Where Is Ezion-Geber? A Reappraisal of the Site Archaeologist Nelson Glueck Identified as King Solomon’s Red Sea Port - The BAS Library

Footnotes

1.

Unfortunately, not even the major architectural features Glueck uncovered—the Four-Room House, the casemate wall, the solid wall, the four-chambered gateway—can be identified today.

2.

A casemate wall consists of two parallel walls subdivided into rooms by perpendicular walls; the space between the walls can be used for storage, to garrison troops, or it can be filled with rubble to strengthen the wall in time of siege.

Endnotes

1.

In the Bible, Ezion-Geber is frequency mentioned together with the city of Elath (Deuteronomy 2:8; 1 Kings 9:26 and 2 Chronicles 8:17). The relationship between the two cities is not clear. Perhaps the two should be identified with one another at certain periods. Although 2 Kings 8:20 is the last Biblical reference to Ezion-Geber, there are later references to Elath (2 Kings 14:22; 2 Chronicles 26:2 and 2 Kings 16:6).

2.

Glueck’s bibliography on Tell el-Kheleifeh is extensive, including both technical and popular publications. Most important among his articles are the following: “The First Campaign at Tell el-Kheleifeh (Ezion-Geber)” BASOR 71 (1938), pp. 3–17; “The Topography and History of Ezion-Geber and Elath,” BASOR 72 (1938), pp. 2–13; “The Second Campaign at Tell el-Kheleifeh (Ezion-Geber: Elath),” BASOR 75 (1939), pp. 8–22; “The Third Season of Excavation at Tell el-Kheleifeh,” BASOR 79 (1940), pp. 2–18; “Ezion-Geber,” Biblical Archaeologist 28 (1965), pp. 70–87.

3.

My research was undertaken on behalf of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR). The project and its personnel were first announced in the ASOR Newsletter (No. 6, March 1982: 6–11) and in Biblical Archaeologist (45, 1982: 120–21). For a more technical study, see Gary Pratico, “Nelson Glueck’s 1938–1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal” BASOR 259 (1985), pp. 1–32. Several years of research, including three visits to the site, have generated a lengthy list of acknowledgments, of which only two will be mentioned here. Special gratitude is expressed to Dr. Helen Glueck for her support and patience with this project and to Eleanor K. Vogel for her indefatigable efforts in the ordering and preservation of the records and artifacts.

4.

The field records and photographic archives are remarkably well organized, thanks, in large measure to the dedicated efforts of Mrs. Eleanor K. Vogel, Glueck’s archaeological assistant for many years.

5.

Nelson Glueck, “The First Campaign at Tell el-Kheleifeh (Ezion-Geber)” BASOR 71(1938), p. 10.

6.

Nelson Glueck, “The Second Campaign at Tell el-Kheleifeh (Ezion-Geber: Elath)” BASOR 75 (1939), p. 12.

7.

In 1965, Glueck significantly revised his earlier understanding of metallurgical activity at Tell el-Kheleifeh. See Nelson Glueck, “Ezion-Geber,” Biblical Archaeologist (1965), pp. 70–87.

8.

For a detailed study of the Four-Room House tradition, see Yigal Shiloh, “The Four-Room House—Its Situation and Function in the Israelite City,” Israel Exploration Journal (IEJ) 20 (1970), pp. 180–190; “Elements in the Development of Town Planning in the Israelite City,” IEJ 28 (1978), pp. 36–51.

9.

Rudolph Cohen, “The Iron Age Fortresses in the Central Negev,” BASOR 236 (1979), p. 63. This is actually a revision, based on more recent information, of a classification suggested earlier by Yohanan Aharoni. Yohanan Aharoni, “Forerunners of the Limes: Iron Age Fortresses in the Negev,” IEJ 17 (1967), p. 3.

10.

For example: ‘Ain Qudeis, ‘Atar Haro‘a, Horvat Rahba, Mesad Refed and Mesad Hatira.