Lecture on Gath and Hazael at the World Congress of Jewish Studies

This afternoon, I gave a paper in session “Israel, Aram and Assyria: Between Bible and Archaeology” at the 15th World Congress of the World Union of Jewish Studies, held at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Without getting into all the details, in the paper I discussed the evidence from Tell es-Safi/Gath for the siege conquest of Hazael (and why it can be connected to Hazael) and how this fits into what we know about Hazael’s campaigns in general, and the campaign to Philistia specifically. Of particular importance was the point that I made about the date of this campaign. While previous suggestions have dated this to the last decades of the 9th cent (ca. 820-810), or even the very beginning of the 8th century, I argued that it can be dated, for various reasons to an earlier phase, ca. 835 BCE.
Also, I suggested that perhaps Gath should be filled in as the city that Hazael besieged in the last line of the Tel Dan “BYTDWD” inscription.

Other papers in this session were:
T. Ornan on Aramaean and Neo-Hittite/Luwian influenced objects from Iron Age Israel.
A. Mazar on Aramaeans and Assyrians at Tel Rehov
D. Ben-Ami and N. Wazana on a suggestion for the reason behind the appearance of major fortifications in the Land of Israel during the Iron Age II – they suggest as a reaction to the Aramaeans, and not to the Assyrian threat as usually assumed.

Nuf said …

Aren