Bible Synapse
Tell es-Safi (Gath)
Site · 12th–9th centuries BC · Israel and Judah · also called Gath, Gath of the Philistines, Tel Tzafit
See it on the map and timeline
- Date
- 12th–9th centuries BC (the Philistine city, destroyed in the late 9th century BC)
- Found
- Tell es-Safi, Israel, 1899. Dug briefly by F. J. Bliss and R. A. S. Macalister for the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1899. Aren Maeir’s Tell es-Safi/Gath project of Bar-Ilan University surveyed the site in 1996 and has excavated it since 1997.
- Now
- At the site, Shephelah, Israel
- Passages
- 1 Samuel 17:4, 1 Samuel 27:2, 2 Kings 12:17, Amos 6:2, 2 Chronicles 26:6
What it is
A large mound on the border between Philistia and the hills of Judah, which at its height covered about 40 hectares. A fiery destruction layer of the late 9th century BC left burnt buildings, broken pottery and human remains. A man-made siege trench about 2.5 kilometres long runs around three sides of the city, and the city wall has a breach of about 9 metres. Finds include a two-horned altar of the 9th century BC.
How it connects to the Bible
Most scholars identify the site with Gath, one of the five Philistine cities and the home of Goliath and of King Achish (1 Samuel 17:4; 27:2). The excavators link the destruction and the siege trench with 2 Kings 12:17, where “Hazael king of Syria” fights against Gath and takes it, around 830 BC. Gath appears again in Amos 6:2 and 2 Chronicles 26:6.
What scholars debate
The identification with Gath is the majority view; tying the destruction to Hazael rests on the date of the layer and the biblical account.