Chalcolithic The first settlement established at Tel Gezer dates to the end of the 4th millennium BCE during the
Chalcolithic period, when large caves cut into the rock were used as dwellings. • Strata 14 (XXVI) LC, Beersheban Chalcolithic.
Early Bronze Age At the beginning of the
Early Bronze Age (early 3rd millennium BCE), an unfortified settlement covered the tell. It was destroyed in the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE and subsequently abandoned for several centuries. • Strata 13 (XXV) EB IB. • Hiatus • Strata 12 (XXIV) EB IIA. Resettlement • Strata 11 (XXIII) EB IIB. Structural remains. • Hiatus until Stratum 10 (XXI) MB IIB. The lack of EB III is significant, with no Khirbet Kerak Ware.
Middle Bronze Age Middle Bronze I In Middle Bronze I (MB I; c. 2000-1800 BCE), there was a hiatus in the occupation.
Middle Bronze II In Middle Bronze IIA (MB IIA, c. 1820/1800-1630 BCE), there was a hiatus in the occupation. In the Middle Bronze Age IIB (MBIIB), Gezer became a major city, well fortified and containing a large cultic site. :
Fortifications On the north side of the city, the fortifications consisted of at least two lines of defense surrounding the tell. Some excavators have noted as many as three defensive walls built in different periods: an outer earthen rampart, a central wall and an inner wall. In what remained of the outer rampart, it reached a height of about 5 metres, and was built of compacted alternating layers of chalk and earth covered with plaster. The inner wall measured 4 metres in width and was made of large stone blocks, reinforced with towers. :
Cultic site with massebot Cultic remains discovered in the northern part of the tell were a row of ten large
standing pillars, known as or , singular , oriented north–south, the tallest of which was three meters high, with an altar-type structure in the middle, and a large, square, stone basin, probably used for cultic
libations. The exact purpose of these
megaliths is still debated, but they may have constituted a Canaanite "
high place" from the Middle Bronze Age, ca. 1600 BCE, each
masseba possibly representing a Canaanite city connected to Gezer by treaties enforced by rituals performed here. Both the number and size of the standing stones confer a unique character to this cultic site. Such
massebot are found elsewhere in the country, but those from Gezer
massebot are the most impressive examples. The area was almost completely cleared by Macalister. The remains were re-excavated in 1968. A double cave beneath the high place was shown to be predating it and not connected to it.
Late Bronze Age Egyptian Period In the Late Bronze Age (second half of the 2nd millennium BCE) a new city wall, thick, was erected outside the earlier one. • Stratum XVI/13 LB IIA (two walls of a monumental building) • Stratum XV/12B LB IIB (elite building)
Thutmosid Period (c. 1479-1411 BCE) Thutmose III mentions Gezer as captured during his first campaign on his Topographical List on the walls of the
Precinct of Amun-Re, at
Karnak. The Canaanite city was destroyed in a fire, presumably in the wake of a campaign by the Egyptian pharaoh
Thutmose III (ruled 1479–1425 BCE). A
destruction layer from this event was found in all excavated areas of the tell.
Amarna Period (c. 1350 BCE) The
Amarna letters mention kings of Gezer swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh. The
Tell Amarna letters, dating from the 14th century BCE, include ten letters from the kings of Gezer swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh. The city-state of Gezer (named
Gazru in
Babylonian) was ruled by at least three leaders during the 20-year period covered by the Amarna letters. In the 14th century BCE, a palace was constructed on the high western part of the tell, the city's
acropolis. Archaeologists also discovered remains of what might have been the Egyptian governor's residence from the same period in the northern part of the tell.
Ramesside Period 19th Dynasty. In the late reign of
Ramesses II, climate became drier and colder causing turmoil in the Mediterranean from around 1250 BCE, eventually leading to the
Late Bronze collapse. The death of Ramesses II caused cities in Canaan to rebel to become independent.
Merneptah of Egypt, who succeeded Ramesses II, had to regain control and boasted about his
capture of Gezer. A massive fiery destruction seems to support this in excavations done by Prof. Steven Ortiz. Gezer is mentioned in the
victory stele of Merneptah, dating from the end of the 13th century BCE, which states: "Plundered is the
Canaan with every evil; carried off is
Ashkelon; seized upon is Gezer;
Yanoam is made as that which does not exist;
Israel is laid waste, his seed is not". At Amada, an inscription claim Mernpetah as the "subduer of Gezer". Toward the end of the Bronze Age, the city declined and its population diminished.
Iron Age Iron I In 12th and 11th centuries BCE, a large building with many rooms and courtyards was situated on the acropolis. Grinding stones and grains of wheat found among the sherds indicate that it was a granary. Macalister describes the Iron Age construction of an olive press with collecting vats. Local and Philistine vessels attest to a mixed Canaanite/Philistine population. • Stratum XIV/12A Iron IA (repairs, rebuilding). • Stratum XIII-XII/11 Iron IA/B (philistine pottery) • Stratum XI/10B • Stratum X-IX/10A Iron IB • Stratum 9 Iron IC/IIA - destroyed by Pharaoh
Iron II The 10th century BCE seems to have been a period of notable urban development for the city until it became destroyed in the third quarter of that century, probably as a result of
Shoshenq I's campaign in Canaan at that time. Archaeologist
William G. Dever estimates its population at around 2,500 during the 10th century BCE. • Stratum VIII/8 Iron IIA - Solominic Gate, destroyed by Shoshenq I. • Stratum VII/7 Iron IIA - rebuilt, but shifted to domestic quarters. • Stratum VI/6B-A Iron IIB. By the 9th and 8th centuries BCE, the city is estimated by Dever to have had a population of around 3,000 people. In the excavations of the 1960s, the entire gate was revealed. It is identical in plan and size to the other two mentioned and is connected by a
casemate wall. The Solomon Gate has since been reinterpreted by some as dating from several centuries later, by virtue of the fact that the gate was rebuilt, although recent
radiocarbon tests support an early date for the strata at the site. The city was probably captured by the Assyrians at the end of the campaign of Tiglath-Pileser III to
Canaan. At any rate, a fiery destruction so severe befell the city at this time, insofar that it reduced the upper two courses of stone in the inner casemate wall to powdery lime. A reference to Gezer's destruction appears in a
cuneiform relief from the 8th-century BCE royal palace of Tiglath-Pileser III at
Nimrud. Gezer became known as Gazara in the Hellenistic period and became an important city for the
Hasmonean rulers. According to the book of
1 Maccabees,
Simon Thassi captured
Gazara and expelled the population during the
Maccabean Revolt. He then brought in new settlers of devout Jews and fortified it, making it part of the
Hasmonean kingdom. Notwithstanding Simon's capture of Gezer in
circa 142 BCE,
Josephus alludes to the fact that Gezer returned under Seleucid control in the days of
Antiochus VII Sidetes and during the high-priesthood of Simon's son,
John Hyrcanus. Archaeologist
Ronny Reich identified a cistern at Gazar as a
mikveh, a Jewish
ritual bath, based on its stepped design, plastering, hydraulic system, and close parallels to known examples from Jerusalem and
Jericho, including the use of an
otzar (pure
rainwater reservoir) connected to the immersion pool. The installation appears to have been added to an earlier Hellenistic-era house, suggesting that Jewish settlers at Gezer repurposed existing buildings following Simon's conquest. This
mikveh and the few other examples found at the site support the account in
1 Maccabees, which identifies the inhabitants of Hasmonean Gezer as observant Jews. The name has been edited to "
Gazara" in the
Loeb edition (
Jewish War 1.170). However, in this case, other researchers prefer one of two candidates from
Transjordan, Gadara in
Perea, or
Gadara of the
Decapolis (see more at Perea and
Gadara (disambiguation)).
Roman and Byzantine periods Gezer was sparsely populated during Roman times and later times, as other regional population centers took its place. The site continued to be occupied after the destruction of the
Second Temple, but was gradually abandoned during the late Roman-early Byzantine period.
Early modern and modern periods R.A. Stewart Macalister who excavated the ruin in the years 1902–1905 and 1907–1909 has noted that around the year 1869 the mound and other parts of the lands of the village of Abû Shûsheh were acquired by Messrs. Bergheim, who had been bankers in Jerusalem. Their acquisition of these lands would prove "a fortunate circumstance" for the excavator, as the site was later put at the disposal of the Palestine Exploration Fund. ==Archaeological highlights==