Archeology and biblical associations at 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 in the Early Bronze Age.

 

The Canaanite city developed during the Late Bronze Age from the 16th to 12th centuries BCE and was the largest of the Canaanite cities with a population of about 15,000 inhabitants. It consisted of an upper city above the Hazor Stream and a lower city on a large rectangular plateau to the north of the upper city. The later Israelite city was smaller and included only an upper city.

 

There are at least six 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 Tiglatah-Pileser. This Assyrian attack led to the first of two exiles of the Jews from the Northern Kingdom of Israel and their soon disappearance from history.

 

Joshua’s conquest of Canaan occurred in four main phases. The first was the capture of Jericho  and then the capture of the cities of Ai and Beit El. This effectively divided the country into two and prevented the northern Canaanite kingdoms uniting with the southern kingdoms. The Israelites had made a pact with the Canaanites of Givon. Givon was not far from Jerusalem and overlooked important north-south and east-west highways. Appreciating the seriousness of this pact, 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 these cities individually.

 

The armies of the northern part of the country now united and gathered together 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).

​

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 now 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. Archeology at Hazor has demonstrated that following this conflagration there was no significant settlement in the city for about the next 100 to 200 years other than in the upper city where settlement was of a semi-nomadic nature with foundations found for only for tents and huts. This does not accord with the story related 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).

 

Hence, the conflagration found by archeologists may well have been due to the army of Devorah and Barak. This would explain the minimal settlement of the city following the conflagration as this was a knock-out blow to Canaanite settlement in the northern part of the country.

 

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 then became part of the northern Israelite Kingdom. It was the Israelite king Ahab who constructed the water system to protect the spring. By this time, the city was double the size than at the time of King Solomon.

 

The city was captured and part of the northern Israelite kingdom exiled by the formidable army of the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pilesar in 732 BCE 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) There is no archeological evidence of this defeat, although there are ruins of a large Assyrian citadel. This continued in use into the Persian period.