The clearance of destruction debris from the conquest of Dan by Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III in 733/732 B.C.E. brought forth a wealth of new discoveries in 1992 and 1993. The plan (above) shows the relationship of a newly cleared plaza and a hitherto undiscovered outer outer gate to the previously known outer and inner gates. It also marks the findspot of the “House of David” inscription.
In the upper photo, the newly cleared plaza, measuring 475 square yards and paved with stones, lies in front of the outer gate, at lower right. In the southeast corner of the plaza (lower photo), four unworked stones and one missing stone mark the threshold of the new outer outer gate. This threshold also appears in the upper photo at the edge of the paved plaza, at center, to the left of the man. At each end of this threshold, a large recumbent stone with a socket holds a hemispherical stone pivot made of black basalt. Wooden doorposts once fitted into the square holes in the pivots, allowing the gate doors to swing easily open and closed.