herod.

Was he born here at the base of tel Maresha? Could this area have been his hometown? The presence of this villa (and others not excavated by it prove a settlement here, and the findings of the coins prove the time period. History tells us the Idumeans were here. What about Herod 'the Great'?

We don't know, but it is intriguing to think about!

Where God gave victory over 1 MILLION Cushites

It's not everyday you learn about a Bible story while seeing the exact place it happened!

My favorite part of Bet Guvrin/Maresha National Park was the ancient tel of Maresha. It wasn't a name I knew of from the Bible, and while I have read its story several times in the past, I didn't remember it. So it was like I was experiencing the story for the first time!

Settled in Joshua 15, the city was fortified by King Rehoboam in 2 Chronicles 11: 5-8. Today, the path at the top is actually not solely the chalky limestone the area is famous for, but the top of walls of the ancient city. On this beautiful spring-like day, the Judean hills glowed green, with bright red anemones waving at the sky, and the sun gave views that took my breath away.

The path below is not sand; its the top of the ancient city walls that Rehoboam fortified!

Then, came King Asa.

The year was 900 BC, and 2 Chronicles 14 tells the story of the son of Shishak in Cush (Ethiopia) sending an army of 1 MILLION Cushites (Ethiopians) against Judah. 

King Asa rode out to a valley in the lower Judean hills with an army of 580,000 and their chariots. Asa cried out to God and said, "'Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for ewe rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you'"

The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Juda. The Cushites fled, and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the LORD and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder."

WOW! And, when you are standing on top of tel Maresha, the only place in the area where this could have happened is this one clearing below.

I have to say, sitting on top of that tel, walking on its walls, then hearing the reading of this story while looking at the valley and the beautiful Judean hills in a 360-degree view is can only be summed up in 1 word:

EPIC.

Next week, we'll talk about what's at the base of this tel!