Endnote 6 – Rejected! Qeiyafa’s Unlikely Second Gate

Regarding the southern gate, Finkelstein and Fantalkin argue that “the restoration of the gate goes far beyond the actual data uncovered during the excavation: evidence for some of the piers of the gate is lacking; in the eastern wing of the gate the central pier is restored from a wall that blocks the gate’s entryway; and in the western wing the inner (northern) pier does not exist and the central pier is restored from a short stub” (Finkelstein and Fantalkin, “Khirbet Qeiyafa,” p. 46). In fact, however, more than 80% of the original gate has been preserved, including parts of each of the badly preserved piers.