Fortifications of the City

Overview

Just outside the city one can see the massive fortifications of the Iron Age city behind the limestone tourist path that now lies before it. Strategically, the northern face of the city demanded a heavy concentration of fortified walls and lookout installations, as this was the natural approach for invading armies from Mesopotamia. Backed by thorough geological surveys, it is theorized that the Iron Age city was cradled on the south and west sides by Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). Since the eastern slope of the tell gives way to a deep ravine that runs along the basalt outcropping toward the lake, the northern wall, exposed as it was to the open valleys, was thus most vulnerable to enemy assault.

The fortifications consist of a solid revetment wall constructed of large boulders, some measuring 1 m x 0.75 m x 0.3 m in size, with smaller stones at its core. The revetment wall, which rests upon bedrock, was protected by a steep glacis made of crushed limestone. The city wall, of which more than 55 m has been exposed, is also constructed of huge boulders with smaller stones filling its core. It ranges from 6 m to 7 m wide and appears to be punctuated with bastions at 8 m to 9 m intervals.