The discovery of city gate named after Solomon begins In 1957 when Yigael Yadin identified a city gate very similar in construction to remains excavated at Megiddo and Hazor. Despite the willingness of modern researchers to connect the archaeological shreds of evidence with eminent biblical kings, the determination of the city gate as Solomon gate is problematic. The historical texts tell us that the Egyptian Pharaon gives the city of Gezer to Solomon for his marriage with the pharaoh's daughter. The only mention in the Bible of a pharaoh who might be the father-in-law of Solomon is Siamun. The British archeologist, Kenneth Kitchen believes that Siamun conquered Gezer and gave it to Solomon. Other researches disagree, and states that "it is impossible to conclude which Egyptian monarch ruled concurrently with David and Solomon". Some argue that Gezer was destroyed late in the 10th century and thus not contemporary with Solomon.
A few hours walk along Tel Gezer. You can start a day with a picnic in the charming forest of Hamagenim. Then, through the village of Karmay Yosef, we rise to the famous ancient hill Gezer. At this place, the battles of ancient history took place and the Egyptian pharaoh subjugated the disobedient rulers of Canaan. These rulers gathered together and concluded military alliances near one of the most mysterious structures of the ancient East - stone giants from Tel Gezer. Descent into an ancient well of forty-meter depth is the most mysterious part of the walk. We will end the day in the cool water spring of Yarda, where the battle of the Crusaders against Saladin once took place.
Cover photo by: Maximidf - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62461515
