Kiriath-jearim (Deir el-Azar)

The hill where the Ark rested for twenty years

Conquest & Judges · city / site, temple / altar, fortification / gate · Accepted by scholars · found 2017

How Kiriath-jearim (Deir el-Azar) was found

The first excavation ever at the site, beneath the Church of Our Lady of the Ark. The team found that the hilltop is an artificial rectangular platform about 150 by 110 m, held by massive retaining walls, built in the 8th century BCE, probably by the northern kingdom under Yeravam II. Iron I and Iron IIA pottery lay below.

What it is

A commanding hill on the road from the Shephelah to Jerusalem. Excavations exposed sections of monumental terrace walls up to 3 m wide and traced the platform's corners. Pottery shows the site was occupied when the Ark narrative places it here.

Why it matters for the Bible

After the Ark came back from the Philistines it stayed at Kiriath-jearim 'in the house of Avinadav on the hill' for twenty years until David brought it to Yerushalayim (1 Shmuel 7:1-2; 2 Shmuel 6). Finkelstein and Römer argue the later platform supported a shrine that Israel built to claim the Ark tradition, which is one theory among several. Whatever the 8th-century purpose, the dig confirms an Iron I settlement on this hill and gives the Ark story a real place.

The Hebrew word: ah-ROHN

אֲרוֹן

אֲרוֹן is pronounced ah-ROHN and means ark, chest (Strong's H727).

People this discovery connects to

• Abinadab — אֲבִינָדָב (ah-vee-nah-DAHV) — my father is noble
• Eleazar — אֶלְעָזָר (el-ah-ZAHR) — Elohim has helped

Places

• Kiriath-jearim — קִרְיַת יְעָרִים (keer-YAHT ye-ah-REEM) — city of forests

Events

Ark brought to Kiriath-jearim (1 Samuel 6:21-7:2) · David brings the Ark up from Baalah/Kiriath-jearim (2 Samuel 6:2-3) · Gibeonite city allied with Joshua (Joshua 9:17)

Kiriath-jearim (Deir el-Azar) in Scripture

Joshua 9:17 First mention of Kirjath-jearim in Scripture.

1 Samuel 7:1-2 The Ark was kept in Abinadab's house on the hill at Kiriath-jearim for twenty years; this is that hill.

2 Samuel 6:2-3 David brought the Ark from Baalah of Judah (Kiriath-jearim) to Jerusalem.

Questions people ask

What is Kiriath-jearim (Deir el-Azar)?
A commanding hill on the road from the Shephelah to Jerusalem. Excavations exposed sections of monumental terrace walls up to 3 m wide and traced the platform's corners. Pottery shows the site was occupied when the Ark narrative places it here.

When was Kiriath-jearim (Deir el-Azar) discovered?
It was found in 2017 by Israel Finkelstein (Tel Aviv University) and Thomas Römer (Collège de France), Shmunis Family Excavations, 2017 and 2019, at Deir el-Azar, above Abu Ghosh, 12 km west of Jerusalem.

Where is Kiriath-jearim (Deir el-Azar) today?
Site (church grounds and hillside); finds at Tel Aviv University.

Which Bible verses does Kiriath-jearim (Deir el-Azar) relate to?
Joshua 9:17, 1 Samuel 7:1-2, 2 Samuel 6:2-3.

Related discoveries

• דָּגוֹן
  Ashdod (Tel Ashdod)
  Dagon's city, where the Ark toppled the idol
• אֶבֶן גְּדוֹלָה
  Tel Beth-Shemesh
  A border town in Samson's valley that avoided pork
• מִשְׁכָּן
  Shiloh (Tel Shiloh / Khirbet Seilun)
  Iron I storerooms, collared-rim jars, and an altar horn at the home of the Tabernacle
• אֶבֶן גְּדוֹלָה
  Tel Beth Shemesh Iron IIA Town
  A border town of Judah facing the Philistines, with a giant water reservoir
• נַחֲלָה
  Israelite Settlement Surveys
  Hundreds of new hill-country villages appear around 1200 BCE
• אוֹצָר
  Shiloh Storage Rooms and Collar-Rim Jars
  Pillared storehouses and pithoi along the northern wall — the sanctuary's pantry

Sources

• I. Finkelstein, T. Römer et al., 'Excavations at Kiriath-jearim near Jerusalem, 2017: Preliminary Report', Semitica 60 (2018)
• Shmunis Family Foundation Excavations at Kiriath-Jearim (project site)

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