Archaeologists Excavate Legendary City of Danhttp://popular-archaeology.com/issue/december-2011/article/archaeologists-excavate-legendary-city-of-dan

The monumental Biblical city is yielding more of its secrets to archaeologists.

Looking at the remains today, it is difficult to believe that only a fraction of this monumental ancient site has been uncovered. Yet it has far and away yielded some of the most impressive discoveries of Near Eastern, or Levantine, archaeology. Here, according to the Biblical account, ancient Israel established one of its great temples. And here, late Neolithic people first settled as early as 4500 B.C.E., and Bronze Age inhabitants constructed the world’s oldest known gated archway.

Known today as Tell el-Qadi, more popularly as "Tel Dan", the site is located near Mount Hermon in Northern Israel adjacent to one of the sources of the Jordan River. The 'Tel', or mound, was defined very early on during the Middle Bronze period when massive defensive ramparts were constructed, encircling the city. Although the ramparts rise about 20 meters from the surrounding surface area, the interior of the site is actually as much as 10 meters lower than the tops of the ramparts. It was first identified based on historical records as the city of Laish, a town allied with the Phoenician Sidonians and later renamed "Dan" after the early Isrealite tribe of Dan, which conquered and settled it as documented in the Book of Judges. Thanks to a bilingual Greek and Aramaic inscription found at the site in 1976, this city name has been confirmed. Translated, that inscription reads, “To the God who is in Dan, Zoilos made a vow.” Ancient Egyptian texts and cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia document Dan’s significance during the second millennium B.C.E. Later, during the Iron Age, Aramaeans, Israelites, and Assyrians fought over this city. Dan was a recognized cultic center even into the Greco-Roman period.

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Section of rampart at Tel Dan. Ani Nimi, Wikimedia Commons

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Although the site was first identified by Edward Robinson in 1838, the best known excavations of the site began in 1966 under the late Israeli archaeologist Avraham Biran, and it was under his direction that the most spectacular discoveries were made. His team of excavators uncovered a mud-brick city gate (pictured right) dated to around 1750 BCE (the Middle Bronze period), the time of the Biblical patriarchs. It is popularly known as Abraham's gate because, according to the Biblical account, Abraham journeyed to Dan to rescue his nephew Lot. They also uncovered an Israelite temple, thought by Biblical scholars to be the temple built by Jeroboam, King of Israel after the United Monarchy split into Israel in the north and Judah to the south. It was this temple where, according to the Bible, he housed the golden calf and challenged the temple in Jerusalem as a religious center of Israel. Additionally, an elaborate Israelite gate was discovered, consisting of an upper gate and a lower gate, each featuring inner and outer gates and plazas. Arguably the most sensational find, however, was the discovery of parts of a basalt stone stele bearing an inscription containing a declaration by a king of Damascus (possibly Hazael, c. 840 BCE, or Ben-Hadad, c. 802 BCE). Translated, it proclaims his military victory and destruction of at least some parts of the Kingdom of Israel, and the killing of two kings of Israel. Notably, it contains the phrase "House of David" ["......and I killed [Ahaz]iahu son of [Jehoram kin]g of the House of David"], a phrase rarely, if at all, seen in any extra-biblical context. Today, many Levantine archaeologists and scholars agree that it refers to a royal dynasty of David and that the Tel Dan Stele therefore represents tangible evidence that there was indeed a "kingdom", or royal dynasty, of David. (See more photos of Tel Dan below)

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Plaza of the outer gate of the Iron Age II Israelite gate complex, looking toward the gate. Photo credit: Ronald A. Simkins and the Virtual World Project

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Chamber in the upper gate of the Israelite gate complex. Photo credit: Ronald A. Simkins and Virtual World Project

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Stone altar in a side room of the Iron Age II upper gate complex. Photo credit: Ronald A. Simkins and the Virtual World Project

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View of the monumental stairway to the temple platform. Photo credit: Ronald A. Simkins and the Virtual World Project

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Monumental steps to the temple platform. Photo credit: Ronald A. Simkins and Virtual World Project

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http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/december-2011/article/archaeologists-excavate-legendary-city-of-dan