King David-Era Fort Found In Golan Heights, Evidence Of Bible’s Geshurites

Dating to around the time of King David 3,000 years ago, what may be the earliest fortified settlement in the Golan Heights was recently discovered during salvage excavations ahead of the construction of a new neighborhood. Incredible rock etchings of two figures holding their arms aloft — possibly at prayer with what could be a moon — were uncovered inside the unique fort, which was dated to circa 11th-9th century BCE.

The striking find is being tentatively linked to the Geshurite people, whose capital is recorded in the Bible as having been located nearby, to the north of the Sea of Galilee.

In a brief Hebrew video about the discovery, dig co-director Barak Tzin said that when the etching was found near the entrance of the fort, “We understood that we had something very, very important… We were astonished to discover a rare and exciting find: a large basalt stone with a schematic engraving of two horned figures with outspread arms.”

“The minute that Egyptian and Hittite empires are destroyed… there is a big vacuum. There is no historian that writes the history of the era and we return to a sort-of ‘pre-history’ in which we only have physical artifacts to base our assumptions upon. So we go into the realm of speculation. It is impossible to know what really happened,” said Be’eri.

The small fort was built on a hilltop that would have served as a lookout at a strategic river-crossing location above the El-Al River canyon. Be’eri said the fort itself is evidence of the era of conflict and struggle for control that began after the fall of the northern Hittite empire in circa 1180 BCE.

Be’eri told The Times of Israel that his dating of the site to circa 11th-9th century BCE was made based on physical evidence, mostly the plentiful pottery sherds, which point to the early Iron Age, and are somewhat comparable with those found at Israelite sites such as Tel Megiddo that are dated to circa 11th-10th centuries BCE.

The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, has a political and strategic significance which belies its size. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Six-Day War.

The move thrust the Golan Heights — a fertile plateau beside the Sea of Galilee that has been one of Israel’s quieter frontiers for a half-century.

The area covers under 500 square miles and offers expansive views over Syria and Israel, giving it strategic military importance. It was seized by Israel from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967.

How did it come under Israeli control?

The Six-Day War of June 1967 ended in decisive victories for Israel, which seized the Golan Heights from Syria. Syrian forces began a failed attempt to reclaim the territory in 1973. That war ended with an armistice that left most of the Golan Heights in Israeli hands. In 1981, Israel passed a law that effectively annexed it.

In Biblical times, the Golan Heights was referred to as “Bashan;” the word “Golan” apparently derives from the biblical city of “Golan in Bashan,” (Deuteronomy 4:43, Joshua 21:27). The area was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:29-31). In early First Temple times (953-586 BCE), the area was contested between the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel and the Aramean kingdom based in Damascus.

Significance Of Golan Heights

The Golan Heights’ high altitude provides it with observation points deep into Syria.

For Israel, relinquishing the Golan to a hostile Syria could jeopardize its early-warning system against surprise attack. Israel has built radars on Mt. Hermon, the highest point in the region. If Israel withdrew from the Golan and had to relocate these facilities to the lowlands of the Galilee, they would lose much of their strategic effectiveness.

In reality, Iran wants to avoid a direct military confrontation with Israel over the Golan Heights, as it knows Israel comfortably outweighs it on technical military might. That’s why Iran prefers to exploit forces as Hezbollah in the south of Lebanon and Bashar al-Assad’s military in Syria as proxies between them and Israel. This enables Iran to say it’s confronting Israel without taking on the risks of an actual confrontation.