Dan (ancient city)
תל דן | |
Israelite | |
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Public access | yes |
Website | Tel Dan Nature Reserve |
Dan (Hebrew: דן) is an ancient city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, described as the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Israel,[1] and belonging to the tribe of Dan.
The city is identified with a tell located in Upper Galilee, northern Israel, known as Tel Dan (תל דן; "Mound of Dan") in Hebrew.
Identification and names
The
19th century Swiss traveler
Tel Dan is the modern Israeli name for the site, based on the original Biblical name.[3]
Geography
Dan is situated in the area known as the
Biblical narrative
Laish/Leshem
According to the Book of Judges, prior to the Tribe of Dan occupying the land, the town was known as Laish (Judges 18:7, 14, 27–29), meaning lion, or rather lioness.[12][13] Joshua 19:47, although telling the same story as Judges 18, names the city as Leshem, which makes the researchers consider it as being the same place.[12]
Laish was allied with the
Israelite city of Dan
According to Judges concerning
Golden calf worship
According to 2 Kings 10:29 and 2 Chronicles 13:8, Jeroboam erected two golden calves as gods in Bethel and Dan. Textual scholars believe that this is where the Elohist story of Aaron's Golden calf actually originates, due to opposition in some sections of Israelite society, including the Elohists, to the seeming idol-worship of Jeroboam.[16] However, some Biblical scholars believe that Jeroboam was actually trying to outdo the sanctuary at Jerusalem (Solomon's Temple), by creating a seat for God that spanned the whole kingdom of Israel, rather than just the small space above the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem; the seat for God in the Jerusalem sanctuary was represented by a cherub on either side, and so Jeroboam might have been using the calves to represent the sides of his seat for God – implying his whole kingdom was equal in holiness to the Ark.[17]
Archaeology
According to the archaeological excavations at the site, the town was originally occupied in the Late Neolithic period (c. 4500 BCE), and at some time in the fourth millennium BCE it was abandoned for almost 1,000 years.[18]
Bronze Age
Laish was a fortified settlement during the Early Bronze Age.[19] The Egyptians cursed Laish in execration texts written during the Middle Kingdom (21st–17th century BCE), but the repetition in such texts of formulas from older ones dating to the Old Kingdom (27th–22nd century BCE) seem to indicate that they reflected the historical reality of the Early Bronze Age, rather than that of the Middle Bronze Age.[20]
The excavators of Tel Dan uncovered a city gate made of mud bricks on top of
In the 15th century BCE,
Iron Age
During the Iron Age I, Egyptian withdrawal from Canaan led Dan to possibly become an independent entity until the 10th century BCE, when it was annexed by Israel or one of the Aramean kingdoms.[25]
Israelite city wall and gate
The Israelite gate was built at a different location than the Canaanite gate.
In 1992, in order to tidy up the site for presentation to visitors, a heap of debris was removed[where?] which dated from the time of the Assyrian destruction of the city by Tiglath-Pileser III in 733/2 BCE. A hitherto unknown earlier gateway[where?] to the city was uncovered. The entrance complex led to a courtyard paved with stone with a low stone platform[clarification needed]. In the 9th century BCE, the podium[clarification needed] was enlarged, and major fortifications were built, a city wall with buttresses and a complex gate. The podium[clarification needed] was enlarged further in the 8th century BCE by Jeroboam II, then destroyed by Tiglath-Pileser III.[26][failed verification]
Seat of king or judge
At the Israelite gate there is a raised square platform reached by two steps. Decorated stone sockets in the corners may have been created to hold canopy poles. It may have been the base of the king's seat, where he would sit in judgment.[27]
Tel Dan Stele
Within the remains of the city wall, close to the entrance of the outer gate, parts of the Stele were found.
Dan suffered in the era of expansion by the
When the Assyrian empire expanded to the south, the kingdom of Israel initially became a vassal state, but after rebelling, the Assyrians invaded and the town fell to Tiglath-Pileser III in 733/732 BCE.
Excavations at the cultic area of Dan have revealed a religious compound with a large four-horned central altar and presenting a diverse amount of cult paraphernalia.[33]
Later periods
During the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods, remains indicate that cultic activities continued around the podium (also known as "the High Place").[26]
Tel Dan Nature Reserve
The Tel Dan Nature Reserve was first declared on 39 hectares surrounding the tel in 1974. 9 hectares were added to the reserve in 1989.
References
- ^ See verses listed at From Dan to Beersheba
- ISBN 0-664-22090-8.
- ^ a b N. P. Lemche (2003). "'House of David', the Tel Dan Inscription(s)". In T. L. Thompson (ed.). Jerusalem in Ancient History and Tradition. T&T Clark International. p. 47.
- NRSV
- ^ Jastrow, M, 1903. A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, p. 1185 and 1189, or webpage.
- ^ Wilson (2004), p. 150
- ^ Provan, Long, Longman, 2003, pp. 181-183
- ^ a b Saulcy, 1854, pp. 537-538
- ISBN 978-1-4142-8338-8.
The source of the Jordan, or as it is here called, Dhan (ضان), is at an hour and a quarter N. E. from Banias.
- ^ Lynch, W. F. (1849). Narrative of the United States Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. London: Richard Bentley. p. 472.
- ^ Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1856). Later Biblical Researches in Palestine and in the Adjacent Regions - A Journal of Travels in the Year 1852. Boston: Crocker & Brewster., p. 392
- ^ a b abarim-publications, Laish "Laish" and "Laishah" at Abarim Publications. Re-accessed 20 July 2022.
- ^ Laish at Bible Gateway. Accessed 20 July 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-415-26355-9. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ a b This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Micah". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
- ISBN 978-0-06-097214-1. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ Friedman 1989, p. 47.
- Pottery NeolithicLevels at Tel Dan". Mitekufat Haeven, Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society 20:91–113.
- ^ Ben-Tor (2006), p. 81.
- ^ Ben-Tor (2006), pp. 67, 81.
- ISBN 978-1-58983-277-0.
- ^ a b Frances, Rosa: The three-arched middle Bronze Age gate at Tel Dan - A structural investigation of an extraordinary archaeological site, retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ^ Ilani, Ofri; Ashkenazi, Eli (March 18, 2009). "4,000-year-old 'Abraham's Gate' reopened to public after painstaking restoration work". Ha'aretz English Language Edition.
- ^ Müller, Wilhelm Max; Lutz, Henry Frederick. "Geographic List Of Tuthmosis III. Karnak.". Egyptological Researches: Results of a journey in 1904. pp. 80f. second row, #31. Egyptian hieroglyphs – like contemporary Linear A and Linear B – did not distinguish L and R.
- ISBN 978-0-87820-183-9.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8264-8571-7. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
- ^ When King David sat 'in the gate,' what did that mean, Haaretz
- JSTOR 27926300.
- S2CID 162347286.
- ISBN 978-0-567-04043-5. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
- ^ Rainey, Anson F. (November–December 1994). "The House of David and the House of the Deconstructionists". Biblical Archaeological Review. 20 (6).
- ^ Shanks, Hershel (September–October 1999). "Biran at Ninety". Biblical Archaeology Review. 25 (3). Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
- ISBN 978-90-04-26062-7.
- ^ "List of National Parks and Nature Reserves" (PDF) (in Hebrew). Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ Eretz Magazine Archived March 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Israel Nature and Parks Authority, Tel Dan Nature Reserve, accessed 12 October 2020
Bibliography
- Ben-Tor, Amnon (2006), Yaira Amit; Nadav Naʼaman (eds.), "Do the Execration Texts reflect an accurate picture of the contemporary settlement map of Palestine?", Essays on ancient Israel in its Near Eastern context: a tribute to Nadav Naʼaman, Eisenbrauns, pp. 63–87, ISBN 978-1-57506-128-3Re-accessed 20 July 2022.
- Wilson, John Francis (2004). Caesarea Philippi: Banias, the Lost City of Pan. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-85043-440-9.
External links
- Tel Dan Excavations – official Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology website
- Tel Dan inscription
- Israel Nature & Natural Parks Protection Authority Site
- 1961 Israeli map of Tel Dan and surrounding area. [1]