Sky View, courtesy of the Khirbet Qeiyafa expedition
A GATE AND A CASEMATE WALL. Khirbet Qeiyafa was protected by a wall consisting of two parallel walls periodically divided into casemates. The city had two four-chambered gates for entry and exit. The two gates (the southern one is pictured above) support the identification of Qeiyafa as Biblical Sha’arayim, meaning “two gates.” The construction of a fortified city is a massive endeavor that could be undertaken only by an extensive civil administration, which must have existed at this early Judahite site.