Tel Arad,
northwest of the modern city of Arad
in the northern Negev , consists of a lower and
an upper city. The lower city was inhabited only in the Early Bronze Age
(3150-2200 BCE ). At approximately
100 dunams (25 acres), Arad
was one of the largest cities of its day in this country, and surrounded by a
strong 1,200-meter wall. The city's streets, plazas, and buildings were
meticulously planned, including a reservoir in the lowest part of the city to
which surface runoff was channeled.
Tel Arad consists of the
ruins of a Canaanite city from the Early Bronze Age, and fortresses built by
the kings of Judea during the Israelite
period. Apart from the fortress, all the
other remains seen at the site are from the Canaanite period.
When the people of Israel left
slavery in Egypt
they intended to enter the land from the south.
However, they encountered the King of Arad, who fought against them,
blocking their way.
Later, after
the Israelites conquered the country, one of their conquests was Arad . In the bible is an account of the Kenite
tribe, who settled in Arad .
Judges 1, 16
And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law,
went up with the people of Judah
from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah , which lies in the Negev , near Arad .
In an
inscription uncovered in Karnak in Egypt , Arad appears in a list of
cities subjugated by Pharaoh Shishak, king of Egypt , in 925 BCE .
Archeological
excavations in Arad
were started in 1962 under Ruth Amiran and Yohanan Aharoni. The continued intermittently though to the
1980s under Amiran, while Aharoni excavated the Israelite fortresses from
1963-1967.
At the end of
the 4th millennium BCE
the site was a small village, which by the beginning of the next millennium
grew into a planned and fortified city of 100 dunams. It was divided into quarters for the palace,
shrines, residences and marketplace.
Water supply was provided by collecting surface water, which flowed down
the streets and drained into a large reservoir at the centre of the city. A thick-walled structure, which may have been
used to guard the reservoir, is situated next to it.
The fortress
mound
A small
settlement on the highest part of the tel was established by the Israelites in
the 11th century BCE . Fortresses were built there on 5 different
levels. The fortress which can be seen
today is surrounded by a wall 180 ft long and 164 ft wide. It contains a unique Judean shrine, a water
system, residential structures and storehouses.
200 ostraca from the Judean and Persian periods were found inside the
fortress. Over 100 of the ostraca were
in Hebrew and approx 90 in Aramaic.
After the
destruction of the first temple in 586 BCE ,
the fortress continued to service as a military transit station during Persian
rule. Most of the Aramaic ostraca are
from the Persian period. During Hellenistic
times the walls were repaired and a fortified tower constructed in its
centre. Under Roman rule it was used as
a stronghold until the 2nd century BCE . After its capture by the Arabs in the 7th
century CE, it served as a khan until its destruction in the 8th
century. Tel Arad has been uninhabited
ever since.
A shrine with a
square alter, constructed from bricks and rough stone, was built in the
fortress’ northwestern section. It
includes an inner courtyard, sanctuary and Holy of Holies. A monument with found inside the Holy of
Holies, whose entrance is flanked by 2 incense alters.. The original of this monument is now in the Israel Museum
and a replica stands in its place.
The Arad House
In the southern
quarter of the city, is a reconstruction of a typical example of what is known
as an “Arad
house”. It consists of one room, with
the bottom (50-70 cm) of its walls from rough stone, and the top part of the
walls from clay bricks. The entrance is
in one of the longitudinal walls, and there are stone benches around the
sides. On a pedestal in the centre of
the rooms is a pillar supporting the ceiling, made of wooden beams and
branches.
The Well
The well was
constructed towards the end of the Judean kingdom, at the centre of the Canaanite
water reservoir, and is 52.5 feet deep.
The water from the well was transported to the fortress using pack
animals. In the 1st century BCE it was renovated and several plastered storage
pools, some equipped with troughs, were built nearby.
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