Biblical Archaeology: City of Gezer

A palace has been discovered at the biblical city of Gezer that dates to the 10th century BC, the era usually associated with King Solomon. Gezer has been excavated off and on since the 1990s, but this past season of archaeological efforts has produced evidence of a Philistine presence in the city as recorded in the Old Testament.

In the Haaretz (Israel’s oldest daily newspaper), Philippe Bohstrom reports that:

[An] American archaeological team . . . found a layer featuring Philistine pottery, lending credence to the biblical account of them living in the city until being vanquished by King David.

This past season of excavation has revealed a Philistine link to Gezer as recorded in 2 Samuel 5:25 which states that “David did as the Lord commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer” as well as in 1 Chronicles 14:16. The Haaretz article goes on to report that pottery discovered there is Philistine:

According to the Old Testament, the city was also associated with the Philistines in David’s time: the king broke their power “from Geba to as far as Gezer” (2 Samuel 5:25; 1 Chronicles 14:16). This excavation season has proved the Philistine link too, when the archaeologists revealed a layer with Philistine bichrome pottery.

The rest of the article can be found here: King Solomon-era Palace Found in Biblical Gezer

As of right now there is still no evidence of which Israelite king lived there or if any did, but somebody of importance did because “the edifice is significantly larger than the size of ordinary houses of the time.” (source)

At International Business Times Janice Williams reports on the Gezer discovery:

Archaeology Proves the Bible is a True Story? King Solomon Era Palace Found in Israel

At taste of this article:

Although archaeologist are unsure if Solomon ever visited the site, they named the compound “Solomon’s Palace” because of his biblical tradition of building grand projects at Hatzor, Megiddo and Gezer. There is also a passage in the Bible (1 Kings 9: 16-17) that says Egypt’s monarch gave the city of Gezer to Solomon as a dowry for his wife, after which Solomon rebuilt the city.

Tel Gezer