Khirbet Qeiyafa

Khirbet Qeiyafa
(Arabic meaning is uncertain)

An ancient fortress just over 5-1/2 acres, overlooking the Elah Valley near modern day Beit Shemesh, was excavated by Yosef Garfinkel (2007-2013).

Khirbet Qeiyafa's massive casement walls, fortified with 200,000 tons of stone, indicated a centralized government capable of large scale construction. The homes at the periphery of Khirbet Qeiyafa were attached and abutted the town's fortified casement walls. This pattern of fortification was distinctive of later Southern Kingdom of Judah city walls like Beersheba and Tel en-Nasbeh.

Of all the ancient cities in the divided monarchies of Israel or Judah, Khirbet Qeiyafa was the only one that had two gates. This distinction formed the basis of Garfinkel's identification of Khirbet Qeiyafa as the Bible's Shaaraim, which in Hebrew meant "double gate."

Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and put him to death; but there was no sword in David's hand. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and put him to death and cut off his head with it. Then the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, so they fled. But the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the slain Philistines lay fallen along the way to Shaaraim (Hebrew ša ‘ărayim which translates to "double gate"), even to Gath and Ekron. (1 Sam 17:50-52)

Archaeological remains of a royal storehouse, large buildings, and artifacts clearly indicated that Khirbet Qeiyafa served in government administration.

The Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon, a pottery sherd with one of the earliest Proto-Canaanite script, proved that alphabetic writing existed.

Unlike nearby Philistine sites, there was an absence of pig bones consistent with pottery sherd assemblages indicative of ancient Israeli settlement.

Radiocarbon dating olive pits firmly placed the dating to 1020-980 B.C., which was the same period of the Bible's record of a powerful and extensive united kingdom under David.

Khirbet Qeiyafa is significant as a growing archaeological body of evidence establishing the existence of a centralized and powerful Davidic kingdom during the 10th century B.C., which is consistent with the biblical record. This direct evidence supports the circumstantial evidence of the gates found in Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer as Solomonic.