Archaeologists claim discovery of entrance gate to Goliath's hometown, the Biblical city of Gath

This discovery is huge for the country.

Archaeologists claim they have uncovered the entrance gate to Gath, the biblical city believed to be Goliath's hometown. The city is said to be located about halfway between Jerusalem and the coastal city of Ashkelon.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - An archaeologist named Aren Maeir, from Bar-Ilan University, led the archaeological dig at Tel Zafit. He explained that the gate is one of the largest ever unveiled in Israel and is a indication of the condition of Gath between the 10th and ninth centuries B.C.

In the Bible, Gath is mentioned a few times, including in I Samuel as the place David ran to in order to escape King Saul. It was also reported that the finding could have an effect on the historical perspective regarding how much land the Kingdom of Judah had power over in the area.

According to Maeir, the discovery of Gath as a humongous, equipped city on the border of Judea during an extended period, without any mark of devastation, proves the Philistines controlled the Judean plain and it is probably the remainder of a failure of the Israelite kingdom to spread westward.

"The Judean kingdom is supposed to be big, important and strong," stated Maeir. "But it turns out there is a very big city on its western border. For years, I claimed Gath was a big city, but they countered that it has no lower city, and if it has one it is not fortified. After finding a huge fortification, it's clearly the most important city of the 10th and ninth centuries."

The team also believed they found confirmation of an earthquake in the 8th century B.C. possibly associated to the earthquake mentioned in the beginning of the Book of Amos. The dig at Tel Zafit has been ongoing for 20 years.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'

Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online