The independent city state of Rehov commands the Beth-Shean Valley. Pottery from this period and the next is in the Canaanite style—roughly worked and occasionally painted. No wall protects the city; apparently it was considered unnecessary.
c. 1200
The 25-acre Canaanite city is destroyed.
Iron Age I (1200–1000 B.C.E.)
c. 1200–1100
A second Canaanite settlement is built on the ruins of the previous city. It, too, is unprotected by a wall. The rough, Canaanite pottery continues in use throughout Iron I.
c. 1100
The city is destroyed.
c. 1100–1000
Again the Canaanite city is rebuilt. Rehov remains unfortified. The ground surface of this third city is pocked with 33 pits, perhaps used to store grain and to hold trash.
Iron Age II (1000–732 B.C.E.)
c. 1009–925
King David and Solomon rule over the United Monarchy.
c. 990
The third and final Canaanite city is destroyed.
c. 990–925
A change in pottery styles signifies cultural change at Rehov: Canaanite pottery disappears and a new hand-burnished red-slipped style—associated with the Israelites—comes to predominate.
Like the earlier Canaanite cities, Israelite Rehov is made up of an unwalled upper and lower city. Finds include a well-preserved mudbrick public building, with a spacious hall.
c. 930
Solomon dies, and the United Monarchy is divided into two states, with Israel in the north and Judah in the south.
c. 925
Hoping to reassert Egyptian control of the region, Pharaoh Shishak leads a large army across the Sinai Peninsula into Judah and Israel. Rehov is destroyed—either by Shishak or, perhaps, by earthquake.
c. 925–850
As part of the northern kingdom of Israel, Rehov comes under the sway of a rapid succession of kings, including Jeroboam I (c. 930–908), Omri (c. 883–872) and his son Ahab (c. 872–851).
Finds from an open-air cult site include an incense altar, figurines and numerous animal bones. Excavators also uncovered several large buildings, one with a basement containing wheat dated to 916–832 B.C.E. by carbon 14 testing. Wooden beams are used as foundations throughout the upper and lower city. Carbon 14 dating of the logs indicates a tenth-century construction date.
c. 840–830
The high-ranking military commander Jehu murders King Joram (c. 850–841) of Israel and seizes control of Israel. King Hazael of Damascus invades Israel. The Assyrian threat is on the rise as King Shalmaneser III campaigns in the West.
During this period of turmoil, Rehov suffers a violent defeat. The lower city is abandoned. The upper city is finally protected with a double wall.
c. 740
As the Assyrian threat increases, residents of the upper city hastily construct a massive, even more substantial wall, 30 feet thick.
c. 732
Tiglath-pileser III conquers northern parts of Israel. Assyrian battering rams breach the walls of Rehov. Skeletons scattered in a thick layer of ash and broken pottery attest to the sudden and violent end of the Israelite city.
The conquerors briefly occupy the site, as evidenced by the graves of two Assyrian soldiers. Eventually, the site is abandoned.
