Tel Arad
| תל ערד | |
Aerial photograph of the city and the fortress
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 Shown within Israel
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| Location |
 Israel
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| Region | Negev |
| Coordinates | 31°16′51″N 35°07′30″E / 31.280833°N 35.125°E |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Yohanan Aharoni, Ruth Amiran |
| Public access | National Park |
Tel Arad (Hebrew: תל ערד) or "old" Arad is located west of the Dead Sea, about 10 kilometres (6 miles) west of modern Arad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the Arad Plain. The site is divided into a lower city and an upper hill which holds the only ever discovered "House of Yahweh" in the land of Israel. Tel Arad was excavated during 18 seasons by Ruth Amiran and Yohanan Aharoni.
The lower area was first settled during the Chalcolithic period, around 4000 BCE. Excavations at the site have unearthed an extensive Bronze Age Canaanite settlement which was in place until approximately 2650 BCE. The site was then apparently deserted for over 1500 years until resettled during the Israelite period from the 11th century BCE onwards, initially as an unwalled piece of land cut off as an official or sacred domain was established on the upper hill, and then later as a garrison-town known as "The Citadel".
The citadel and sanctuary were constructed at the time of King David and Solomon. Artifacts found within the sanctuary of the citadel mostly reflect offerings of oil, wine, wheat, etc. brought there by numerous people throughout the reign of the kings of Judah until the kingdom's fall to the Babylonians. However, during the Persian, Maccabean, Roman, and early Muslim eras, locals continued to transport these items to the sacred precinct of the upper hill. Markers of these ancient Israelite rituals remain to this day, with broken pottery littering the entire site.
Under the Judaean kings, the citadel was periodically refortified, remodeled and rebuilt, until ultimately it was destroyed between 597 BCE and 577 BCE whilst Jerusalem was under siege by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. Among the most significant artifacts unearthed from this time are ostraca dating from the mid-7th century BCE, referring to this citadel as the House of Yahweh.
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Wikipedia