Hazor
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1
Archaeology — physical evidence · 2
Life, role & deeds
Bible'The head of all those kingdoms', burned by Joshua, and later fortified by Solomon.
Joshua 11:10–13; 1 Kings 9:15
Imhotep tep — CC0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
ArchaeologyTel Hazor, the largest mound in the land, reveals a huge Canaanite city violently burned and a later Israelite six-chambered gate.
Tel Hazor, excavated by Yigael Yadin, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1955–1958 & 1968 (renewed excavations under Amnon Ben-Tor from 1990); violently burned Late Bronze Canaanite city and Iron Age six-chambered gate — Y. Yadin, Hazor: The Rediscovery of a Great Citadel of the Bible (Weidenfeld & Nicolson / Random House, 1975)
ArchaeologyYigael Yadin's excavations exposed a huge Late-Bronze Canaanite city destroyed by fire — with deliberately smashed cult statues — matching Joshua 11:10–11, which singles out Hazor as the one city Israel burned; Amnon Ben-Tor's renewed dig continues to probe that destruction.
Y. Yadin, 'Hazor: The Rediscovery of a Great Citadel of the Bible' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1975); A. Ben-Tor, 'Hazor: Canaanite Metropolis, Israelite City' (2016).
