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Gat or Gath (Hebrew: גת‎, Winepress) was a common place name in ancient Israel and the surrounding regions. Various cities are mentioned in the Bible with such names as Gath of the Philistines, Gath-Gittaim, and Gath Carmel, and other sites with similar names appear in various ancient sources, including the Amarna letters. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin The Philistines ( Hebrew פלשתים plishtim) (see "other uses" below were a people who inhabited the southern coast of Canaan, The Amarna letters (sometimes "Amarna correspondence" or "Amarna tablets" are an archive of correspondence on Clay tablets mostly diplomatic A Gittite is a person from Gath. [1]

'Gath of the Philistines' was one of the five Philistine city-states, established in northwestern Philistia. A city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty. According to the Bible, the king of the city was Achish, in the times of both David and Solomon. Achish is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for two Philistine rulers of Gath. David, Arabic: داوود or داود dawud, "beloved" was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible King Solomon ( Ge'ez: ስለሞን Arabic: ar سليمان, Sulayman, all from the Triliteral root S-L-M, "peace" It is not certain whether this refers to two kings of this name or not. Gath was also the home city of Goliath, as well as of Itai and his 600 soldiers who aided David in his exile from Absalom. Goliath ( גָּלְיָת, Standard Hebrew Golyat, Tiberian Hebrew Golyāṯ, Arabic: جالوت Jalut (Muslim Itai ( ee-tai) is a biblical name Itai was one of King David 's army Generals Absalom or Avshalom (אַבְשָלוֹם "Father/Leader of/is peace" or "Salem is my Father" Standard Hebrew Avšalom David, while running from Saul, escaped to Gath, and served under its king Achish. Saul (שאול המלך (or Sha'ul) ( Arabic: طالوت,Tālūt ( (reigned 1047 - 1007 BCE is identified in the Books of Samuel, 1 Chronicles During Solomon's reign, Shemei goes to Gath to return his escaped slave (II Kings 2). King Solomon ( Ge'ez: ስለሞን Arabic: ar سليمان, Sulayman, all from the Triliteral root S-L-M, "peace" In II Kings 12:18, the city of Gath of mentioned as being captured by Hazael of Aram Damascus. Hazael ( Hebrew Hazael meaning " God has seen" was a court official and later an Aramean king who appeared in the Bible Recent excavations at the site have produced dramatic evidence of a siege and subsequent destruction of the site in the late 9th century BC, most probably related to this event.

Although in the past various suggestions were raised on the location of Gath of the Philistines, currently, based on analysis of the references to the site, most scholars (in particular following Anson Rainey) identify the Philistine Gath at Tell es-Safi (aka Tel Zafit). Tell es-Safi or Tel Zafit (تل الصافي ar-Latn Tall aṣ-Ṣāfī; תל צפית he-Latn Tel Tzafit) is an ancient mound usually identified Gath is also mentioned in the El-Amarna letters as "Gimti/Gintu", ruled by a king Shuwardata, and possibly by Abdi-Ashirti as well. The site of Amarna (commonly known as el-Amarna or incorrectly as Tel el-Amarna; see below ( Arabic: العمارنة al-‘amārnah) is located Šuwardata, also Šuardatu, ( Shuwardata) was the 'mayor' of Qiltu, ( Keilah ? or Qi'iltu during the 1350 - 1335 BC Abdi-Ashirta (c 1300s BC) was the ruler of Amurru a new kingdom in southern Syria subject to nominal Egyptian control that was in conflict with King

Recent excavations at the site,[2] directed by Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University, appear to confirm this identification, due to abundant finds from the relevant Late Bronze and Iron Age periods — roughly when Gath is mentioned as existing in the various Biblical and historical sources. Aren Maeir is a professor at Bar Ilan University and director of the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project ( The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. Similarly, after the 9th century BC, the volume of archaeological finds from the site recedes, and a stronger cultural connection with the Judean region is felt (as opposed to the coastal or Philistine cultural orientation before hand). This seems to mirror the fact that Gath is rarely mentioned in post-9th century biblical narratives (and historical texts) and apparently loses its status as one of the main Philistine cities. Interestigly, Gath appears to have a "mirror image" relationship with nearby Tel Miqne-Ekron. The city of Ekron (עֶקְרוֹן ʿeqrōn, also transliterated Accaron) During most periods in which Gath was large, Ekron was small, and vice-a-versa. The city of Ekron (עֶקְרוֹן ʿeqrōn, also transliterated Accaron)

In 2005, an inscription dating to the Iron Age IIA (ca. 10th-9th century BC), mentioning names very similar to the name Goliath was discovered at the site. Goliath ( גָּלְיָת, Standard Hebrew Golyat, Tiberian Hebrew Golyāṯ, Arabic: جالوت Jalut (Muslim

Notes

  1. ^ Gittite. WebBible Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2008-02-26. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed
  2. ^ Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project

References

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