Archaeologists unearth the most ancient city gate ever found in Israel

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Archaeologists have uncovered a 5,500-year-old city gate in southern Israel, the most ancient city gate ever unearthed in the Holy Land, the Jerusalem Post reports. Discovered close to city fortifications, the gate represents the beginning of urbanization in the Land of Israel and the Levant.

The gate was discovered during excavations at Tel Erani, near the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, ahead of an Israeli water company’s laying of a water pipe, JPost said. The fortifications near the gate were dated to the early Bronze Age, about 3,300 BC. With nearly 1.5 meters of it intact, the gate has a stone tower on each side, with rows of mud bricks in between.

Emily Bischoff, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, told the Jerusalem Post: “This is the first time that such a large gate dating to the Early Bronze Age has been uncovered.

“In order to construct the gate and the fortification walls, stones had to be brought from a distance, mud bricks had to be manufactured, and the fortification walls had to be constructed,” Bischoff added. “This was not achieved by one or a few individuals. The fortification system is evidence of social organization that represents the beginning of urbanization.”

In a separate statement, Martin-David Pasternak of the Israel Antiquities Authority said: “It is probable that all passers-by, traders, or enemies who wanted to enter the city had to pass through this impressive gate. The gate not only defended the settlement but also conveyed the message that one was entering an important strong settlement that was well-organized politically, socially, and economically. This was the message to outsiders, possibly also to Egypt, where the process that would lead to the unification of the Lower and Upper Egypt under King Narmer was already beginning.”

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