Tel Hazor (), translated in LXX as Hasōr (), and in Arabic Tell Waqqas or Tell Qedah el-Gul (), is an archaeological tell at the site of ancient Hazor, located in the Upper Galilee, north of the Sea of Galilee, in the northern Korazim Plateau. From the Middle Bronze Age (around 1750 BCE) to the Iron Age (ninth century BCE), Hazor was the largest fortified city in the region and one of the most important in the Fertile Crescent. It maintained commercial ties with Babylon and Syria, and imported large quantities of tin for the bronze industry. In the Book of Joshua, Hazor is described as "the head of all those kingdoms" () and archaeological excavations have emphasized the city's importance.
The Hazor expedition, headed by Yigael Yadin in the mid-1950s, was the most important dig undertaken by Israel in its early years of statehood. Tel Hazor is the largest archaeological site in northern Israel, featuring an upper tell of and a lower city of more than .
In 2005, the remains of Hazor were designated a World Heritage Site as part of the Biblical Tels—Megiddo, Hazor, Beer Sheba.
Excavations
The site of Hazor is around in area, with an upper city making up about one eighth of that. The upper mound has a height of about 40 meters. Initial soundings were carried out by John Garstang in 1926.John Garstang, "History in the Bible," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 3, no. 3, Essays in Memory of Franz Oppenheimer 1864–1943, pp. 371–385, 1944
Major excavations were conducted for four seasons from 1955 to 1958 by a Hebrew University team led by Yigael Yadin. Yadin returned to Hazor for a final season of excavation in 1968.Yigal Yadin, The Fifth Season of Excavations at Hazor 1968–1969, The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 50-71, 1968 The excavations were supported by James A. de Rothschild, and were published in a dedicated five volume set of books by the Israel Exploration Society.
Excavation at the site by Hebrew University, joined by the Complutense University of Madrid, resumed in 1990 under Amnon Ben-Tor. Those excavations continue to the present. The work from 1990 to 2012 is detailed in two IEF books.Ben-Tor, Amnon, Doron Ben-Ami, and Debora Sandhaus, Hazor VI. The 1990 - 2009 Excavations. The Iron Age. Israel Exploration Society: Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2012Ben-Tor, Amnon, Sharon Zuckerman, Shlomit Bechar, and Débora Sandhaus, HAZOR VII. The 1990-2012 Excavations. The Bronze Age, ed. Tsipi Kuper-Blau. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Exploration Society, 2017
In the 2010 excavation season, two cuneiform fragments from the same tablet, made of local clay, were discovered dating to the Old Babylonian period of the Middle Bronze Age. The 2nd fragment is small, containing only 7 signs. They are inscribed with laws in the style of Hammurabi's Code, the Laws of Eshnunna, and Hittite laws, seven in total. The fragments include laws pertaining to body parts and damages including those of slaves.Horowitz, Wayne, Takayoshi Oshima, and Filip Vukosavović, "Hazor 18: Fragments of a Cuneiform Law Collection from Hazor", Israel Exploration Journal 62, pp. 158–76, 2012Vukosavović, Filip, "The laws of Hazor and the ANE parallels", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 108, pp. 41–44, 2014'Hammurabi-like' cuneiform discovered at Tel Hazor - Asaf Shtull-Trauring - Jul. 27, 2010, HaaretzDarabi, Y., "Continuity and Innovation in the Laws of Hazor", in The IOS Annual Volume 24, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, pp. 62–78, 2024
Late Bronze Age era monumental structures in the acropolis of Hazor combine palatial and religious functions, a practice hitherto undocumented in northern Canaan. A "Ceremonial Palace" with a large throne room dubbed the "Black Building" exhibits a Syrian architectural tradition, with parallels found in the Royal Palace of Ugarit in Ras-Shamra. To its immediate east, separated by a central courtyard lies the "White Building", with a significantly different architectural plan, more aligned with the Levantine long-room temple type. To the immediate north of the "Ceremonial Palace" complex, at the top of the acropolis, lies yet another Levantine long-room temple type, with similarities to one mapped at Tell Kazell on the banks of the Syrian Euphrates.
The 2013 excavation season involved the Late Bronze Age (LBA) area M-East, and M-West. M-East included small elements of MBA and represented a major destruction event with extensive burning.Ben-Tor, Amnon, and Sharon Zuckerman., "Tel Hazor — 2013: Preliminary Report." Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, vol. 126, 2014, In the 2014 and 2015 seasons the Iron Age II thru 8th century BCE layer of area M3 and the Iron age M4 area were worked. A number of unbaked loom weights were found there.Ben-Tor, Amnon, et al., “Tel Hazor – 2014: Preliminary Report.” Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, vol. 127, 2015Ben-Tor, Amnon, and Shlomit Bechar., “Tel Hazor - 2015: Preliminary Report.” Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, vol. 128, 2016 The excavation of 2016 was in the LBA administrative palace destruction layer of area M3. Finds included fragments of an Egyptian statue. The 10 century BCE standing stone complex and 9th century BCE fortifications, built on top of the LBA destruction layer, were also further explored.Bechar, Shlomit, and Amnon Ben-Tor., “Tel Hazor – 2016: Preliminary Report.” Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, vol. 129, 2017, In 2017 excavation work concentrated in the LBA M3 area containing an administrative palace with a basalt monumental entrance stair. Work also continued on the Iron Age II fortifications.Bechar, Shlomit, and Amnon Ben-Tor. “Tel Hazor – 2017: Preliminary Report.”, Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, vol. 130, 2018 In the 2018 excavation season, the 29th season, from June to July 2018, areas worked were the LBA M3, the 8th century BCE and Persian M4, and the 8th and 10th century BC M68.Bechar, Shlomit, and Amnon Ben-Tor. “Tel H̱aẕor – 2018: Preliminary Report.”, Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, vol. 132, 2020 In the 2019 season, the 13th of the current excavation, areas M4 and M68 were worked, both Iron Age.Bechar, Shlomit, and Amnon Ben-Tor. "Tel H̱aẕor – 2019." Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, vol. 133, 2021
In total, Hazor has provided more cuneiform tablets than any other site in the Southern Levant. They fall into two groups. Those from the Middle Bronze period are in standard Old Babylonian Akkadian language while those from the Late Bronze Age are in a local dialect typical of New Kingdom Egyptian times.Wayne Horowitz. "Hazor: A Cuneiform City in the West." Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 76, no. 2, 2013, pp. 98–101
Finds from the dig are housed in a museum at Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar. In 2008, some artifacts in the museum were damaged in an earthquake.
Chronology This table lists the strata (layers) of ruined settlements that accumulated to form Tel Hazor according to Hazor archeologist Sharon Zuckerman. The shades represent the different archeological periods: Bronze Age, Iron Age, Persian period and Hellenistic period. Some layers are associated with the content of contemporary historical sources. Fixed date (BCE)Archeological periodStratum (layer) – Upper CityStratum (layer) – Lower CityExcavation resultsHistorical references28th centuryEarly Bronze Age III–IIXXI Houses27th century 24th centuryEarly Bronze Age IIIXX–XIX Houses and a monumental structure (possibly a palace or other central building)22nd century 21st centuryMiddle Bronze Age I/Intermediate Bronze AgeXVIII Houses18th centuryMiddle Bronze Age IIA–BPre XVII Burials and structuresEgyptian Execration Texts18th century 17th centuryMiddle Bronze Age IIBXVII4Erection of the earthen rampart of the Lower CityMari archive17th century 16th centuryMiddle Bronze Age IIBXVI3Both Upper and Lower Cities are settled.15th centuryLate Bronze Age IXV2Both Upper and Lower Cities are settled.Annals of Thutmose III14th centuryLate Bronze Age IIXIV1bBoth Upper and Lower Cities are settled.Amarna letters13th centuryLate Bronze Age IIXIII1aBoth Upper and Lower Cities are settled.Papyrus Anastasi I11th centuryIron Age IXII–XI pits and meager architecture mid 10th century early 9th centuryIron Age IIAX–IX six-chambered gate, casemate wall, domestic structuresUnited Kingdom of Israel (possibly under Solomon)9th centuryIron Age IIA–BVIII–VII casemate wall still used, administrative structures and domestic unitsNorthern Kingdom of Israel (Omri dynasty)8th centuryIron Age IICVI–V casemate wall still used, administrative structures and domestic unitsNorthern Kingdom of Israel (from under Jeroboam II to the Assyrian destruction by Tiglath-Pileser III8th century Iron Age IICIV sporadic settlementpost–Assyrian destruction; settlement (possibly Israelite)7th centuryIron Age IIC (Assyrian)III governmental structures on and around the tell5th century 4th centuryPersianII citadel, tombs3rd century 1st centuryHellenisticI citadel
In a recent article (2021), Israel Finkelstein, quoting his past articles regarding stratum X in Tel Hazor (shown in the table above), commonly attributed to Solomon, states:Finkelstein, Israel, (2021). "Israel and Aram: Reflections on their Border", in In Search for Aram and Israel: politics, culture, and identity, pp. 17–36.
Finkelstein's Low Chronology is disputed by other archaeologists, such as William G. Dever, who considers that although the "larger-than-life" portrait of the Bible is exaggerated, Judah was a centralized kingdom around 10th century BCE and likely ruled by Solomon.Dever, William G. (2021). «Solomon, Scripture, and Science: The Rise of the Judahite State in the 10th Century BCE». Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology 1: 102-125. The conventional date of stratum X in the 10th century is also supported by Amnon Ben-Tor and Shlomit Bechar, the chief excavators at the site. A more nuanced position is held by Avraham Faust et al. (2021), who consider the chronological difference between Finkelstein and his opponents was already narrowed when he agreed that "not only the Iron Age IIA, but perhaps even the late Iron Age IIA, started already in the 10th century", but that most scholars have instead adopted various versions of the traditional, or modified, chronology.Faust, Avraham; Garfinkel, Yosef; Mumcuoglu, Madeleine (2021). «The Study of the 10th Century BCE in the Early 21st Century CE: An Overview». Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology 1, p. 3: "The sophisticated methods of data collection and analysis that resulted from the debate significantly narrowed the chronological gap between the schools, leading most scholars to follow various versions of the traditional, or modified, chronology (e.g., Stager 2003; Mazar 2011; Katz and Faust 2014; Garfinkel et al. 2015; 2019; Dever 2017; Faust and Sapir 2018; Ortiz 2018; Master 2019), and even Finkelstein raised his chronology dramatically, agreeing that not only the Iron Age IIA, but perhaps even the late Iron Age IIA, started already in the 10th century BCE (e.g., Finkelstein and Piasetzky 2011: 51; Kleiman et al. 2019: 534-535)."
Among scholars who support Finkelstein's Low chronology, regarding Tel Hazor's stratum X, is Merja Alanne, which in her (2017) Doctoral dissertation, quoting late Dr. Orna Zimhoni's work (1997), writes:Alanne, Merja, (2017). Tel Dan: Biblical Dan An Archaeological and Biblical Study of the City of Dan from the Iron Age II to the Hellenistic Period, University of Helsinki, p. 211.
However, other scholars such as Thomas E. Levy and Daniel Frese have noted that the evidence of the pottery from Jezreel is insufficient to support the Low chronology:
History Early Bronze Age