How archeology inks up with the Bible at Tel Hazor

 

The ancient city of Hazor was situated at the foot of the Galilee Mountains by the Hula Valley and above the Hazor Stream and it dominated the Via Maris (“Way of the Sea), the main highway connecting Egypt to Mesopotamia, Syria and Anatolia. Settlement first began at Hazor in about 3,000 BCE during the Early Bronze Age.

 

The Canaanite city continued to develop during the Late Bronze Age, from the 16th to 12th centuries BCE, and became the largest of the Canaanite cities, with a population of about 15,000 inhabitants. It consisted of an upper city, and also a lower city on a large rectangular plateau to the north of the upper city. A later Israelite city was smaller than this and was located only in the area of the upper city.

 

There are at least six historic periods of interest at Hazor because of their biblical associations — the Canaanite period, the Israelite conquest of Canaan, the period of the Judges, the early monarchy under King Solomon, the period of Ahab king of the Northern Kingdom, and the conquest and destruction of Hazor by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser. This Assyrian attack led to the first of two exiles of the Jews from the Northern Kingdom of Israel and their eventual disappearance from world history.

 

Joshua’s conquest of Canaan occurred in four main phases. The first was the capture of Jericho. The Israelites made a pact with the Canaanites of Givon under the mistaken impression that they were from a distant land. However, Givon was not far from Jerusalem and overlooked important north-south and east-west highways. Their alliance with the Israelites effectively divided the country into two and prevented the northern Canaanite kingdoms uniting with the southern kingdoms. Joshua subsequently captured the cities of Ai and Beth-El. Appreciating the seriousness of the Israelite’s pact with Givon, the five kings of the southern part of the country united to attack the Gibeonites. However, Joshua made a surprise attack on this alliance and defeated it. This saved him from having to besiege and defeat each of the cities in the southern part of the country individually.

 

The armies in the northern part of the country now united against the Israelites and gathered under Jabin the king of Hazor. Again, Joshua made a surprise attack on this coalition, destroyed their numerous camps and chariots and burned down Hazor. As related in the Book of Joshua: “Joshua returned at that time and captured Hazor and put its king to death with the sword because Hazor was formerly the leader of all those kingdoms. They killed every soul that was there — by the edge of the sword were they utterly vanquished — not one soul remained. He burned Hazor with fire. And all the cities of these kings and all their kings Joshua captured and put to death. Only Hazor did Joshua burn” (Joshua 11:10-11, 12, 13).

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Evidence has been found of a very significant conflagration in Hazor’s upper city, but not in the lower city. An Egyptian offering table was also found in the rubble with hieroglyphic writing indicating that it was dedicated by a high priest of Ramesses II. This conflagration has therefore been dated to the middle of the 13th century BCE, which was towards the end of the Late Bronze Age. Carbon-dating of grain storage also accords with this date. This means that the Israelite invasion of Canaan can be dated to about 1250 BCE. during the reign of Ramesses II. This date for Joshua's conquest of Canaan is widely accepted by academics and archeologists.

 

However, there are a number of problems with this conclusion. Archeology at Hazor has demonstrated that following this conflagration there was no significant settlement in the city for the next 100 to 200 years other than in the upper city, where settlement was of a semi-nomadic nature, and foundations found were only for tents and huts. This does not accord with the account in the Book of Judges of a recovery of Hazor following Joshua’s conquest of the land. It also does not accord with the dating of the ruins of Jericho, nor with the Bible itself, from which one can date the conquest of Canaan to about 1400 BCE (I Kings 6:1). 

 

However, there was another Israelite victory over the Canaanites of Hazor. Later in the Book of Judges we read that the Israelites were under great pressure from the Canaanites who had reestablished their city: “And God gave them [the Israelites] into the hand of Jabin, the king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, and the chieftain of his army was Sisera . . . And the Children of Israel cried to God, for he had nine hundred iron chariots and he oppressed the Children of Israel mightily for twenty years (Judges 4:2-3). As the prophetess Deborah foretold, Sisera’s army was routed by her commander Barak at Mount Tabor following which: “And God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the Children of Israel. And the hand of the Children of Israel prevailed constantly harder against Jabin the king of Canaan until they destroyed Jabin, king of Canaan” (Judges 4:24).

 

There is no mention in the Bible that the city was burned down at this time, but it is highly likely that this is what happened. Hence, the conflagration found by archeologists may well have been due to the army of Devorah and Barak. This Israelite attack was a knock-out blow to Canaanite settlement in the northern part of the country and also the end of the Canaanite threat to the Israelites. This would explain the minimal settlement of the city following the conflagration. If this is true, then a presumed date of the Exodus of 1250 BCE is out by several hundred years.

 

Be sure to visit the Solomonic Gate and its fortifications from the 10th century BCE (#8). The Israelite kingdom was still united at the time of Solomon and he fortified the upper city with a casement wall and large gate, as at Gezer and Megiddo.

 

The Israelite kingdom split into two when Solomon’s son Rehoboam came to the throne. Hazor now became part of the Northern Israelite Kingdom. The Israelite king Ahab constructed the water system to protect the spring. By this time, the city was double in size compared to the time of King Solomon.

 

Hazor was captured by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pilesar in 732 BCE and part of the Northern Israelite kingdom was exiled in what would be the first of two exiles: “In the days of Pekah, the king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, the entire land of Naphtali, and he exiled them to Assyria” (II Kings 15:29). These exiles would become part of the Ten Lost Tribes. There is no archeological evidence of this defeat, although there are ruins of a large Assyrian citadel. This continued in use until the Persian period.