“From Dan to Beersheba” is a familiar expression in the Bible to indicate the entire extent of Israel. Today archaeological excavations are taking place at an unprecedented pace up and down the land of Israel, including the cities of Dan and Beersheba. Permits for 131 excavations were issued by the Department of Antiquities and Museums in 1971. Some 38 were licenses to large-scale expeditions by Israeli and foreign institutions, 62 were for rescue excavations necessitated by development work all over the country, and 31 were for digs in the area west of the Jordan River.
Significant Finds At Dan
The site of the ruins of Dan is a 50 acre mound, now called Tel Dan, near the Mount Hermon range close to the Golan heights on the Syrian border. It was at Dan that Jeroboam I set up the Golden Calf following his revolt against Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, thus splitting the kingdom both politically and religiously (I Kings 12).
Excavations have been conducted at Tel Dan over the past six seasons. The work is under the direction of Dr. Avraham Biram, Director of the Israeli Department of Antiquities and Museums. During the 1971 campaign, an outer city gate was discovered in the southern part of the mound. This, together with the results from earlier digs, permitted a complete plan to be drawn of the city-gate complex, the largest ever found in Israel.
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Sitting In The Gate
Tel Dan provides a good illustration of the expression “sitting in the gate” which occurs so often in the Bible. It was in the gate that much of the royal business and administration was carried out. A pedestal was uncovered in front of the inner gate at Dan which apparently served as the resting place for the throne of the local ruler. Sockets for canopy supports still remain at each corner of the pedestal. Jeroboam himself may have sat upon this pedestal while conducting official business at Dan. (Jeroboam’s capital was at Shechem, I Kings 12:25.)
Dan High Place
The expedition continued investigating a “high place” in the northern part of the mound during the 1971 season. It consists of a large open-air court, measuring approximately 60 feet by 60 feet, with steps leading up to it. The earliest building phases can be attributed to the reign of Jeroboam I and is probably the very area where the Golden Calf was worshipped.
Excavations at Dan have done much to verify the accuracy of Biblical statements about this important city. As Dr. Biran stated in an interview in New York City in March 1970, after describing his finds at Tel Dan, “The archaeological evidence thus tallies with the historical evidence.”
Interesting Finds At Beersheba
An expedition from Tel Aviv University, led by Prof. Yohanan Aharoni, excavated extensively at Beersheba in 1971. The town was found to be a well planned city erected in Solomon’s time, 3.5 acres in area and surrounded by a wall 13 feet thick.
Inside the walls a circular road led from one side of the city to the other, with houses probably two stories high on either side. The place was evidently very crowded, since the distance between houses was found, in some cases, to be as little as 28 inches. Apparently over-crowded cities are nothing new!
Wide stairs were uncovered which led from the city gate to an elevated site where the local temple undoubtedly stood. The temple is yet to be excavated. In a corner of the temple area, however, the archaeologists found a rich haul of ritual vessels of Egyptian origin. Bronze figurines of a goddess, a bull, a sphinx, an Egyptian double crown, amulets, and beads as well as clay human figurines, were discovered in a heap in the debris of a brick house. There was also a small incense altar and an incense burner of bone in the shape of a lion.
The discovery of these pagan religious objects is interesting in light of the writings of the Prophet Amos. He cried out against the use of such
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objects in this area long before the city was destroyed:
“These are the words of the Lord: For crime after crime of Judah I will grant them no reprieve, because they have spurned the law of the Lord and have not observed his decrees, and have been led astray by the false gods that their fathers followed. Therefore will I send fire upon Judah, fire that shall consume the palaces of Jerusalem.” (Amos 2:4, 5 NEB.)
The archaeological evidence found at Beersheba indicates that false gods were indeed a problem to the inhabitants of Judah.
(Jerusalem Post Weekly, July 20, September 14, and September 22, 1971; New York Times, April 3, 1970)