City Gate

Overview

The city gate was built on the southeast side of the tell, which according to the natural topography of the mound provides the easiest access to the city. The chambered gate is typical for 10th and 9th century gates. It has four chambers and was at one time was flanked by a tower. This gate was first built in the Stratum V city. Two different phases of the gate have been preserved, with the Stratum II gate on the west and the Stratum V gate on the east. The gate is 17 meters wide and 14 meters long, with a passageway 4.2 meters wide. The floors of the gate chambers were covered in white plaster. In the south-east chamber the excavators found lots of large pithoi fragments in a thick burnt level. In the northwest chamber the excavators found benches alongside three of the walls, which are still visible. In this room, they also found a large pile of well-dressed masonry, which came from the upper part of the gate and belonged to the superstructure of the gate tower.

To the west of the gate, there is a long room that opens into the city square. Because its walls have the same thickness as the gate, the excavators think that this room belongs to part of the gate’s superstructure. This room was also packed with straw, which was evidenced by a thick white-grey burnt layer. To the southwest, there is a building adjoining the west of the gate. This house is trapezoidal, because of its location near the curve of the city’s peripheral wall. It has four rooms, including use of the casemate wall. The stairs in the entrance room of the house are odd in that stairs are not usually found in the middle of a room. Because of this, the excavators think that this staircase was relatively tall, and likely provided primary access to the top of the gate.