Tel Gezer team discovers King Solomon-era palace

Southwestern Seminary’s Tel Gezer Excavation Project has uncovered a palatial building dating back to the 10th century B.C., the era associated with King Solomon. The archaeological team also found a layer featuring Philistine pottery, lending credence to the biblical account of them living in the city until being overthrown by King David.

The excavation, June 20-July 15, was the ninth season for the Tel Gezer program. This joint project is sponsored by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Israel Antiquities Authority. Steven Ortiz, professor of archaeology and biblical backgrounds and director of Southwestern’s Tandy Institute for Archaeology, co-directs the excavations along with Sam Wolff, with the participation of a consortium of academic institutions. The project’s aim is to reexamine previous results in the context of newly excavated and published material.

The Haaretz Newspaper in Israel published an article about this year’s findings. See here for the full article. 

Photo by Tel Gezer Excavation Project, Steven M. Ortiz.