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Photo by Sky View

ANCIENT FRONTIER FORT. This small but impressively fortified site, known today as Khirbet Qeiyafa, sat on the border between Judah and Philistia during the late 11th–early tenth century. After only two seasons, excavations have produced two city gates, the earliest known Hebrew inscription (found in the building marked with an X in the photo) and strong evidence that David and Solomon were no mere tribal chieftains, as some have claimed. Excavators Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor of the Hebrew University believe it is ancient Sha‘araim, mentioned in 1 Samuel 17:52.