Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Two cities of Gath

There've been rumblings that Gath was a Goliath among the Philistine cities. Now, confirmation: in the early Iron Age, slightly before the Bible's record extended to the coast, the city's fortifications enclosed 123.5 acres. (Pardon the clickbaity title.)

To return to Nadav Naʼaman, "Was Khirbet Qeiyafa a Judahite City? The Case against It" in 2017 (pdf): Khirbet Qeiyafa was a contemporary Canaani city, until it got conquered by Gath. Although I think this was later. UPDATE 1/6/23 at any rate, Hazael seems to have done for the place.

So I am left to wonder about timelines. Did some other state check Gath's progress? If so, was it Israel under Saul or David, or Shishak / Sheshonq, or some mixture of all these, or even other Philistines like those in Ashqelon? Second-acts are certainly possible in this part of the world: Omri's kingdom was powerful, Jehu's weaker, but Jeroboam II's a return to (regional) greatness.

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