Image Details

BILL SCHLEGEL/BIBLEPLACES.COM

GATH OF THE PHILISTINES. Tell es-Safi is a large mound in the western Judean foothills identified with the Philistine city of Gath (Amos 6:2; 1 Samuel 17:23; 1 Chronicles 18:1). More than a quarter-century of excavation there has produced incredible insights into the arrival of the Philistines after the end of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1200 BCE) and the sophisticated, blended culture they developed over the subsequent centuries. The archaeology of Gath has not only revised long-held assumptions about Philistine origins, but also revealed evidence of a powerful kingdom that dominated the southern Levant and even biblical Judah during the first few centuries of the Iron Age.