Tel Beersheba Stratum II and the Dismantled Horned Altar
A Judean city burned in 701 BCE, whose great altar had already been taken apart
Found 1969 — Yohanan Aharoni (Tel Aviv University), 1969–76, with Ze'ev Herzog directing the final season; the altar stones were found in 1973
Where Tel Beersheba (Tel Sheva), northern Negev (Israel)
Dates from 8th century BCE; destroyed 701 BCE · Iron Age IIB · Reign of Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah); Sennacherib's invasion
Now at Altar reconstructed at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (replica on site at Tel Beersheba National Park)
How Tel Beersheba Stratum II and the Dismantled Horned Altar was found
The well-planned Stratum II town was found burned. Large ashlar blocks, three with carved horns, had been reused in a storehouse wall; reassembled, they form a four-horned altar about 1.6 m high.
What it is
A fortified administrative town of about 1.1 hectares with a casemate wall, gate, pillared storehouses and a deep water system. The altar, made of dressed stones — contrary to the law of unhewn stones — had been dismantled and its blocks built into walls before the city's final destruction, which most attribute to Sennacherib in 701.
Why it matters for the Bible
Amos 5:5 and 8:14 condemn pilgrimage to Beersheba, so a large altar there is expected. Its dismantling before 701 fits Hezekiah's reform, when he 'removed the high places' (2 Kings 18:4); Aharoni suggested exactly this. The burned city, with its stores, is the Negev counterpart of Lachish Level III — one of the 46 walled cities Sennacherib claims. Some scholars date the destruction slightly differently, and Yigael Yadin argued the altar was Josiah-era, but the Hezekiah reading prevails.
The Hebrew word: KEH-ren
קֶרֶן
קֶרֶן is pronounced KEH-ren and means horn (of the altar) (Strong's H7161).
People this discovery connects to
- Hezekiah — חִזְקִיָּהוּ (Chiz-kee-YAH-hoo) — YHVH strengthens
- Amos — עָמוֹס (ah-MOHS) — burden-bearer
Places
- Beersheba — בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע (be-EHR SHEH-vah) — well of the oath / well of seven
Events
Hezekiah's reform · Sennacherib's invasion (701 BCE)
Tel Beersheba Stratum II and the Dismantled Horned Altar in Scripture
Genesis 21:14 First mention of Beersheba in Scripture.
2 Kings 18:4 Hezekiah removes the high places — the Beersheba altar was dismantled before the 701 destruction.
Amos 5:5 'Do not cross over to Beersheba' — the shrine Amos warned against.
Questions people ask
What is Tel Beersheba Stratum II and the Dismantled Horned Altar?
A fortified administrative town of about 1.1 hectares with a casemate wall, gate, pillared storehouses and a deep water system. The altar, made of dressed stones — contrary to the law of unhewn stones — had been dismantled and its blocks built into walls before the city's final destruction, which most attribute to Sennacherib in 701.
When was Tel Beersheba Stratum II and the Dismantled Horned Altar discovered?
It was found in 1969 by Yohanan Aharoni (Tel Aviv University), 1969–76, with Ze'ev Herzog directing the final season; the altar stones were found in 1973, at Tel Beersheba (Tel Sheva), northern Negev.
Where is Tel Beersheba Stratum II and the Dismantled Horned Altar today?
Altar reconstructed at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (replica on site at Tel Beersheba National Park).
Which Bible verses does Tel Beersheba Stratum II and the Dismantled Horned Altar relate to?
Genesis 21:14, 2 Kings 18:4, Amos 5:5.
Is Tel Beersheba Stratum II and the Dismantled Horned Altar authentic?
The altar and destruction are secure; the attribution of the dismantling to Hezekiah and of the fire to 701 are the majority view but debated.
Related discoveries
- קַרְנֹת הַמִּזְבֵּחַBeersheba Horned AltarA dismantled four-horned altar from an Israelite border town
- מָצוֹרSennacherib's Prism (Taylor, Chicago and Jerusalem Prisms)Assyrian annals: 'Hezekiah the Judean I shut up like a bird in a cage'
- בָּמָהLachish Gate Shrine and Desecrated ToiletA gate sanctuary with broken altar horns and a stone latrine — Hezekiah's reform in action?
- מַצֵּבָהTel 'Eton Standing Stone and Hezekiah's ReformA decommissioned massebah in a Judean mansion, published 2026
- מִזְבֵּחַTel Arad Judean TempleA YHVH sanctuary in a border fort, decommissioned during the reforms of Hezekiah or Josiah
- תְּעָלָהHezekiah's Tunnel (Siloam Tunnel)533-metre rock-cut water channel bringing the Gihon Spring inside Jerusalem's walls
Sources
- Aharoni, 'The Horned Altar of Beer-sheba', Biblical Archaeologist 37 (1974)
- Herzog, Beer-Sheba II: The Early Iron Age Settlements (1984)
- Wikipedia, 'Tel Be'er Sheva'
- BAS, 'Tel Be'er Sheva, City of the Patriarchs'
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