Tell es-Safi

Tell es - Safi (Arabic تل الصافي, DMG Tall aṣ - Safi, Modern Hebrew תל צפית Tel Zafit ) is a settlement mound (Arabic: تل / Tell) east of the city of Ashdod in Israel.

To the north of the hill rises the stream Nahal Tsofita which opens soon in the stream Nahal Haela from the north-east location Elah valley ( the valley of Elah ). Located 8 km north of Tell Miqne where you suspect the Biblical city of Ekron.

The Tell is identified with the biblical city of Gath, from the giant Philistine Goliath is said to have originated. This assumption voiced James Porter, after a journey through Philistia, in the year 1857. First excavations conducted in 1899 Frederick J. Bliss and Robert AS Macalister as mandated by the British Palestine Exploration Fund. In 1996, Prof. Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University launched a large-scale excavation project. 2005 during the excavations a potsherd was discovered with two putative Indo-European names, written in an early Canaanite script which have similarities with the name Goliath.

First traces of settlement date back to the Chalcolithic period. Larger building structures date from the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1500-1200 BC ) and the Iron Age I and IIB (ca. 1200-700 BC). Be dated to the 9th century is an age horns, found during excavations in 2011. Probably by the end of the 9th century comes a trench, which could be identified by the tell around. Maybe he witnessed the siege and conquest by King Hazael of Damascus gaths. The absence of finds from the Iron Age IIC can, however, be reconciled with the Assyrian conquest and destruction of the city by Sargon II about 711 BC in conjunction. Then the hill for a long time seems to have been uninhabited. During the Byzantine period (4th - 7th century) existed in the area, a smaller village called Saphita, called on the mosaic map of Madaba. Later, the Crusaders built mid-12th century, the castle Blanche Garde. In this area there is now a Muslim cemetery. It goes back to the residents of the Arab village, which existed after the Crusader period until 1948. During the Palestine war 1948/49, the Arab population was expelled in July 1948 by Israeli soldiers of the Givati ​​under the command of Shimon Avidan from the village.