Sites Under Investigation

Since 1987, the Land of Geshur Archaeological Project has excavated selected sites in the Golan in an effort to chart the region’s settlement patterns and its socioeconomic development. The sites flourished over a time span of more than two thousand years, as detailed below.

Mitham Leviah

Long thought to be merely a large corral for shepherds and their flocks, this half-mile-long site overlooking the Sea of Galilee proved to be a densely populated city of the Early Bronze Age (3300–2250 B.C.E.).

Rogem Hiri

Huge stone circles—125,000 cubic feet of stones, according to one estimate—dating to about 3000 B.C.E. mark this mysterious site. What were they for? Theories abound, as detailed in “Mystery Circles,” in this issue.

Tel Soreg

Near several springs, this less-than-one acre site was first settled during the Intermediate Bronze Age (2200–2000 B.C.E.). Its first inhabitants dug shallow pits into the limestone rock into which they built their huts. For winter they cut deeper into the rock to create caves.

Tel Hadar

A major Geshurite royal stronghold, this 4-acre site on the eastern shore of the Galilee reached its zenith during the Iron Age (1200–586 B.C.E.). Surrounded by two massive defensive walls, Tel Hadar boasted a sizable public storage complex consisting of an above-ground granary and an adjacent pillared hall. The city was destroyed in a huge fire in the 11th century B.C.E., leaving behind carbonized grain in the granary.