HAZOR

Hazor and Massada are the most exciting chapters in modern Israeli archaeological excavations. The finds of Professor Yigael Yadin and his team at Hazor between 1955-59 conclusively date Joshua's conquest of the Promised Land to the 13th century BCE. Biblical accounts of Joshua's slaying of the King of Hazor and the burning of this, the largest metropolis of Canaan, can be found in Joshua 11:10-13. Judges 4:2 narrates how the Canaanite King Jabin ruled here and I Kings 9:15 reveals that King Solomon converted it into a royal, fortified city.

All this was confirmed by the Yadin expedition. The archaeologists exposed much of the bottle-shaped mound, 600 m. long and 200m. wide, and the rectangular plateau lying to the north of it measuring 1,000 m. by 700 m. As they dug away the layers of earth, they found Canaanite temples from the 17th-13th centuries BCE, earlier buildings from the 27th century BCE, the Solomonic casement wall, stone pillars of Israelite store-houses, and everything that is housed in the museum.

The most spectacular find of all, since restored by the National Parks Authority, was the 38 m. deep shaft and tunnel that the Israelite King Ahab built in the 9th century BCE. When you walk down the 123 steps of the spiral staircase leading to the tunnel, you are awestruck by the technological prowess of Ahab's builders, whom we encountered along Route No. 11 at Megiddo and on Route No. 8 at Sebastia.

Hazor is the largest tel in the country, and because it dominated the Hula Valley it was built upon by each successive conqueror. The excavators peeled away the ruins of no fewer than 21 towns, one above the other.

Open: daily April - September 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. October - March 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Entrance fee. Tel. (06)937290.
Head back to Tiberias, 35 km. south (Road No. 90).