A03_17

Untangling chronology at Tel Gezer: connecting radiocarbon, archaeology, Egyptology and the Bible

Webster L¹, Wolff S², Ortiz S³,  Tsuk T⁴, Warner D⁵,  Parker J⁵, Yannai E⁶, Dee M⁷, Hua Q⁸,  Jacobsen G⁸, Höflmayer F¹

¹Austrian Academy Of Sciences, Vienna, Austria, ²W. F. Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, Israel, ³Lipscomb University, Nashville, USA, ⁴Israel Nature and Parks Authority, Jerusalem, Israel, ⁵New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, USA, ⁶Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem, Israel, ⁷University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, ⁸Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Sydney, Australia

Gezer is among the most prominent ancient city mounds in Israel, and exceptionally well-attested in historical sources. During the Bronze and Iron Ages, Egyptian, Biblical and Assyrian sources associate it with activities and conquests of specific local rulers and foreign invaders. Thus, Gezer provides a rich opportunity to test correlations between archaeology and text using a ¹⁴C-based local site chronology. Though Gezer has been the subject of intense excavation, minimal radiocarbon data was available until recently. Here we present more than 70 new dates from the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) through Iron Age levels, obtained via targeted sampling of previously exposed sections as well as active excavation. The new chronological model clarifies many aspects of the site history and contributes to region-wide debates. For example, we obtain early dates for the construction and destruction of the MBA city, and evidence countering low Philistine and Iron Age chronologies. In one part of the site, radiocarbon led to exceptionally large corrections of up to 300 years, helping to identify errors in stratigraphic interpretation and pottery-based dating, and modifying the site-wide correlation of remains; in the process, we revealed previously unrecognised and elusive evidence of resettlement during the early Late Bronze Age. By comparing the new site chronology with texts and the ¹⁴C-based Egyptian chronology, we can also present a fresh evaluation of possible associations of destruction layers and monumental architecture with historical figures.