Balage

In the seventh century B.C.E. the city was an impressive metropolis, as shown in this artist’s rendition, and may have boasted a population of 6,000 people. Marked on the drawing are key elements of the city: its wall (A) and city gate (B), a walled extension of the city containing stables or storerooms (C), an industrial area, home to a vast olive-oil production industry (D), an area in which the city’s elite lived (E), a temple complex (Temple 650, F on this drawing) and the northeast acropolis (G), the location of the Canaanite settlement six centuries earlier.