Tel Tzafit or Tell es-Safi, Arabic for white mound because of its gleaming chalk cliffs, is the site of the ancient Philistine city of Gath. Gath was one of the five Philistine cities in the southern coastal plain that together constituted the pentapolis, the other cities being Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron. Gath was the largest and most influential. An interesting circular hike has been laid out that includes the top of the tel.
Tel Tzafit is located at the edge of the Sh’fela or ’Judean foothills on the southern bank of the Elah Stream. It is strategically located by a crossroads of the main coastal north-south road, the Via Maris, between Egypt and Mesopotamia (approximately Route 6 today) and an east-west road to Azekah and Socho via the Elah Valley that continued into the Judean Mountains.
The city of Gath is part of the David story, in that the warrior Goliath was from Gath. He challenged the Israelites to a duel and David accepted the challenge and killed him with a sling. Later, David sought refuge in Gath from the envy of Saul after he had made several attempts at his life, despite David seeking reconciliation. Achish, the king of Gath, was happy to accept this deserter and his 600 warriors (I Samuel 27:2). During his stay with the Philistines, David would go out on war parties. Achish believed he was fighting the tribe of Judah, but David lied to Achish (ibid 27:10). Instead, he was finding the enemies of the Judahites in the south, such as the Amalekites.
Matters came to a head when the Philistines decided to fight against the northern Israelite tribes and they assembled in the Jezreel Valley. The Bible does not say this, but this coalition probably also involved other "sea people" from their northern cities. Achish from Gath was part of this coalition. Achish had so much trust in David that he invited him to be part of his war party, and even to be his bodyguard (ibid 28:2). However, the other Philistine generals had suspicions about David's loyalty and he was dismissed from the battle. During this conflict, Saul and his son Jonathan were slain. On hearing of their deaths, David left Gath and went to Hebron where he became leader of the tribe of Judah. Eventually, he would become king of all Israel. According to the book of Chronicles, King David subdued Gath (I Chronicles 18:1), although there is no archeological evidence of destruction or large-scale Philistine displacement.
Time: About 1¾ hours
Distance: 3 km
Type of walk: Circular
Difficulty: A mainly easy hike that climbs up to the tel on a dirt road, although some parts of the path are minimally difficult because of smoothness of the dirt or the rockiness of the path. The final ascent to the top of the tel is quite steep. Hiking poles can be useful. If you want to completely avoid any difficult areas, turn back before ascending the steep section to the top of the tel.
Directions and starting point: Put into Waze: "תל צפית" and click on “D תל צפית שטח.” Use the Hebrew directions rather than the English. If you are coming from the direction of Bet Shemesh this will take you on Route 383 and eventually past the Tzafit power station. Just over 1 km before the parking lot and at the corner of Charuvit Forest is a picnic area with plenty of picnic benches and a small children’s play area on your left. If you are interested, shortly before the entrance to the parking area and by a clump of trees is a path to a stone building and an ancient well. You will recognize the entrance to the parking area by a modern yellow-white stone wall with the wordsגן לאומי תל צפית . The hike starts from the parking lot.
Public transport: There is no close public transport.
From this vantage point on the top of the tel you can see the expanse of the Shefela leading to the mountain range. It is just possible to make out the tel of Azeika in the Valley of Elah, the front line in the battle between the Israelites and Philistines at the time of Saul and David and Goliath.
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Signs are in Hebrew and English.
The peak of the tel is a lookout
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Take the clearly marked green trail to the top of the tel, initially along the northern aspect of the tel. Periodically there are signs with quotations from the Bible about the ancient city of Gath. You will pass caves within the white chalk cliff. You can make out the banks of Nahal Elah beneath you. As the path winds to the left, a view of the coastal plain opens up.
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It is worth climbing to the top of the tel as there are identification signs and impressive views in all directions – the coastal plain, the Sh’felah, and the central mountain range in the distance. With good visibility you can make out Ashkelon and Ashdod.
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Continue on the green-marked trail on other side of the peak. There is a green marking on a stone by the Crusader ruins. When the footpath comes to a fork, take the blue-marked route to the left in the direction of the signpost “Back to parking.” You will pass the site of a former archeological dig, reminding us that this tel has been extensively excavated. This path returns you to the parking lot.
Who were the Philistines?
The dominant theory about the Philistines has been that they were a distinct ethic group from the Aegean who migrated to the southern Levant in a migration wave and conquered the southern Mediterranean coast from the Canaanites in the early 12th century BCE. This was a transition period between the Late Bronze Age and Iron ages, and a time when the Israelites also migrated to Canaan. Depictions of a marauding “Sea People” being repulsed are seen in Egypt in a mortuary temple of Ramesses III. After being defeated by the Egyptians, the Sea People settled in Canaan and became the dominant power in this region until the 10th century BCE, with the rise of the Israelite and Judahite kingdoms.
Why these people left their homelands, and whether there were adverse factors there or just better conditions elsewhere is unknown. Over time a process of assimilation occurred and the migrants lost aspects of their Aegean culture. By the end of the Iron Age, they acted very much like their neighbors.
This theory fits in well with those who date the Israelite conquest of Canaan to the 1200s, the time of Rameses II, this being a time when both the Israelites and Philistines arrived in Canaan.
Hence, in the first 14 verses of chapter 13 in the Book of Joshua, Joshua in his old age delineates the territory that has not yet been conquered. This included the five princes of the Philistines in the Pentapolis “the five princes of the Philistines: the Azasites (from Gaza), the Ashdodites, Eshkelonites, Gittittes [from Gat], Ekronites, and the Avvim.” We will discuss who the Avvim were shortly.
However, archeology in Gath and elsewhere necessitates a revision of this history. Rather than one specific migration, there are archeologists who believe that there were a series of migrations of different groups from the Aegean and Mediterranean, including from Mycenean, Minoan, Cypriot and Anatolian cultures, that extended over a period of time. These people then merged with the original population. This accords with the fact that there is little evidence of destruction of these Canaanite cities in this period.
The Sea People had a superior culture to the indigenous Canaanites called the Mycenean culture, and it included technological advances in building and ship design. They also had superior skills in metallurgy. This was not shared with the Israelites, who became dependent on the Philistines for their metalwork (I Samuel 13:19-22).
The Sea People that settled in the southern part of Israel are known as the Philistines. Other tribal groups from the Aegean also occupied cities north of the Pentapolis, including Aphek, Jaffa and Dor, of which Dor was the largest. They also captured Acco and more inland, Megiddo and places close to this, including Yokne’am and Afula. In which of these places they were able to settle permanently and their relationship to the indigenous Phoenicians, who were Canaanites, is unclear.
However, there is another dating system for the Exodus, which is based more on the dating given by the Bible, which is more compatible with the archeology at Jericho and which postulates a conquest of Canaan by the Israelites in about 1400 BCE (see The Egyptian Exodus and Canaanite Conquest — Fact or Fiction?). Obviously, this does not fit into a 12th century BCE arrival of the Philistines in Canaan, although it could be compatible with a gradual migration of Philistines to southern Israel over a few centuries. Nevertheless, I know of no archeologists who place the Philistine migration earlier than the 13th century BCE.
However, that there were migration patterns to Canaan as early as the Middle Bronze Age is evident from the Bible. Abraham and his son Isaac had dealings with Abimelech in Gerar, and Abraham made a covenant of friendship with him. Gerar is located between Gaza and Beersheba. He is described as a Philistine, although all migrants who came from the sea are lumped together by the Bible as Philistine. They were of Hamitic-Egyptian ancestry (Genesis 10:14). Because of the pact made with Abraham, the Children of Israel were not permitted to harm them.
Interestingly, in Deuteronomy, speaking just before the conquest of Canaan, Moses tells us: “And as for the Avvim who dwell in open cities until Gaza – the Caphtorim who went out of Caphtor (Crete) destroyed them and dwelled in their place.”
It is likely that the Avvim were the “Philistines” from the time of Abraham and they were driven out by Philistines from Crete, although as Joshua mentions (quoted above) some remained. Hence, it would appear from the Bible that there was almost continuous settlement of parts of Canaan’s coastal plain by Sea People. This is why God did not lead the Israelites out of Egypt along the coastal road and “through the way of the land of the Philistines” (Exodus 13:17), since the recently-released Israelite slaves were not ready to fight this warlike people.
By the time of Samson, the Philistines were ruling over Israelite tribes in the Sh’felah, namely the tribe of Dan and Judahites near the coastal plain. At the time of Samuel, the Philistines had become a threat to the Israelites in the mountain range. This was the impetus for the Jewish people to request that Samuel appoint a king who would be able to unite the Israelite tribes for warfare. Samuel reluctantly agreed and with the approval of God he elected Saul.
However, the Sea People also united in response to this threat. Saul and his sons fought against them (and died in battle) on Mount Gilboa overlooking the Jezreel Valley. In the Bible this is described as a battle against the Philistines. However, the location of this battle is far from the five Philistine cities, and it may have comprised an alliance of southern and northern Sea People. Saul would have had good reason to be fearful of this large and powerful army.
Although the Bible states that the power of the Philistines at Gath was broken by King David, there is no archeological evidence in Gath that Philistia was dominated by the kingdom of Judah from the 10th century BCE onwards. The city was destroyed by Hazael, the king of Aram, during the reign of Jehoash, with the intention of marching against Jerusalem (II Kings 12:18). However, he was bribed from attacking Jerusalem from the treasuries of the king. The city would eventually revert to Judean control, but was likely destroyed by the Assyrians at the end of the 8th century.
(Reference: Gath of the Philistines. A New View of Ancient Israel’s Archenemy by Aren Maeir, BAR 2024:50:3.)
The Elah Valley is adjacent to the northern aspect of the tel.
The white chalk cliffs of the tel with many caves.