Gezer
GEZER
A royal city of the Canaanites, Jos 10:33 12:12; between Bethhoron and the Mediterranean, Jos 16:3 ; afterwards on the western border of Ephraim, and assigned to the Levites, Jos 16:3 21:21. The Canaanites long retained a foothold in it, Jos 16:10 Jdg 1:29 ; but were dispossessed by a king of Egypt, and the place given to his daughter, the wife of Solomon, 1Ki 9:16, who fortified it.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Gezer
(Heb. id. prob. a precipice, from , to cut off; Sept. ,, but in 1Ch 6:67; 1Ch 20:4 ,, in 1Ch 14:16 ; in pause GAZER, which Emerald, Isr. Gesch. 2:427, note, deems the original form), an ancient city of Canaan, chosen king, Horam, or Elam, coming to the assistance of Lachish, was defeated, and probably killed, with all his people, by Joshua (Jos 10:33; Jos 12:12). The town, however, is not said to have been destroyed; it formed one of the landmarks on the southern boundary of Ephraim, not far from the lower Beth-horon, towards the Mediterranean (Jos 16:3), the western limit of the tribe (1 Chonicles 7:28). It was allotted, with its suburbs, to the Kohathite Levites (Jos 21:21; 1Ch 6:67); but the original inhabitants were not dispossessed (Jdg 1:29); so that in the time of David the Philistine territory seems to have included it (2 Samuel 10:25; 1Ch 20:4); and even down to the reign of Solomon the Canaanites (or, according to the Sept. additioe to Jos 16:10, the Canaanites and Perizzites) were still dwelling there, and paying tribute to Israel (1Ki 9:16). At this time it must, in fact, have been independent of Israelitish rule, for Pharaoh had on some occasion burnt it to the ground and killed its inhabitants, and then presented the site to his daughter, Solomon’s queen. But it was immediately rebuilt by the latter king (1Ki 9:15-21); and, though not heard of again till after the captivity, yet it played a somewhat prominent part in the later struggles of the nation, being the Gazera (, 1Ma 4:15; 1Ma 7:45), or Gazara (, 1Ma 15:28; 1Ma 15:35; 1Ma 13:53; 2Ma 10:32), of the Apocrypha and Josephus (, Ant. 13:9, 2), who once calls it Gadara (,, Ant. 13:9, 2). Strabo (16:759) also mentions a town called Gadaris ( ). Ewald (Gesch. 3:280), somewhat arbitrarily, takes Gezer and Geshus to be the same, and sees in the destruction of the former by Pharaoh, and the simultaneous expedition of Solomon to Hamath- zobab, in the neighborhood of the latter, indications of a revolt of the Canaanites, of whom the Geshurites formed the most powerful remnant, and whose attempt against the new monarch was thus frustrated. In one place Gob is given as identical with Gezer (1Ch 20:4; comp. 2Sa 21:18). Gezer was perhaps the original seat of the Gezrites (q.v.) whom David attacked (1Sa 27:8), in the vicinity of the Amalekites; and as they are mentioned in connection with the Geshurites, they may have lived a considerable distance north of Philistia. Finally, Mount Gerizim (q.v.) appears to have derived its name from the vicinity of this tribe (compare the name Ar-Gerizim, by Thecodotius, in Eusebius, Praep. Evang. 9:22).
Gezer must have been between the lower Beth-horon and the sea (Jos 16:3; 1Ki 9:17), therefore on the edge of the great maritime plain which lies beneath the hills of which Beit-ur et-tahta is the last outpost, and forms the regular coast road of communication with Egypt (1Ki 9:16). It is therefore appropriately named as the last point to which David’s pursuit of the Philistines extended (2Sa 5:25; 1Ch 14:16), and as the scene of at least one sharp encounter (1Ch 20:4), this plain being their own peculiar territory (comp. Josephus, Ant., 8:6, 1, ); and as commanding the communication between Egypt and the new capital, Jerusalem, it was an important point for Solomon to fortify. By Eusebius (Onomast. s.v. ) it is mentioned as four miles north of Nicopolis (Amws), a position exactly occupied by the inportant town Jimzu, the ancient Gimzo, and corresponding well with the requirements of Joshua. But this hardly agrees with the indications of the first book of Maccabees, which speak of it as between Emmaus (Amws) and Azotus and Jamnia; and again as on the confines of Aztus. In the neighborhood of the latter there is more than one site bearing the name Yasur; but whether this Arabic name can be derived from the Hebrew Gezer, and also whether so important a town as Gazara was in the time of the Maccabees can be represented by such insignificant vilages as these, are doubtful questions. Schwartz (Palest. page 85) identifies it with Y’azur, a little village two miles east of Jaffa; but this has long since been identified with the Hazor of Eusebius (see Robinson’s Res. 2:370, note). Van Senden proposes to identify it with El-Kubab, a place on a tell northwest of Anwas; but Van de Velde suggests that this would require the supposition of two Gezers (Memoir, page 315). The site seems rather to be that of the modern Urn-Rush, a village with ruins and a well on the Jaffa road (Robinson, Researches, 3:57), a place which must, from its position (commanding the thoroughfare), have always been of great importance, like Gezer.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Gezer (2)
This locality has recently been discovered in Tell Jezer (Mound of Jezer), lying near the village of Aba Ghosh. The following account of it is from Conrder (Tent Work in Palest. 1:11 sq.):
“The origin of the title [Gezer, i.e., cut off, or isolated] is at once clear, for the site is an outlier to use a geological term of the main line of hills, and the position commands one of the important passes to Jerusalem. As is the case with many equally important places, there is not much to be seen at Gezer. The hillside is terraced and the eastern end occupied by a raised foundation, probably the ancient citadel. Tombs and wine-presses, cut in rock, abound, and there are traces of Christian buildings in a small chapel, and a tomb, apparently of Christian origin.
“Beneath the hill on the east there is a fine spring, which wells up in a circular ring of masonry; it is called ‘Ain Yerdeh, or the ‘Spring of the Gatherings, and its existence is a strong argument in favor of the antiquity of the neighboring site….
“A most interesting and curious discovery was made in 1874 at Gezer. M. Ganneau was shown by the peasantry a rude inscription deeply cut in the flat surface of the natural rock. It appears to be in Hebrew, and to read ‘Boundary of Gezer’ supposed by him to mark the limits of this as a Levitical city], with other letters, which are supposed to farm the Greek word Alkiom. M. Ganneau has brought forward an ingenious theory that Alkios was governor of Gezer at the time this boundary was set, and he supports it by another inscription from a tomb on which the same name occurs. This theory might seem very risky, were it not strengthened by the discovery of a second identical inscription close to the last, contained the same letters, except that the name Alkiou is written upside down. In both, it is true, the letters are hard to read, being rudely formed, but they are deeply cut, and of evident antiquity, while it can scarcely be doubted that the inscription is the same in both cases. M. Ganneau attributes them to Maccabaean times; it is curious that they should thus occur in the open country, at no definite distance from the town, and unmarked by any column or monument. Altogether they are among the many archaeological puzzles of Palestine, and their origin and meaning will probably always remain questionable.”
A full description of the locality and ancient remains, with a topographical map, may be found in the Memoirs to the Ordnance Survey, 2:417 sq.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Gezer
a precipice, an ancient royal Canaanitish city (Josh. 10:33; 12:12). It was allotted with its suburbs to the Kohathite Levites (21:21; 1 Chr. 6:67). It stood between the lower Beth-horon and the sea (Josh. 16:3; 1 Kings 9:17). It was the last point to which David pursued the Philistines (2 Sam. 5:25; 1 Chr. 14:16) after the battle of Baal-perazim. The Canaanites retained possession of it till the time of Solomon, when the king of Egypt took it and gave it to Solomon as a part of the dowry of the Egyptian princess whom he married (1 Kings 9:15-17). It is identified with Tell el-Jezer, about 10 miles south-west of Beth-horon. It is mentioned in the Amarna tablets.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Gezer
(“cut off,” i.e. “isolated”.) An old Canaanite city, whose king, Horam or Elam, helping Lachish, was slain with his people by Joshua (Jos 10:33; Jos 12:12). A landmark of Ephraim, between lower Beth-horon and the Mediterranean (Jos 16:3), on the S.W. border (1Ch 7:28). Now Tell el Djezir near Abou Shusheh (Ganneau). Allotted to the Kohathite Levites (Jos 21:21; 1Ch 6:67). At a short distance from Tel el Djezir, on the E. side, engraved on a horizontal rock, is a bilingual Greek and Hebrew inscription marking the limit of Gezer (Num 35:5) as a Levitical city with its portion without the city.
The inscription is at least as old as one century B.C.; also a second similar inscription exists on the N.W. Thus the sacred boundary was a square, having its four angles at the four cardinal points (Ganneau). The original inhabitants remained and paid tribute to Israel (Jdg 1:29; 1Ki 9:16-17). It must have been independent when Pharaoh slew the Canaanite inhabitants, burnt the city, and gave it a present to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. Solomon rebuilt it. Gob is identified with it 1Ch 20:4; compare 2Sa 21:18. It lay in the maritime plain, on the coast road to Egypt, an important post to fortify as it lay between Egypt and Jerusalem
It is the last point to which David pursued the Philistines (2Sa 5:25; 1Ch 14:16). Being 50 miles distant from “the S. of Judah … and the Kenites,” it cannot be meant in 1Sa 27:8. (See GERZITES.) The inscription in the rock discovered by Ganneau, “the boundary of Gezer,” verifies the conjecture that Abou Shusheh on the plain between Jaffa and Jerusalem is the site of Gezer The discovery of the limit outside the city probably defines “a sabbath day’s journey.”
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Gezer
GEZER.A very ancient city of the Shephlah, on the borders of the Philistine Plain; inhabited c [Note: circa, about.] . b.c. 3000 by a race probably kin to the Horites, who were succeeded by the Semitic Canaanites about b.c. 2500. These were not driven out by the invading Israelites (Jdg 1:29). In Davids time the city was in Philistine hands (1Ch 20:4). The king of Egypt captured it, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomons wife (1Ki 9:16). Simon Maccabus besieged and captured it, and built for himself a dwelling-place (1Ma 13:43-53 Gazara RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). The city has been partly excavated by the Palestine Exploration Fund, and Simons dwelling-place discovered, as well as a great Canaanite high place, and innumerable other remains of early Palestinian civilization.
R. A. S. Macalister.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Gezer
gezer (, gezer): A city of great military importance in ancient times, the site of which has recently been thoroughly explored. The excavations at this spot are the most thorough and extensive of any in Palestine, and have not only done much to confirm the history of the place, as known from Biblical and other sources, but have also thrown a flood of light upon the general history, civilization and religion of Palestine in pre-Israelite and Israelite times.
1. The Discovery and Position of the Site
The long-lost site of Gezer was discovered by M. Clermont-Ganneau in 1873, and his suggestion that the modern name for the place, Tell Jezer (or Tell el Jezereh) was a survival of the ancient name was confirmed by his further discovery of three bilingual inscriptions, in Hebrew and Greek, cut on surfaces of rock by a certain Alkios, apparently once the governor of the city; in one of them occurred the expression the boundary of Gezer.
The natural features and the position of Tell Jezer abundantly explain the extreme importance of Gezer in ancient times. The buried remains crown a narrow hill, running from Northwest to Southeast, about 1,700 ft. long by 300 to 500 ft. broad. The approach is steep on every side, and in early times, before the accumulation around the sides of the rubbish of some millenniums, must have been much more so. The hill stands, like an outpost, projecting into the great plain, and is connected with the low hills behind it, part of the Shephelah, with but a narrow neck. At the foot of the hill runs a great high road from Egypt to Syria; to the North lies the Vale of Aijalon, across which runs the modern carriage road to Jerusalem, and up which ran the great high road, by the Beth-horons, to the platenu North of Jerusalem; to the South lies the Vale of Sorek, where stood Bethshemesh, and along which went a great highway from the country of the Philistines to the hill country of Judah. Today the Jerus-Jaffa railway, after sweeping some miles away in the plain round the whole western and southern sides of the site, passes along this open vale to plunge into the narrow defile – the Wady Ismain, which it follows to Jerusalem. From the summit of the Tell, a vast expanse of country is visible between the long blue line of the Mediterranean to the West, and the abrupt and lofty mountains of Judah to the East. That it has been all through history the scene of military contest is fully understood when its strategic position is appreciated; no military leader even today, if holding the highlands of Palestine against invasion, could afford to neglect such an outpost.
2. History of Gezer
Although the excavation of the site shows that it was occupied by a high civilization and a considerable population at an extremely early period, the first historical mention is in the list of the Palestinian cities captured by Tahutmes III (18th Dynasty, about 1500 bc). From this time it was probably under Egyptian governors (the Egyptian remains at all periods are considerable), but from the Tell el-Amarna Letters, a century or so later, we learn that Egyptian influence was then on the wane. Three of these famous clay tablets are dated from Gezer itself and are written in the name of the governor Yapahi; he was then hard pressed by the Khabiri, and he appealed for help in vain to Egypt. In other letters belonging to this series, there are references to this city. In one, a certain freebooter named Lapaya makes excuses that he had broken into the city. He has been slandered. Is it an offense that he has entered Gazri and levied the people? (no. CCXL, Petrie’s translation).
In the well-known Song of Triumph of Merenptah, who is considered by many to be the Pharaoh of the Exodus, occurs the expression Gezer is taken. (In connection with this it is interesting to notice that an ivory pectoral with the cartouche of Meren-ptah was unearthed at Gezer.)
In the time of Joshua’s invasion a certain king of Gezer named Horam (, horam, but in Septuagint , Ailam, or , Elam) came to the assistance of Lachish against the Israelites, but was slain (Jos 10:33). Gezer was taken, but the Canaanites were not driven out, but remained in servitude (Jos 16:10; Jdg 1:29). The city became one of the towns on the southern border of Ephraim (Jos 16:3), but was assigned to the Kohath clan of the Levites (Jos 21:21). In 2Sa 5:25 (the King James Version Gazer) we read that David chased the Philistines after their defeat in the valley of Rephaim from Geba until thou come to Gezer, showing that this was on the frontier of the Philistine territory; and in 1Ch 20:4 it states, There arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued. In the corresponding account in 2Sa 21:18 the scene of this event is said to be Gob, which is probably a copyist’s error – for . According to Josephus (Ant., VIII, vi, 1), at the commencement of Solomon’s reign Gezer was in the hands of the Philistines, which may explain 1Ki 9:16, where it is stated that a certain Pharaoh, whose daughter Solomon married, captured and burnt Gezer and gave the site to his daughter. Solomon rebuilt it (1Ki 9:17). There are no further references to Gezer during the later Jewish monarchy, but there are several during the Maccabean period. Judas pursued Gorgias to Gazara and into the plains of Idumaea and Azotis and Jamnia (1 Macc 4:15); Bacchides, after his defeat by Jonathan, fortified also the city of Bethsura, and Gazara, and the tower, and put forces in them and provision of victuals (1 Macc 9:52 the King James Version); a little later Simon camped against Gazara and besieged it round about; he made also an engine of war, and set it by, the city and battered a certain tower, and took it (1 Macc 13:43 the King James Version), after which he purified it (1 Macc 13:47, 48). From Josephus (Ant., XIII, viii, 2) we gather that Antiochus had taken Gezer from the Jews.
The governor, Alkios, who made the bilingual inscriptions, may come in about this time or a little later; the rock inscriptions, of which half a dozen are now known, give no information regarding their date.
In the period of the Crusades this site, under the name Mount Gisart, was a crusading fort and gave its name to a family. Here King Baldwin IV gained a victory over Saladin in 1177, and in 1191 the latter monarch camped here while conducting some fruitless negotiations with King Richard Coeur de Lion. In 1495 a skirmish occurred here between the governor of Jerusalem and certain turbulent Bedouin. The history of Gezer, as known, is thus one of battles and sieges extending over at least 3,000 years; from the archaeological remains we may infer that its history was similar for at least 1,000 years earlier.
3. History of the Excavations
In 1904 the Palestine Exploration Fund of England obtained a permit for the excavation of Tell Jezer. The whole site was the private property of certain Europeans, whose agent, living much of the time on the Tell itself, was himself deeply interested in the excavations, so that unusually favorable conditions obtained for the work. Mr. (now Professor) R. A. Stewart Macalister, M.A., was sent out, and for 3 years (1904-7) he instituted an examination of the hidden remains in the mound, after a manner, till then, unexampled in Palestine exploration. His ambition was to turn over every cubic foot of soil down to the original rock, so that nothing of importance could be overlooked. As at the expiration of the original permit much remained unexplored, application was made to the authorities for a second one, and, at the end of 1907, Mr. Macalister embarked on a further 2 years of digging. Altogether he worked for the greater part of 5 years, except for necessary interruptions of the work due to unfavorable weather. Some two-thirds of the total accumulated dbris on the mound was ransacked, and besides this, many hundreds of tombs, caves and other antiquarian remains in the neighborhood were thoroughly explored.
4. Chief Results of the Explorations
It was found that the original bare rock surface of the hill was crowned with buried remains, in some parts 20 and 30 ft. deep, made up of the dbris of all the cities which had stood on the site during three or four thousand years; on the part excavated there were no remains so late as the commencement of the Christian era, the Gezer of that time, and the crusading fort, being built on a neighboring site. The earliest inhabitants were Troglodytes living in the many caves which riddled the hill surface; they were apparently a non-Sem race, and there was some evidence that they at least knew of cremation. These, or a race soon after – the earliest Semites – enclosed the hilltop with high earth rampart faced with rough stones – the earliest walls going back at least before 3000 bc. At an early period – probably about 3000 bc – a race with a relatively high civilization fortified the whole hilltop with a powerful and remarkably well-built wall, 14 ft. thick, with narrow towers of short projection at intervals of 90 ft. At a point on the South side of this was unearthed a very remarkable, massive, brick gateway (all the other walls and buildings are of stone), with towers on each side still standing to the height of 16 ft., but evidently once much higher. This gate showed a strong Egyptian influence at work long before the first historic reference (18th Dynasty), for both gateway and wall to which it belonged had been ruined at an early date, the former indeed, after its destruction, was overlaid by the buildings of a city, which from its datable objects – scarabs, etc. – must have belonged to the time of Amenhotep III, i.e. as early as 1500 bc.
The later wall, built, we may conclude, soon after the ruin of the former, and therefore about 1500 bc, was also a powerful construction and must have existed considerably over a thousand years, down, indeed, till 100 bc at least, when Gezer disappears from history as a fortitled site. These walls enclosed a larger area than either of the previous ones; they show signs of destruction and repairs, and Mr. Macalister is of the opinion that some of the extensive repairs – in one place a gap of 150 ft. – and the 28 inserted towers are the work of Solomon (1Ki 9:17). This wall must have existed in use through all we know of Gezer from Bible sources. When, from the ruined remains, we reconstruct in imagination these mighty ramparts, we need not wonder that the’ Hebrews, fresh from long wanderings in the wilderness, found it no easy task to capture cities so fortified as was this (Num 13:28; Deu 1:28).
The foundations of a powerful building, which were found inserted in a gap in the southern walls, turned out conclusively to be the palace of Simon Maccabeus – who captured the city (1 Macc 13:43) – a graffito being found upon one of its stones running thus:
() (?) ()
Pampa(s) Simonos katepaghe(?) p(ur) basleion
which seems to mean, Pamphras, may he bring down (fire) on the palace of Simon.
Within the city walls the foundations of some seven or eight cities of various successive periods were found, superimposed one above the other. The city’s best days appear to have been shortly before the time of Joshua; the next, perhaps, at the time of the Judges. With the period to which we should probably assign the arrival of the Hebrews, there is a great increase in the population, the hitherto inviolate environs of the temple being encroached upon by private dwellings: an interesting commentary on Jos 16:10.
The great High Place which was uncovered is one of unique interest, and its discovery has thrown a flood of light upon the religion of the early Canaanites, that religion – the worship of Baal and Ashteroth – which was the great rival of the purer religion of Israel. This [Ba’al temple, or bamoth, consisted of a row of 8 maccebhoth or rude stone pillars ranging in height from 5 ft. 5 inches to 10 ft. 9 inches (see HIGH PLACE; PILLAR), together with a curious trough which may have been a socket for the ‘Asherah (see ASHERAH), or some kind of altar. The area around these pillars had a kind of rough floor of consolidated earth under which were found a number of large jars containing infant bones, considered to be the remains of infant sacrifice. In close proximity to this temple was a double cave, the construction of which strongly suggested that it had been arranged for the giving of oracles. This high place had been used for very many centuries; the maccebhoth were not all of one period but had gradually been increased from one to seven, and an eighth of a more definitely sculptured form – as a simulacrum priapi – had been added some time later. In the accumulated rubbish around these pillars were found enormous numbers of small stone phallic images, together with pottery plaques of Astarte, made with rude exaggeration of the sexual organs. See BAAL; ASHTEROTH.
Another monument of great interest – and high antiquity – was the great rock-cut tunnel. It is about 23 ft. high, and 13 ft. wide, and descends by 80 steps, 94 1/2 ft. through the solid rock, to a cave in which there is a spring. It is very similar to the great tunnel known as Warren’s tunnel and shaft which was clearly constructed by the early Jebusites to reach from within the city’s walls to the fountain of Gihon (see SILOAM; ZION). This Gezer tunnel must date at least to 2000 bc; it is evident from the nature of the accumulated dbris which blocked its mouth that it was actually abandoned about 1400 bc. Its antiquity is confirmed by the fact that it was evidently excavated with flint knives.
At a much later period in history, in that of the Maccabees, the water supply of the city, in time of siege, at any rate, was largely dependent on an enormous open cistern which Mr. Macalister cleared of earth and found capable of containing 2,000,000 gallons of water. Among the smaller finds which throw light upon the Bible history may be mentioned two much broken, cuneiform tablets, both referring to land contracts, which, from the names of the eponyms, can be dated to 651 and 649 bc respectively. They therefore belong to the time of the last, and one of the greatest, of the Assyrian monarchs, Ahurbanipal, the noble Osnappar of Ezr 4:10, and they show that he was not only a great conqueror, but that in Palestine he had an organized government and that legal civil business was transacted in the language of Assyria.
The illumination of Old Testament history which the excavations of Gezer have afforded can here be only hinted at, but references to it will occur in many of the articles in other parts of this Encyclopedia.
Literature
In Bible Side-Lights from the Mound of Gezer Professor R. A. S. Macalister has described in a poplar form with illustrations some of his most remarkable discoveries; while in the Memoirs of the Excavations at Gezer (1912), published by the Palestine Exploration Fund, Professor Macalister deals with the subject exhaustively.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Gezer
Gezer. Formerly a royal city of the Canaanites, and situated in what became the western part of the tribe of Ephraim. The Canaanites were not expelled from it at the conquest (Jos 10:33; Jos 16:5; Jos 16:10; Jdg 1:29). It was, nevertheless, assigned to the Levites (Jos 21:21). In after times, having been, on some occasion, destroyed by the Egyptians, it was rebuilt by Solomon.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Gezer
H1507
Called also Gazer, Gazara, Gazera, and Gob. A Canaanitish royal city.
King of, defeats Joshua
Jos 10:33; Jos 12:12
Canaanites not all expelled from, but made to pay tribute
Jos 16:10; Jdg 1:29
Allotted to Ephraim
Jos 16:3; Jos 16:10; 1Ch 7:28
Assigned to Levites
Jos 21:21
Battle with Philistines at
1Ch 20:4; 2Sa 21:18
Smitten by David
1Sa 27:8
Fortified by Solomon
1Ki 9:15-17
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Gezer
Gezer (g’zer), steep place, called also Gazer, Gazara, Gazera, and Gad, a royal city of Canaan, and one of the oldest cities of the land. Jos 10:33; Jos 12:12. Gezer was in Ephraim; given to Kohath, Jos 21:21; 1Ch 6:67; noticed in the wars of David, 1Sa 27:8; 2Sa 5:25; 1Ch 20:4; burned by Pharaoh in Solomon’s days, 1Ki 9:15-17; given to Solomon’s Egyptian wife, and rebuilt by him; was an important city in the time of the Maccabees.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Gezer
Ge’zer. (a precipice). An ancient city of Canaan, whose king, Hiram or Elam, coming to the assistance of Lachish, was killed with all his people by Joshua. Jos 10:33; Jos 12:12. It formed one of the landmarks on the north boundary of Ephraim, between the lower Beth-horon and the Mediterranean, Jos 16:3, the western limit of the tribe, 1Ch 7:28.
It was allotted with its suburbs to the Kohathite Levites, Jos 21:21; 1Ch 6:67, but the original inhabitants were not dispossessed, Jdg 1:29, and even down to the reign of Solomon, the Canaanites were still dwelling there, and paying tribute to Israel, 1Ki 9:16. It was burned by Pharaoh in Solomon’s time, 1Ki 9:15-17, and given to Solomon’s Egyptian wife, and rebuilt by him.