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HAZOR

(Heb. ḥāṣôr)

Entrance to the Hazor water system (9th-8th centuries b.c.e.). The width of the rock-hewn steps suggests that water was brought up by pack animals ascending and descending simultaneously (The Israel Exploration Society, The Hazor Excavations)

“Stelae temple” containing a statue of a seated male figure and a row of basalt stelae, one decorated with hands upraised in prayer towards a divine lunar symbol (crescent and disk); LB IIA-B, 14th-13th centuries b.c.e. (The Israel Exploration Society, The Hazor Excavations)

1. Ancient Canaanite and Israelite city at the southwest corner of the Huleh Plain, 15.5 km. (9.6 mi.) N of the Sea of Galilee. It was first identified with the prominent mound of Tell el-Qedaḥ (203269; also called Tell Waqqas) as early as 1875, on the basis of geographic references in 1 Macc. 11:67 and Josephus (Ant. 5.199). The site’s location at the meeting point of the main road from Sidon to Beth-shean with that from Damascus to Megiddo (Via Maris) renders it the most strategically important site for controlling northern Palestine.

The site consists of an upper and lower city. The upper city or mound is a “Coke bottle”-shaped tell (neck extending to the west) rising 40 m. (120 ft.) above Wadi el-Waqqas. It is 10.63 ha. (25 a.) at its base and 6.1 ha. (ca. 15 a.) on its summit and consists of 21 superimposed cities (strata XXI-I), extending from the Early Bronze II (ca. 2900 b.c.) to the Hellenistic period (ca. 200). The lower city consists of a large, rectangular plateau lying below and immediately north of the upper city and includes some 74 ha. (ca. 180 a.) surrounded by an earthen rampart and moat to the west, a lone rampart to the north, and a steep slope and glacis to the east. The occupation of the lower city, limited to the 2nd millennium (ca. 1800-1300), was much shorter than that of the upper city (five strata, designated 4, 3, 2, 1B, 1A to distinguish them from those of the upper city).

Textual References

The earliest reference to Hazor appears in the 19th or 18th-century Egyptian Execration texts. It is next mentioned in at least 14 documents from the 17th-century archives of Mari, well establishing Hazor within the political and economic spheres of its northern and eastern neighbors. Hazor is mentioned in four of the Amarna Letters (14th century). In two the princes of Tyre and Ashtaroth complain to Pharaoh that Abdi-tirshi, the king of Hazor, had joined with the ³abiru and captured several of their cities. In the others Abdi-tirshi himself protests his innocence and swears loyalty to the Egyptian throne. Hazor also appears in the 13th-century Papyrus Anastasi I, ascribed to Rameses II, and in lists of conquered towns in the annals of several New Kingdom pharaohs.

One of the earliest biblical references to Hazor involves Jabin, the king of Hazor, who called together kings from various locations in northern Canaan to meet the threat of the Israelites under Joshua (Josh. 11:1-5). Called “the head of all those kingdoms” (Josh. 11:10), Hazor was then a town of great importance. Nonetheless, the Israelites defeated Jabin’s coalition near the Waters of Merom (Josh. 11:7), put Jabin to the sword along with all the inhabitants of Hazor, and burned the city to the ground — the only town built on a mound to suffer this fate during Joshua’s campaign (vv. 10-14). Hazor was later assigned to Naphtali (Josh. 19:36). It also appears in the prose version of Deborah’s battle with Sisera (Judg. 4), recounted in Samuel’s farewell address (1 Sam. 12:9).

As part of Solomon’s great building efforts, Hazor was constructed as a royal garrison and administrative city (1 Kgs. 9:15). It was destroyed by the Assyrian Tiglath-pileser III in 732 (2 Kgs. 15:29). Jonathan fought against and defeated the Seleucid governor Demetrius II (147) in the “plain of Hazor” (1 Macc. 11:67).

At least eight cuneiform tablets have been found at Hazor dating to the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (2000-1200), mostly administrative and legal. One is a Sumer-Akkadian dictionary, suggesting the presence of a scribal school at Hazor.

Archaeological Investigations

Preliminary excavations were undertaken by John Garstang in 1928. Yigael Yadin directed major excavations in 1955-58 and 1968-1970, followed by Amnon Ben-Tor in 1987, 1990-2000. Twenty-one strata have been exposed.

Bronze Age

Hazor was first occupied from EB II without interruption into EB III (ca. 2500-2300). Remains from these strata and EB IV/MB I (2300-2000) show affinity with Syria and are confined to the upper city.

During the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1900-1550) Hazor became one of the great Canaanite cities, comparable in size to important centers of the day including Qatna, Ebla, and Mari. MB IIB (1800/1750-1650) shows a substantial buildup, with massive fortifications in the upper and lower city. Inhabited for the first time, the lower city increased the settled area by tenfold. While Garstang interpreted the lower city as an enclosed infantry or chariot camp, Yadin’s excavations demonstrated that it was a city proper with temples, public buildings, and domestic structures. Four gates of “Syrian” direct axis style allowed access to the city. In MB II C (1660-1550) strata were found a wealth of buildings, most noteworthy those of a cultic nature. Hazor, along with many other cities in Palestine, was destroyed in a conflagration ending its MB occupation (ca. 1550).

A marked degree of continuity evidenced in the earthen ramparts, city gates, various temples, and domestic areas demonstrates that the LB I city (15th century) was probably built by the returning population of the destroyed MB II city.

The LB IIA city of the Amarna period (14th century) differs significantly from its predecessor; defensive architecture underwent minor changes, but the layout of domestic areas differed completely. The area H temple was rebuilt on a three-roomed plan reminiscent of Solomon’s temple (porch, hall, and holy of holies) in Jerusalem several centuries later (and similar to several temples at Alalakh). Two pillar bases located outside the front room of this temple may have served a purpose similar to Jachin and Boaz at the entrance to Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs. 7:15-22). The LB IIA city was violently destroyed by fire, attributed to Seti I at the end of the 14th century.

The final LB IIB city (13th century) demonstrates a marked decline from its predecessor. Among the artifacts are fewer imported materials, and it is possible that the city’s fortifications were no longer in use.

A well-preserved Canaanite palace was unearthed in area A. Thick walls, the lower sections lined with beautifully finished basalt orthostats, suggest it had been a multi-story building. The destruction of the Canaanite city probably occurred some time after 1300, which may confirm the biblical account of the Israelites under Joshua (Josh. 11:10); some attribute the destruction to the Sea Peoples or the events described in association with Deborah and Sisera. This destruction marks the end of Bronze Age Hazor. Though the upper city was reoccupied during the Iron Age, the lower city was never again rebuilt.

Iron Age

The first Iron Age strata of the early 12th and 11th centuries consisted mainly of stone-lined storage pits, cooking installations, and a possible high place. Yadin suggested that these remains were left by Israelites attempting to resettle the old Canaanite city.

The first substantial Iron Age city, confined to the western half of the upper city, was surrounded by a casemate wall with a six-chambered gate flanked by two towers located in the center of the mound — the eastern perimeter of the city. Similar gates and casemate walls found at Megiddo and Gezer led Yadin to attribute this stratum to Solomon’s efforts at building a strongly centralized administrative system in the mid- to late 10th century (1 Kgs. 9:15). The city declined through the last part of the 10th century and into the early to mid-9th century. It was destroyed about the time the Omrides came to power (mid-9th century), probably by Ben-hadad of Damascus (2 Chr. 16:4).

Hazor was again rebuilt on a significant scale, probably by Ahab in the mid-9th century. A solid offsets-insets wall replaced the casemate wall, completely enclosing the top of the mound. A large rectangular citadel of ashlar masonry was established on the western end of the mound. A large rectangular building with three rooms separated by two rows of pillars, first identified by Garstang as Solomon’s stables, belongs to this stratum and was probably a store building.

The most impressive structure of this stratum is the monumental water system, cut through the earlier strata of the site and solid stone. Located on the southern edge of the mound, it is similar to systems at Megiddo and possibly Gezer. Two ramps slope gently to a vertical shaft some 30 m. (90 ft.) deep. Five flights of stairs wind down the shaft to a vaulted tunnel, which runs another 28 m. (80 ft.), sloping down below the water table to a pool of water. The direction of this tunnel toward the aquifer and away from the springs near the mound’s base attests to the builder’s excellent understanding of hydrology. The system provided a valuable source of water inside the city during times of siege.

Stratum VII was destroyed by fire, plausibly during the Aramean incursions into northern Israel at the end of the 9th century. The city was rebuilt in the early 8th century on a different plan. While the citadel was rebuilt, other public buildings gave way to domestic buildings, workshops, and storage facilities. An earthquake in the time of Jeroboam II (Amos 1:1) was most likely responsible for the destruction of stratum VI.

The city was rebuilt (stratum V) with heavier fortifications, undoubtedly in preparation for confrontations with Assyrian expansion. These preparations proved futile, as evidenced by the complete destruction of the city in a conflagration, presumably at the hands of the Assyrian Tiglath-pileser III in 732 (2 Kgs. 15:29). The destruction is well attested by ashy debris a meter thick in some areas. With the end of stratum V came the end of Hazor as a major Israelite city.

Later remains include a small temporary settlement, probably of inhabitants returning after the Assyrian campaigns. Late in the 8th or early 7th century the Assyrians rebuilt the citadel on the western edge of the site and constructed an Assyrian-style palace near the mound. While no remains of the late 7th-6th centuries have been discovered, a Persian (4th-century) occupation included the rebuilding of the citadel; the site was again occupied during the Hellenistic period (2nd century). This last occupation was probably associated with Jonathan’s struggle against Demetrius II.

Bibliography. Y. Aharoni, “New Aspects of the Israelite Occupation in the North,” in Near Eastern Archaeology in the Twentieth Century, ed. J. A. Sanders (Garden City, 1970), 254-67; A. Ben-Tor, “Tel Hazor, 1992,” IEJ 42 (1992): 254-60; “Tel Hazor, 1994,” IEJ 45 (1995): 65-68; J. Gray, “Hazor,” VT 16 (1966): 26-52; A. Malamat, “Hazor the Head of All Those Kingdoms,” JBL 79 (1960): 12-19; “Northern Canaan and the Mari Texts,” in Near Eastern Archaeology in the Twentieth Century, ed. Sanders, 164-77; Y. Yadin, Hazor I-IV (Jerusalem, 1959-64); Hazor: The Rediscovery of a Great Citadel of the Bible (New York, 1975).

James W. Hardin

2. A city in the Negeb assigned to the tribe of Judah (Josh. 15:23). Following LXX B, some scholars read this as a compound with the name “Hazor-ithnan,” which they identify with el-Jebarîyeh, a site on the Wadi Umm Ethnān ca. 60 km. (37 mi.) SW of Beer-sheba.

3. A city on the southern border of Judah, toward the boundary of Edom. It was previously known as Kerioth-hezron (Josh. 15:25). It is tentatively identified with modern Khirbet el-Qaryatein/Tel Qeriyot (161083), 7 km. (4.5 mi.) S of Maon.

4. A town resettled by the Benjaminites after the Restoration (Neh. 11:33). It has been identified with modern Khirbet Hazzûr, 5 km. (3 mi.) NW of Jerusalem.

5. A collective term for sedentary Arab kingdoms in the Arabian Peninsula E of Palestine, defeated by Nebuchadnezzar in 598 (Jer. 49:28-33). This may represent a cluster of unwalled villages (Heb. ḥāṣôr).

Hyun Chul Paul Kim

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

HAZOR

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)