Tel Gezer

Tel Gezer National Park, located half way between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, in the foothills of the Jerusalem Hills, houses some impressive archaeological ruins. Gezer was one of the most important sites at the crossroads of the Via Maris (Latin for "Way of the Sea"), an ancient trade route dating from the early Bronze Age. The Via Maris linked Egypt with the northern empires of Syria, Anatolia and Mesopotamia (modern day Iran, Iraq, Israel, Turkey and Syria), and the road to Jerusalem and Jericho, both important trade routes along the Mediterranean. There were strong commercial connections between Gezer and Egypt and pictures of the ancient city have been found in both Egypt and Mesopotamia (Iraq).
Gezer was built, destroyed, and rebuilt over thousands of years and 25 layers of settlement have been found there. In the beginning of the 20th century the "Gezer Calendar" - a 10th century BCE inscription on a small limestone tablet - was found there. It is considered the oldest ancient Hebrew document so far discovered and is today displayed in a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. There is a replica of the tablet at the entrance to the site, above. (Just to make clear, the "replica" is the stone and not my youngest son!)

All around Tel Gezer there are remnants from the Middle Bronze Age and the Canaanites. We followed green trail markings and took a circular route around the park where we saw the remains of an ancient water-system with a deep water shaft, the original bricks from the gate that surrounded the Canaanite city, as well as a beautiful gateway lined by three guard rooms from the time of King Solomon, above and below, (according to the Old Testament, Gezer was rebuilt and fortified by Solomon). There is also the destroyed tombstone of a 16th century sheikh, and a shrine area including one stone basin and 10 monoliths, or Standing Stones, each different from the other in size and shape.

The park is large - just over 32 acres - though only small parts of it have been excavated. The views from the top of the tel, or mound, which rises to the height of 210 metres above sea level, are breathtaking. The day we visited we could see Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Modi’in very clearly, so it is easy to see why Gezer assumed such importance because of the strategic position it held.

In ancient Israel Gezer was about as important a city as you could get. It is mentioned many times in numerous historic writings, including the Tanach (the Jewish Bible) and the Amarna letters. The Canaanite and the Israelite periods were the main periods of prosperity for the ancient city, but the Roman period was the last time in which it thrived. 

Inhabitants of the first settlement at Gezer, toward the end of the 4th millennium BCE, lived in large rock-cut caves. In the Early Bronze Age, an unfortified settlement covered the tel. It was destroyed in the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE and abandoned for several hundred years. In the Middle Bronze Age, Gezer became a major city. The tel was surrounded by a massive stone wall and towers. During the Hellenistic period, Gezer was fortified by the Maccabees and was ruled by the independent Jewish Hasmonean dynasty.

Undoubtedly Gezer’s most mysterious and impressive treasure is the collection of Standing Stones - Israel's very own Stonehenge! The exact purpose of these stones, or monoliths, is still being debated. Some scholars believe them to have been built as a Monolith temple in the Middle Bronze Age (about 1600 BCE), which served as a venue where alliances between tribes or city states were forged or renewed. The ten monoliths, the tallest of which is 3 meters high, may have symbolised the city of Gezer and nine allied cities in its vicinity. A large, square, stone basin also discovered in the area may have served as a container for a blood libation poured during an alliance ceremony. A ritual of this type is described in the Bible after Moses brought the Ten Commandments down Mount Sinai:

"Moses then wrote down all the commands of the Lord. Early in the morning he set up an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel  [... ] Moses took one part of the blood and put it in the basins, and the other part of the blood he dashed against the altar" Exodus (24:4-6). 

As well as being a major archaeological site with a fascinating and rich history, Tel Gezer is also a place of great beauty. We visited on a warm April afternoon, as the spring flowers were just beginning to fade, but a special time to visit is during the early months of spring when the ground is carpeted with red poppies and lilac cyclamen flowers. Tel Gezer was the perfect place to absorb some history and enjoy a gentle hike. I'm sure we'll be going back there again.