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Tel Haror (also Tel Heror: Modern Hebrew name) or Tell Abu Hureyra (Arabic name; also spelled Hureira and Hareira), is an archaeological site in the western Negev Desert, Israel, northwest of Beersheba, about 20 km east of the Mediterranean Sea, situated on the north bank of Nahal Gerar, a wadi known in Arabic as Wadi esh-Sheri'a. During the Middle Bronze Age II it was one of the largest urban centres in the area, occupying about 40 acres.Brandl, B., Oren, E.D. and Nahshoni, P. 2014. A Clay Door-lock Sealing from the Middle Bronze III Temple at Tel Haror, Israel. ORIGINI XXXVI: 157-180 The city contains substantial remains of Middle Bronze Age II through to Persian-period settlement strata.
In 1956 Yohanan Aharoni identified biblical Gerar with the site of Tell Abu Hureira (Tel Haror).
Tel Haror was excavated by Eliezer Oren of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev between 1982 and 1992. In 2010, there were also further explorations by Oren with P. Nahshoni and G. Bar-Oz.
Substantial remains of Middle Bronze to late Iron Age settlement strata were uncovered.Bar-Oz, G., Nahshoni, P., Motro, H., & Oren, E. D. (2013). Symbolic Metal Bit and Saddlebag Fastenings in a Middle Bronze Age Donkey Burial. PLoS ONE, 8(3), e58648. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0058648
A Minoan graffito was found in the sacred precinct dating to ca. 1600 BCE. Analyses of the sherd determined that it originated in Crete, most likely the south coast. The three signs were inscribed prior to firing. The signs may either represent Linear A writing, or the Cretan hieroglyphs.Day, Peter M., et al. 1999 Petrographic Analysis of the Tel Haror Inscribed Sherd: Seeking Provenance Within Crete. Aegaeum 20: 191–96
Another, older, donkey was also found next to the younger donkey; also an additional mandible of a donkey was found nearby. Fragments of a storage jar, and of a bowl were found next to it.
Ritual interments of birds, and puppy dogs were also found; they were probably used for augury and divination.Raphael Greenberg 2019, The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant. From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700-1000 BCE. p.248 The bones are deposited along with many votive vessels, and clay figurines. The excavations testify to the continuous ritual activity at the site. It is only in its final phase that the interment of a sacrificed young donkey with a metal bit and saddlebag occurred.Brandl, B., Oren, E.D. and Nahshoni, P. 2014. A Clay Door-lock Sealing from the Middle Bronze III Temple at Tel Haror, Israel. ORIGINI XXXVI: 157-180. p.161
According to Greenberg, the quantity of the finds at Haror is "unmatched at any other temple site in the Levant" for this time period (MBA, Middle Bronze Age).Raphael Greenberg 2019, The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant. From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700-1000 BCE. p.248 They tell us about the daily ritual activities at such temples, which is not found so often at other sites.
The enormous walls of the Migdal temple and other structures collapsed probably as a result of a massive earthquake around 1530 BCE. The city was abandoned afterwards.Brandl, B., Oren, E.D. and Nahshoni, P. 2014. A Clay Door-lock Sealing from the Middle Bronze III Temple at Tel Haror, Israel. ORIGINI XXXVI: 157-180. p.161
Tel Haror is generally accepted as the site of ancient Gerar. Gerar. BiblePlaces.comOren, Eliezer D. (1992), Gerar (Place). Pp. 989–91 in The Anchor Bible Dictionary 2, ed. David N. Freedman. New York: Doubleday Tel Haror. biblical-archaeology.org Nevertheless, some other places in the vicinity, between Gaza City and Beersheba, have also been suggested, such as Tell Jemmeh (Tel Gamma on the map), and Tell et-Tuwail. Tuwail (also spelled Tell et-Tuwaiyil), is located by the Byzantine site of Be'er Osnat, near Kibbutz Tze'elim.
The ashlar masonry at Haror is integrated with mud-brick walls. This building technique is also found at Tel Sera (Tell esh-Sharia), which is located only about 7km east of Haror up the Gerar river (see the map); it is usually identified with the biblical Ziklag. So there was probably an early connection between these two sites. Tel Haror. biblical-archaeology.org
This was one of the cities of the Philistines. Richly decorated Philistine pottery, both monochrome and bichrome, was found on the site. Tel Haror. biblical-archaeology.org
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