Endnote 7 – The Trowel vs. the Text

The excavator of the site (William Dever) ascribed the so-called “outer” wall to the Late Bronze Age and argued that the city was fortified at that time. See William G. Dever, “Late Bronze Age and Solomonic Defenses at Gezer: New Evidence,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR) 262 (1986), pp. 9–34; W.G. Dever, “Further Evidence on the Date of the Outer Wall at Gezer,” BASOR 289 (1993), pp. 35–54; W.G. Dever, “Visiting the Real Gezer: A Reply to Israel Finkelstein,” Tel Aviv (TA) 30 (2003), pp. 264–266, with earlier literature. There can be no doubt, however, that this wall was built during Iron Age II, while in the Late Bronze Age the city was unfortified. See Aharon Kempinski, “Review of Dever, W.G. et al. 1974. Gezer II: Report of the 1967–70 Seasons in Fields I and II,” Israel Exploration Journal 26 (1976), pp. 212–213; David Ussishkin, “Megiddo, Gezer, Ashdod, and Tel Batash in the Tenth and Ninth Centuries B.C.,” BASOR 277/278 (1990), pp. 74–77; Israel Finkelstein, “The Date of Gezer’s Outer Wall,” TA 8 (1981), pp. 136–145; Israel Finkelstein, “Penelope’s Shroud Unravelled: Iron II Date of Gezer’s Outer Wall Established,” TA 21 (1994), pp. 276–282, with earlier literature; E. Yanai, “A Late Bronze Age Gate at Gezer?” TA 21 (1994), pp. 283–287.