Hazor - Hazor

Tel Hazor (also known as Hatzor, Hebrew: תל חצור) is an archaeological site in Upper Galilee, the city excavated there was one of the most important settlements in the area north of the Sea of ​​Galilee. In 2005 the Tel Hazor was established along with other "biblical tels", the Tel Megiddo and Beer Sheva to the UNESCO world heritage explained.

background

The city on the hill of Tel Hazor was one of the most important cities in the region in its heyday in the Bronze Age and remained influential even after the capture and reconstruction by the Israelites until it was founded in 732 BC. To the defeat and destruction by the Assyrian king Tiglat Pileser came.

The area consists of a spacious lower town, which after the destruction in the 13th century. was abandoned and the upper town, which was already settled when the town was founded and to which the settlement was based after the reconstruction in the 13th century. limited. Since different layers of settlement lie on top of each other in the area of ​​Tel Hazor, orientation is sometimes not easy - in order to enable excavations in the underlying Canaanite structures, for example, a larger building was demolished and rebuilt a little further away from the visit.

in the Hazor Museum in the nearby kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar Most of the finds from Tel Hazor are on display and can be visited with the same ticket.

The first exploratory excavations were carried out by John Garstang in 1928, the findings of which, however, were inadequately documented in accordance with the customs of the time and more superficial structures were cleared aside. The Tel Hazor was only systematically researched in 1955/58 and 1968 under Yigael Yadin from the Jerusalem Hebrew University. Under Amnon Ben-Tor the excavation work was resumed in 1990, a sensational find was a clay tablet with a legal inscription from the approx. 18th century. B.C.

history

The probably already in the 3rd millennium BC. existing settlement on the Tel Hazor experienced around 1750 BC. its heyday in the Bronze Age, the city with around 20,000 inhabitants was the most powerful city in the region and maintained trade connections with Egypt and Mesopotamia. The city was in Egyptian Prohibition texts mentioned on fragments of pottery shards; in the Amarna letters an Egyptian clay tablet archive in cuneiform script exists a letter (EA # 227) to the king of Hazor, from which it emerges that an Egyptian vassal ruler had power here.

Hazor is mentioned several times in the biblical writings, especially the account of the conquest of the city of the Canaanites by Joshua (Joshua 11,10-13 EU) and their destruction by burning down goes to the fate of Hazor and his king Jabin (Judge 4,2 EU)a. The veracity of the biblical tradition was questioned from different sides, the discovery of a catastrophic conflagration from a layer around 1200 BC. and cuneiform characters with the name of the ruler Ibni-Addu (which could correspond to a paraphrase of the biblical Jabin) now speaks again for the biblical tradition.

In any case, after the destruction in the 13th century. the large lower town in terms of area was given up and only the upper town, which was easier to defend, was re-fortified on the settlement hill, Hazor is thus (Joshua 19,6 EU) is described as a fortified city in the land of the Naphtali tribe. According to another biblical account (1.King 9,15 EU) Hazor was one of the cities fortified by King Solomon. The city gate system similar in its system with six side chambers as in the cities Megiddo and Squeezed supports this hypothesis, even if it is not entirely clear how far the core elements of the city complex with administrative buildings and a water supply system (with a gallery carved into the rock leading to the groundwater) date from the time of Solomon, Ahab or a successor.

In the second half of the 9th century. B.C. Hazor seemed to have come under the control of King Aram of Damascus, later it experienced another heyday under the kings Joasch and Jeroboam II, who were connected as vassals to the Assyrians, until it became part of an uprising of northern Israel against the Assyrians Defeat against Tiglat Pileser and the city was destroyed, the population ended up in deportation.

landscape

The Tel Hazor is located on a hill at the entrance to the Hula level in Upper Galilee. The lower town, located on an area, was no longer populated after it was destroyed in the 13th century, the majority of the ruins from the Isralite period are located in the area of ​​the settlement mound of the upper town.

Flora and fauna

The vegetation in Galilee, which is rich in precipitation by Israeli standards, is Mediterranean.

climate

There is a Mediterranean climate with precipitation concentrated in the winter months, from February to May the area is green and the visiting temperatures are more pleasant.

getting there

Traveling by public transport is not easy, the bus routes 54, 511 and 522 of society Nateevexpress (Website only in Hebrew) drive the kibbutz at the entrance Ayelet HaShahar at.

With the private vehicle one uses the from Tiberias Main road northwards along the Sea of ​​Galilee 90 in the direction Kiryat ShmonaA bypass road around Tel Hazor was completed a few years ago. From this one branches off to the kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar whether, the access to the archaeological site is opposite the entrance to the kibbutz.

Fees / permits

Entrance fee 22/10 NIS, including entry to the museum in Ayelet HaShahar.

mobility

Locally one moves on foot.

Tourist Attractions

Type is group designation

• The Israelite city wall begins north of the entrance area 33.01891535.569844Israelite. Fortifications2 Type is group designationFortifications from the 9th-8th Century, the course of the 33.01809635.568079north city wall3 Type is group designationnorthern city walls can be followed to the west.
• the path leads past the 33.01743335.568199Solomon. City gate4 Type is group designationSolomonic city gate: this city gate system with the six side chambers and flanking side towers is laid out very similarly to those in Megiddo and Squeezed and comes from the 10th century, the Israelite period. Bronze Age structures in a deeper layer.
• further one arrives at the Canaanite structures of the 33.01714535.568314Southern Temple5 Type is group designationsouthern templeof which not much more than the foundations have been preserved. To the southeast, walls of an even earlier Canaanite palace.
• the ruins of the 33.01686135.567997Ceremonial Palace6 Type is group designationCeremonial Palace, a late Bronze Age temple made of clay bricks, which was covered to protect against the elements
• the 33.01655135.567509Water system7 Type is group designationWater system: a staircase with 80 steps carved into the rock leads 40 m below the surface of the earth to the water table and was probably created at the time of King Ahab.
• in the far west lie the ruins of a 33.0165435.565916Israelite. citadel8 Type is group designationIsraelite Citadelwhich was probably created under King Ahab. This fortress was built by the Assyrian attack under Tiglet-Pileser in 732 BC. destroyed.
• in the north are the Israelite buildings from the 9th / 8th centuries that were transferred here from the area of ​​the Canaanite palace buildings as part of the excavations. Century: that "Beith Yael" with its four rooms and a reconstructed olive press was probably a residential building; that's right next door 33.01723335.56723Pillared Building9 Type is group designation"Pillared Building", a public warehouse, which stands out for its double row of columns.

From the viewing platforms you have a good overview of the lower town, which was already depopulated in pre-Israelite times. The site is not yet accessible to visitors.

• the lower town was surrounded by a wall of earth. Here graves and remains of residential and temple buildings were found.

In 2012 a fragment of the feet of an Egyptian sphinx was found, the history of which is still completely in the dark.

activities

• Visit to the archaeological site
• Visit of the 33.0224535.57265Hazor Antiquities Museum10 Type is group designationHazor Antiquities Museum in the nearby kibbutz (opening only by appointment for groups) with the exhibition of the finds from the archaeological Terrain, including basalt steles from the Canaanite temples.
• other finds (including the basalt sculpture of a reclining lion) are in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem to see.
• the area south of the archaeological site and Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar around the Wadi Hazor with steep slopes with nesting caves for birds of prey was considered Einot Hatsor Reserve placed under nature protection.

There are several in Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar tourist offers:

• The facility is well-known for friends of shooting sports: archery, paintball shooting, but also a shooting range, on which you can shoot under supervision with pistols up to semi-automatic weapons such as the Uzi, the Tavor and the M-16.
• a maze, opportunities for bike tours (with a bike rental)
• a swimming pool
• Picnic opportunities
• a contemporary art gallery

shop

kitchen

accommodation

health

At Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar there is a clinic run by a nurse with regular medical consultations.

security

The security situation in Upper Galilee is harmless.

trips

literature

• Website the ASOR with information on the excavations of Hazor
• Website the Hazor Excavations with excavation reports from previous years
• Website the Israel Antiquities Authority