Tel Halif

Tel Halif
Tel Halif
	Tel Halif, a view from south
	Interactive map of Tel Halif
	31°22′59″N 34°51′58″E / 31.383062°N 34.866140°E / 31.383062; 34.866140
Location	Negev, Israel

Tel H̱alif, formerly Tel H̱alifa (Hebrew: תל חליף, Arabic name: Tel el-Khuweilifeh) is an archaeological site, a mound (tell) in northern Negev area, west from kibbutz Lahav, Israel.

Identification

Albrecht Alt suggested that it is the location of the biblical town of Ziklag. Other evidence suggests Rimmon.¹ Nadav Na'aman has suggested identifying this as the site of biblical Hormah.²

History

Iron Age

Iron I

Tel Halif was a small town inhabited by Israelites during the Iron Age I.³

Iron II

It had a casemate wall and typical pillar-courtyard houses in the 9th–8th centuries BCE.³ William G. Dever estimates that the town's population was 200 in the 10th century and about 300 in the 9th and 8th centuries BCE.⁴ Rock-cut bench tombs were found nearby, and they represent burial practices typical to the 8th century BCE.³

Archaeological evidence uncovered a house destroyed during the 701 BCE Assyrian invasion, and the town saw brief reoccupation in the early 7th century before being abandoned under Persian rule.³

Excavations

Excavcations around Tel Halif was among the research activities of the Cobb Institute of Archaeology as part of the Lahav Research Project arranged by Joe Seger in 1974.⁵⁶

References

"The Biblical Identity of Tel Halif" doi:10.2307/3210035
Na'Aman, Nadav (1980). "The Inheritance of the Sons of Simeon". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 96 (2): 136–152. JSTOR 27931137.
Dever, William G. (2017). Beyond the Texts: an archaeological portrait of ancient Israel and Judah. Atlanta: SBL Press. pp. 438–439, 562. ISBN 978-0-88414-218-8.
Dever, William G. (2017). Beyond the Texts: an archaeological portrait of ancient Israel and Judah. Atlanta: SBL Press. pp. 272, 393. ISBN 978-0-88414-218-8.
"Research". www.cobb.msstate.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
"Research Grant". Cobb Institute Cultural Resources Management. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2019-05-16.

[1] "The Biblical Identity of Tel Halif" doi:10.2307/3210035

[2] Na'Aman, Nadav (1980). "The Inheritance of the Sons of Simeon". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 96 (2): 136–152. JSTOR 27931137.

[:0222-3] Dever, William G. (2017). Beyond the Texts: an archaeological portrait of ancient Israel and Judah. Atlanta: SBL Press. pp. 438–439, 562. ISBN 978-0-88414-218-8.

[:022-4] Dever, William G. (2017). Beyond the Texts: an archaeological portrait of ancient Israel and Judah. Atlanta: SBL Press. pp. 272, 393. ISBN 978-0-88414-218-8.

[:2-5] "Research". www.cobb.msstate.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-16.

[6] "Research Grant". Cobb Institute Cultural Resources Management. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2019-05-16.

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