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Gibeon: Inscribed Jar Handles and the Great Pool

The city's own name stamped on wine-jar handles beside a rock-cut pool

Conquest & Judges · water system, inscription, pottery / vessel, city / site · Accepted by scholars · found 1956

Old photograph of a hill village in Judea
Photo: Matson Collection · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons — El-Jib, ancient Gibeon, in the early 20th century.

Found 1956 — James B. Pritchard (University of Pennsylvania Museum), six seasons 1956–62

Where el-Jib, 9 km north-northwest of Jerusalem (West Bank (Palestinian Territories))

Dates from Pool c. 12th–11th century BCE; handles c. 7th century BCE · Iron Age I–II · Conquest, Judges, and the kingdom of David

Now at Site (el-Jib); jar handles divided between the Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem, and the Penn Museum, Philadelphia

How Gibeon: Inscribed Jar Handles and the Great Pool was found

Digging at el-Jib, Pritchard cleared a huge circular rock-cut pool with a spiral staircase, filled with debris that included 56 jar handles inscribed with the Hebrew name GB'N (Gibeon). A second stepped tunnel led to a spring outside the wall. Rock-cut wine cellars showed a large wine industry.

What it is

The pool is 11.8 m across and 10.8 m deep, cut into bedrock, with 79 steps spiraling down to a lower chamber 24 m below the city. The handles bear incised Old Hebrew letters reading 'gb'n' with personal names, marking wine jars from local vineyards.

Why it matters for the Bible

Finding a city's name written on objects at the site is the best possible identification, and it fixes Gibeon on the map. The Gibeonites tricked Yehoshua into a treaty (Yehoshua 9), and 'the pool of Gibeon' is where Avner's and Yoav's men fought (2 Shmuel 2:13). Pritchard's pool is a strong candidate for that spot. Yet Pritchard found little Late Bronze pottery, which raises the same dating question as at Jericho for those who place the Conquest c. 1400 BCE.

The Hebrew word: be-ray-CHAH

בְּרֵכָה

בְּרֵכָה is pronounced be-ray-CHAH and means pool (Strong's H1295).

People this discovery connects to

Places

Events

Gibeonite treaty (Joshua 9) · Sun stands still over Gibeon (Joshua 10) · Battle at the pool of Gibeon (2 Samuel 2:12-17)

Gibeon: Inscribed Jar Handles and the Great Pool in Scripture

Joshua 9:3-6 The Gibeonites' ruse; the inscribed handles prove el-Jib is their city. (First mention of Gibeon.)

Joshua 10:12 Yehoshua's prayer over Gibeon; the site sits on the ridge above the Aijalon valley named in the same verse.

2 Samuel 2:13 Abner and Joab met 'at the pool of Gibeon'; Pritchard's great rock-cut pool is the likely spot.

Questions people ask

What is Gibeon: Inscribed Jar Handles and the Great Pool?
The pool is 11.8 m across and 10.8 m deep, cut into bedrock, with 79 steps spiraling down to a lower chamber 24 m below the city. The handles bear incised Old Hebrew letters reading 'gb'n' with personal names, marking wine jars from local vineyards.

When was Gibeon: Inscribed Jar Handles and the Great Pool discovered?
It was found in 1956 by James B. Pritchard (University of Pennsylvania Museum), six seasons 1956–62, at el-Jib, 9 km north-northwest of Jerusalem.

Where is Gibeon: Inscribed Jar Handles and the Great Pool today?
Site (el-Jib); jar handles divided between the Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem, and the Penn Museum, Philadelphia.

Which Bible verses does Gibeon: Inscribed Jar Handles and the Great Pool relate to?
Joshua 9:3-6, Joshua 10:12, 2 Samuel 2:13.

Related discoveries

Sources

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