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Lost Secrets - an adventure during Neolithic times

Stonehenge: The Story So Far, Julian Richards

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<< Text Pages >> Tel Dan - Ancient Village or Settlement in Israel

Submitted by coldrum on Wednesday, 29 April 2009  Page Views: 10658

DigsSite Name: Tel Dan Alternative Name: Abraham's Gate, תל דן in, Tel el-Qadi
Country: Israel Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
 Nearest Village: Tel Dan
Latitude: 33.249000N  Longitude: 35.652000E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Ancient Settlement in Israel. Tel Dan is an archaeological site in Israel in the upper Galilee next to the Golan Heights. The site is quite securely identified with the Biblical city of Dan, the northernmost city in the Kingdom of Israel, which the Book of Judges states was known as Laish prior to its conquest by the Tribe of Dan.

Due to its location close to the border with Lebanon and at the far north of the territory which fell under the British Mandate of Palestine, Tel Dan has had a long and often bitterly contested modern history, most recently during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Finds at the site date back to the Neolithic era c 4500 BCE; from the remains found, which include 0.8 m wide walls, and pottery shards, it appears that the site was occupied in Neolithic times for several centuries before being abandoned for up to about 1000 years.

Within the remains of the city wall, close to the entrance of the outer gate, was found a fragment which seemingly was originally from a stele. This basalt fragment, the Tel Dan Stele, contains an Aramaic inscription, referring to one of the Aramaean kings of Damascus; most scholars believe that the king it refers to is Hazael (c 840 BCE), though a minority argue that it instead refers to Ben-Hadad (c 802 BCE).

More details at Wikipedia

Note: 4,000-year-old 'Abraham's Gate' reopened to public, see comment
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Mount Hermon - 1965

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Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 70m NNW 345° Tel Dan Ancient Village or Settlement
 3.9km E 91° Banyas* Ancient Temple
 6.8km W 281° Tel Abel Beth Maacah* Ancient Village or Settlement
 9.6km S 173° Engraved dolmen near Kibbutz Shamir* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 11.0km ESE 110° Dolmen field in Odem forest on The Golan Heights* Artificial Mound
 15.8km N 358° Kawkaba Phoenician Grotto Rock Cut Tomb
 18.9km SW 217° Tel Kadesh Naftali* Ancient Village or Settlement
 26.4km NNE 28° Ain Hourche Temple Ancient Temple
 26.9km SSW 197° Tel Hatzor* Artificial Mound
 30.2km ENE 66° Tell Ramad Ancient Village or Settlement
 30.4km SSW 206° Naburiya synagogue in Biriya Forest* Ancient Temple
 31.2km SE 141° Dubbah Breika Ancient Village or Settlement
 31.8km SW 224° Baram Synagogue* Ancient Temple
 34.3km W 267° Hiram's Tomb* Rock Cut Tomb
 37.8km S 183° Bethsaida* Ancient Village or Settlement
 38.7km W 271° Ras el-Ain Reservoir Holy Well or Sacred Spring
 39.2km SSE 167° Gamla Dolmen field* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 39.2km SSE 167° The ancient city of Gamla* Ancient Village or Settlement
 40.3km SSE 160° Rujm el-Hiri* Stone Circle
 40.3km SSW 211° Crescent-shaped monument near Shefer* Artificial Mound
 42.2km SW 224° PEKI''IN old Synagogue * Ancient Temple
 42.6km W 274° Tyre.* Ancient Village or Settlement
 42.7km SSE 161° Dolmen field near Natur on the Golan Heights* Barrow Cemetery
 43.4km NW 323° Sidon* Ancient Village or Settlement
 43.5km SSW 202° Hukok* Ancient Temple
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4,000-year-old 'Abraham's Gate' reopened to public by Andy B on Wednesday, 29 April 2009
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The Nature and National Parks Protection Authority yesterday opened "Abraham's Gate" at Tel Dan in the north, for visits by the public.

The ancient structure from the Canaanite period of the Bronze Age is made of mud and is thought to have been built around 1750 B.C.E. The authority named the archaeological site for Abraham, the first patriarch of the Jewish people, indicating that it dates from the period of Abraham.
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The gate was uncovered in 1979 but more recently underwent restoration. It is composed of three arches and constructed of sun-dried mud brick on a foundation of large basalt stones. The gate, which in ancient times stood seven meters tall, has been restored to its original height. It features two towers and a horizontal structure linking them below the arches, the oldest arches ever found in the Land of Israel.

Archaeologists specializing in the Bronze Age suggest caution in identifying the structure. Raphael Greenberg of Tel Aviv University's archaeology department commented that he "doesn't know any academic archaeologist who uses the Bible as a guide to describing remains from such an early period. There may be a connection with Abraham in the metaphoric sense, but not more than that. Today the era of the patriarchs is not taught as an archaeological period. There are even differences of opinion regarding the period of King David and King Solomon, which is already 700 years later."

Oldest arch

Greenberg said that in any event, the gate is one of the most impressive finds of its time. He noted that not only is it the oldest arch in the country, but it also reflects a revival of urban life in the Land of Israel, a product of the influence of city life in Syria at the time.

Ze'ev Margalit, who is responsible for archaeological preservation at the parks authority, indicated that "the gate is almost 4,000 years old and is made of mud brick. The Bible recounts that the people of Dan took Abraham's nephew Lot prisoner, and Abraham came to Dan to rescue him, but it is hard to confirm whether or not Abraham passed through the gate."

Margalit noted that in recent years Christian pilgrims have come to the site, and have reacted with great excitement in coming face to face with Abraham's gate.

Source:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1071920.html
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