Where God made the sun stand still

I was unprepared for Tel Gezer.

The contrasts of Israel often take my breath away: the juxtaposition of the ancient and modern side-by-side, never more than a few feet (and millennia) apart... like watching children skip over the ruins of an ancient city while a modern one looks on half a mile away, or a family picnicking where a battle once took place.

What I knew about Tel Gezer before going was simple: as one of the places Solomon fortified, it is one of the remaining trio of cities with its iconic gates. I’ve been to the other 2, Megiddo and Hatzor; this was my chance to “collect all 3.”

What I didn’t know was that Tel Gezer overlooks the Valley on Ayalon, where God made the sun stand still for the battle in Joshua 10. The valley itself is huge; here are the views in each direction:

EPIC.

As sunset neared and turned the valley pink behind us, we walked back to the parking lot, passing these stone monuments.

These stones mark a place of ancient Canaanite worship. The soil below them has been tested, and the remains of burned infants had been found there, evidence of ancient child sacrifice to pagan gods.

I’d never been to a place like that, and, in the shock and the sorrow of the moment, I was struck again by another juxtaposition: how unimaginable it was to witness this place of sorrow at all, let alone maybe a mile from where the Creator of those infants made the very sun stay still in the sky.

It’s another contrast I’ll never forget.

What made it even more sobering was that the sign marking the monuments said nothing about the infant sacrifice that happened there. And nearby, a group of women sat in a circle. When one of my tour guides went to talk with them, they told her that this was a place of worship for femininity and fertility, and they were there to connect with each other and this place. They had no idea about the real truth of this place.

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!

This desert fortress dates back to Solomon!

It's not everyday you wake up next to a fortress dating back to the time of Solomon. Needless to say, those are the days (my) dreams of made of!

But that's exactly what happened to me the weekend of Hanukah and Christmas 2022. Some friends and I were able to stay at Tamar Park, near the spring of Hazeva in the Arabah Valley of the Wilderness of Zin (part of where the Israelites wandered for 40 years).

Wow!

Being so near a spring, the location of biblical Tamara was significant, because it sat at the crossroads of ancient routes... meaning it would have been a stopping point for travelers. The archeological remains date back to the Israelite Kingdom, Nabatean, Roman, and Byzantine empires!

In 10th century B.C., the time of Solomon, this route was used to trade with Arabia, Africa, and Sheba, as is described in 1 Kings 10. Tamar is mentioned as "Tadmor" in 1 Kings 17-18. In addition to the spring, it also lay near a copper mine, which was a major trading commodity for both Kings David and Solomon. It's believed that this is why David conquered Edom in 1 Chronicles 18. Edom, which we'll talk about in a future post, is an area of the desert where the land is red. It was the ancient land of Esau. (Something that makes me wonder: it's interesting to me that the area is red, and there was copper nearby. Is there a connection here?)

Anywho, here's the entrance and the 4-chamber Solomonic gates! Remember those from Megiddo and Hazor?

But before you even enter the gates, there's actually a 4-room house dating back to 700-600 B.C. 

Nearby, archeologists found remains of shattered clay vessels used for local pagan worship. It's believed the smashing and burial of these is associated with King Josiah's reforms. 

That's it for the Israeli Kingdom history of Tamar, because this fortress was destroyed by the Assyrians in 600s B.C.

Next came the Nabateans! Underneath this fortress are the ruins of a Nabatean temple, fortress, and storage room. As with Avdat, Tamar was a stop on the ancient spice route, a 1800 kilometer, 65-day trek from Yemen/Oman to the port in Gaza.

When Nabatean King Rabbell II died in 106 A.D., Rome annexed the entire area into the Roman Empire. Tamar was known as "Thamara", and it became part of the road and defense system of the Empire.

The Romans built a square fortress with 4 towers, and later even a bathhouse and inn.

The bathhouse:

Roman construction!

In 344 A.D., an earthquake destroyed Tamar Fortress. It was rebuilt, but then the big earthquake of 363 AD destroyed it, Petra, and much of Israel. From that point, the fortress was left in ruin and never rebuilt.

During the Byzantine era, it was just a small military outpost.

From 7th-9th centuries A.D. (the early Islamic era), it was an agricultural farm. Travelers going between Mecca and Jerusalem would stop there. 

Finally, in the early 1920s, a police station was build here during the British Mandate. They actually destroyed part of the archeological remains but using those stones to construct it! I mean, I understand working smarter, not harder, and using close materials, but what a loss! 

Anyway, you can go into the police station and the underground bunker. There are photos on the walls of all of the Prime Ministers and Presidents in the bunkers, and the police station has photos and information of important Israelis and others who aided in the rebirth of Israel in the Land.

I love how light glows through the open back door of the bunker in the photo above!

Wow, what an amazing history in this place!

One more thing to feature in this blog, because it's pretty cool. According to BibleWalks*, this is the oldest tree in all of Israel. Wow! It is somewhere between 1500-2000 years old, and has survived this long because of the spring of En Hazeva! Wow! I saw the tree, but in photos it looked like a mess (and I didn't see a sign near it), so I am posting their picture below:

This tree would have been there during the Roman era! Wow!

I definitely recommend visiting Tamar park if you get a chance. It's beautiful, and it's free to walk explore the archeological park.

*I didn't have a tour and the only brochure I saw was in Hebrew, so all the information I learned about Tamar Park is from Bible Walks.