The history of Tel el Qadi / Tel Dan

In the most northern part of historic Palestine is an archaeological site, now within a National Park, that has remains of the Bronze Age city of Laish and of the iron age city of Dan. In Arabic the location is called Tel el Qadi, the hill of the judge.

This archaeological site has two very impressive city gates that were excavated. The Bronze Age gate was built by the Canaanites who called their city Laish. They built a mud brick gate with pointed arches, the oldest one found in the region (18th Century BC).

The city was conquered by the Israelites who built new walls and new gates. The iron age gate that was excavated is built of local basalt blocks and has four chambers. At the gate they found a platform with stones in which sticks could be placed to hold up a canopy to create shade for the judge (hence the hill of the judge).

It is also the site where the Israelite King Jeroboam set up a high altar with a golden calf where the Jewish people could worship their God Yahweh instead of going to Jerusalem in the south. The sacrificial area that the excavators found is thought by some scholars to be that place.

The excavations are found in the Tel Dan National Park. Through this National Park the Dan stream flows down towards the Jordan river. The other contributors to the Jordan river are the Hasbani river and the Banias river.

If you want to watch a video I made about Tel Dan, then click on this link to go to the YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/A9YBKFi7btA

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