Tel Hazor guide starts with basics and then tours the largest Tel in Israel (capital of Canaanite Galilee) and Hazor Antiquities Museum. Let’s begin!
The Reason We Decide To Visit Tel Hazor
Recently my wife finished reading: “1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Turning Points in Ancient History)” by Eric H. Cline. This book talks about the Late Bronze Age Collapse. Many Kingdoms fell like dominoes throughout just a few decades. No more Minoans, Mycenaeans, Trojans, Hittites, or Babylonians. The thriving economy and cultures of the late second millennium B.C., which had stretched from Greece to Egypt and Mesopotamia, suddenly ceased to exist.
Over the last few decades, archaeologists have built up a steady compilation of data on the cities of the Late Bronze Age. Using this data, the author analyzes different theories as to what caused this collapse.
There are many possible reasons. Starting from “Sea Peoples” mentioned in the Egyptian scroll, continuing with natural disasters like earthquakes and ending with regional climate change, that was responsible for destroying cereal crops. The reason could be one of these, none of this or a combination of them. There is still no accepted theory. And we will return to this question later on in this post.
In his book, Eric H. Cline mentions different Late Bronze Age cities, and one of them is Tel Hatzor. Tel Hazor National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we have never visited it. Thus, one Saturday, we have decided to check it out.
Map
Tel Hazor National Park is located next to Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar, between Rosh Pina and Metula.
Map of the area:
Tours
When we arrived, it turned out that we were not the only ones we never visited this site before. It is not a popular site, and we were the only visitors that came before 10 am. On-site, we met a volunteer guide, and we received a private 90 min tour (in Hebrew). It was fascinating, and if you have such an option, I would recommend.
You can either check the Israel Nature And Parks Authority’s site or call Tel Hazor at 04-6937290 and ask about tours.
Opening Hours
Sunday – Thursday And Saturday: 8 – 17 (16 during winter).
Fridays: 8 – 16 (15 during winter).
On holidays usually 8 – 13.
Ticket Prices
Adults 22 NIS, children 9 NIS, and Students 19 NIS. And free for National Parks annual subscribers.
If you are going to visit several National Parks, then consider purchasing a combo ticket. You can find additional info at National Parks And Nature Reserves post.
Note: opening hours and ticket prices were updated in December 2018. In any case, recheck the official site before visiting.
The Largest Tel In Israel
Before starting our visit let’s start with a more fundamental question, What Does Tel Mean? Megiddo National Park is also a Tel, and you can find an answer to this question there.
View from the first viewpoint:
Does not look like much. But, it is the lower city. Here is another photo of the sign:
Note: as you can see from the photo above, all signs are in Hebrew and English. But joining a tour is still way better.
To show some perspective, let’s make a small jump forward in time. After visiting Tel Hazor National Park, we went to Hazor antiquities museum (at the entrance to Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar). Here is a map of Hazor that we saw at the Museum:
As you can see the city is divided into two parts: the Acropolis (upper city on the left), covering 120 dunams (30 acres), and the lower city (on the right), covering about 700 dunams. It is estimated that about 1,000 people lived in the Acropolis and another 20,000 people in the lower city. For a city around 1750 BCE, it was a huge one. It’s also the largest Israeli Tel (mound).
So, why almost all the lower city covered? That is a question of money and funding. But, keep in mind that it is an active archaeological site. Every summer, students from Israel and abroad dig there as part of their studies. And for example, in 2013 they found Sphinx of an ancient Egyptian king.
Location Location Location
Why was Hazor a big city? The location is one of the main reasons. Let’s look at the following map (displayed in Hazor antiquities museum):
In the map above, you can see the red caravan route. It is part of the Via Maris (Latin: “way of the sea”). It is an ancient trade route, dating from the early Bronze Age, linking Egypt with the northern empires of Syria, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. The fact that Hazor was on Via Maris allowed it not only to earn money from facilities for traders but also have extensive trade connections with its neighbors. Also, in the image above, you can see a list of different strata. In Hazor, 21 different layers were found. Meaning that this location remained important for people over many years and it was reused/rebuild many times.
Here is another photo from Hazor antiquities museum showing a map with origins of different artifacts that were found in Hazor:
One of the mentioned places in the map above is Mycenae. Several years after this visit to Tel Hazor, we went to Greece and visited Archaeological Site Mycenae. And in the museum at Mycenae, we saw stamps just like at Hazor Antiquities Museum. And today we are talking about globalization, but it seems that this term could also be relevant at 2 BCE.
After this introduction, let’s step into the:
Acropolis
Solomonic Gate
The gate that you can see above called Solomonic Gate (though our guide said there is a very far fetch relation to King Solomon). But what’s interesting is that it is a six-chambered gate (as you enter there are three chambers on each side). Similar gates were found Megiddo and Gezer. One explanation for this is that these gates were all built by the same government.
A gate with six rooms and two towers, dated to the 10th century BCE. The gate was built in a form that was common in this period and is similar to the gates at Gezer and Megiddo. To the south of the gate are the remains of a casemate city wall from the same period (made of two parallel walls with a space between them, divided into chambers by partitions). Beneath the middle room in the southern wing of the gate, the basalt threshold of a Canaanite temple was found.
Note: unless stated otherwise, all comments were taken from the official site.
Hazor has three water systems. Two of them were built by the Canaanites and one by the Israelites. Here you can see drainage leading to one of them (Canaanite). Unfortunately, this water system is closed to the public.
There are several remains of Canaanite Temples, and here is one of them:
The “Temple”
Temple Or Palace
It is not very clear what was the purpose of this building. Some say that it was a temple and some say it was a palace. For example, the worship platform in front of the entrance (on the left side of the photo) supports the theory that it was a temple. But, there were also evidence found supporting it was a palace. As I understood, on other sites archaeological evidence was found supporting both theories together. Meaning that Canaanites, at specific period used the palace as the temple, i.e., one building served for two purposes.
At the entrance, you can see two big black tree stumps. At that time, Canaanite used Cedrus Libani. The top of this building was made of wood. Thus it did not survive. By the way, the roof that you can see now is a modern one, and it was put for preservation purposes. Harsh summer sun can cause a lot of damage.
Entrance to the template/palace.
And now we will return to the main question discussed in the book mentioned at the top of this post (“1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed”).
Joshua Destroyed Hazor?
According to the Book of Joshua (11:1-5, 11:10-13), Hazor was the place of Jabin, a mighty Canaanite king that led a Canaanite alliance against Joshua. But he was defeated by Joshua, who burnt Hazor to the ground.
Despite what is written in the Book of Joshua, some scientist believes that it is not what happened. The fire did occur, but Joshua did not cause it. The guide told us that they think there was a revolt. The people from the lower city rebelled and burned the king’s palace and other governmental buildings. But after they removed the king and other officials, none of them knew how to manage the city of such size. This lead to the collapse of the Hazor. And when Joshua arrived, he saw burned remains of the town.
Here is a closeup of the walls:
You can see that in the lower part all stones are cracked. It is the result of a fire. But for the fire to damage stone in such way it has to be at very high temperature. Since this building used as a temple, there were big vases with oil. That oil caused the temperature to rise and cause such damage.
View of Tel Hazor National Park and Golan Heights:
Water System
After a short walk from the temple, we arrived at the water system built by Israelites:
The water system: One of the jewels in the crown of the visit to the site, the water system comprises three parts. The access structure is made of large ashlar blocks. Alongside this, a vertical shaft has been excavated, penetrating through the ancient layers of the mound down to the bedrock. 3 m wide steps have been carved out along its walls. It is 45 m in depth. Where the shaft ends, a 25 m tunnel begins, sloping diagonally downwards to the water-bearing deposits. The purpose of the water system was to supply residents with water even at times of drought, without having to draw it from the springs outside the city. Construction of the water system is attributed to the time of King Ahab.
The spiral metal stairs are new ones, and the straight ones (passing on the circumference of the shaft) are the original ones. And if you decide to go down, be careful.
In the western part of Hazor, you can find a citadel, measuring 25 x 21 m, with two-meter-thick walls. Yigael Yadin (an Israeli archeologist, politician, and the second Chief of Staff of the IDF) attributed this citadel to Ahab as well:
You might think that this is a small mountain. But excavation showed this, or more precisely under this, was the wall defending the lower city:
The road leading to Tel Hazor National Park:
Israelite Guard
And here we are at the top of the Israelite guarding tower.
King of Spain partially funded digging at Tel Hazor National Park. And when Israeli archaeologist went to Spain (as part of knowledge exchange), they saw that in Spain there are similar statues on archaeological sites. When asked, what is the purpose of these statues, the answer was straightforward. When people drive nearby and see it, they come in and ask what is here. Thus, when he returned to Israel, they put this Israelite metal guard (but it is not visible from the main road). Within a week it was stolen (by metal thieves). The police were able to find the thieves and restore the statue.
I mentioned there were three water systems. So far, we saw the drainage of one and the shaft of another. Those two systems were small and could supply with water only to the Acropolis. And this is the biggest water system:
Yes, it was simply a big pool. It consisted of rainwater and diverted small springs. We know that today there is no winter pool here. And it could be due to several reasons: earthquakes (that moved the land) or maybe pool’s bottom was covered with a special layer, and over time it eroded.
Israelite Four-Room House
Remains of a four-room house in Tel Hazor National Park:
This house was originally located on the top of template/palace and moved here for preservation. It is a typical Israelite four-room (or four spaces) house. I have marked the four spaces with yellow rectangles. The house included a small yard (number 2) and three spaces around it. The people lived on the second floor, and house tasks were made in the yard.
This is the reconstructed oil press that was originally found in the yard:
This is the end of Tel Hazor National Park, but it is not the end of the trip. Hazor antiquities museum (at the entrance to Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar) is only several minutes of drive from there.
Hazor Antiquities Museum
When we arrived at the museum, the guide was the wife of the volunteer from Tel Hazor National Park. But this time the tour was much shorter during which she showed us the major findings.
The museum is quite small and when something really interesting found it is passed to the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem. But, if you are already there, then it is worth a visit (to complete the full picture).
Various artifacts from Canaanite temples:
Vases:
Round stamps:
It is a cone with carving all around it and when you roll it on clay (or some other material) you receive repeating drawing. You can see the stamps with plates showing the resulted drawings.
Let’s see if you can guess what is this:
It is a spoon. You simply insert a handle and ready to eat.
The next artifact is not that easy. What is it?
Beer In Ancient Times
It is an Israelite beer jug (with filter). Wait. What? I know they drank wine, but beer, this is something new for me. I have checked the net, and it seems quite a popular topic. Most resources I have found are relying on an article by Dr. Michael Homan in “Biblical Archaeology Review.” Here is one of those resources:
Homan points out that ancients brewed beer first by baking a barley cake and soaking it in water, which yielded a sweet liquid (called a wort). To this yeast was added, since barley does not readily ferment on its own. Soon this bubbling, bready, yeasty mix was ready to drink. It spoiled rapidly, so had to be regularly made for immediate use.
This beer had no hops or carbonation, and nor produced no “head” of foam. It would be flavored with things like honey or fruit sugars. And of course, it was drunk from a container with a built-in filter and spout, i.e., the curious artifact noted above.
One more thing worth mentioning, beer prepared in such way had lower alcohol level, around 2%, while today most common beers have 4-5% alcohol.
Nearby Attractions
Here are several nearby attractions that might interest you:
- Megiddo National Park
- Banias Nature Reserve
- Tel Dan Nature Reserve
- Nimrod Fortress National Park
- Agamon Hula
Summary
To sum up, I enjoyed our visit to Tel Hazor National Park and the Hazor antiquities museum. I guess, the main reason I enjoyed were the pair of free private guides. But, even without the guides, there are things to see and hitting both places can make a marvelous half day journey.
Have you ever been to Tel Hazor National Park? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
That’s all for today. Cheers and see you in future travels!
Stay Tuned!
Additional Resources
Here are several resources that I created to help tourists to Israel:
- Israel Trip Planner is the page that will help you to create your perfect travel route.
- National Parks And Nature Reserves page lists and put all national parks on the map. There is also a top list, information about ticket types and campsites.
- If you are looking for things to do, here are the pages for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.
- Wondering what events are there in Israel? Here is the Events And Festivals By Season guide.
And if you have any questions then check out Useful Information For Tourists To Israel.
