King David’s Palace at Khirbet Qeiyafa?
Bible and archaeology news
The palatial structure David and a Byzantine farmhouse at Khirbet Qeiyafa. Photo: Sky View, courtesy of the Hebrew University and the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Khirbet Qeiyafa has produced numerous exciting and controversial finds (see links below) that have kept the Biblical archaeology world buzzing. Overlooking the Valley of Elah in the Judean foothills, the fortified Judahite site of Qeiyafa, on the border with the Philistines, has produced persuasive evidence to support the kingship of David at the beginning of Iron Age II, when the Bible says he ruled. The unique presence of two gates at the site has led Garfinkel to identify it as Biblical Sha’arayim, which means “two gates” in Hebrew.
Vessels from Khirbet Qeiyafa. Photographic Credit: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The dramatic headline is sure to elicit a great deal of debate. Khirbet Qeiyafa is an undoubtedly important site, and we look forward to an imminent archaeological discussion on the newly uncovered palatial structure.
Read the Israel Antiquities Authority Press Release.
Eilat Mazar’s excavations in Jerusalem’s City of David uncovered massive structures from the era associated with King David. Read Did I Find King David’s Palace? by Eilat Mazar online for free as it appeared in the January/February 2006 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
The Hebrew Bible makes it clear that King David and his successors were buried somewhere on the narrow ridge of the City of David near the Gihon Spring where the earliest city of Jerusalem was located. But where exactly? Find out more in King David’s Tomb–A Closer Look.
A version of this post was originally published on July 18, 2013.
Learn More about Khirbet Qeiyafa in Bible History Daily:
Khirbet Qeiyafa and Tel Lachish Excavations Explore Early Kingdom of Judah
Qeiyafa Ostracon Relates the Birth of the Kingdom of Israel
Breaking News—Evidence of Cultic Activity in Judah Discovered at Khirbet Qeiyafa
New Images from Khirbet Qeiyafa Excavations
The Oldest Hebrew Script and Language
Learn More about Khirbet Qeiyafa in the BAS Library
Yosef Garfinkel, Michael Hasel and Martin Klingbeil, “An Ending and a Beginning: Why we’re leaving Qeiyafa and going to Lachish,” Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 2013.
Gerard Leval, “Ancient Inscription Refers to the Birth of Israelite Monarchy,” Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 2012.
Christopher Rollston, “What’s the Oldest Hebrew Inscription?” Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 2012.
Hershel Shanks, “Newly Discovered: A Fortified City from King David’s Time,” Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 2009.
Yosef Garfinkel, “The Birth & Death of Biblical Minimalism,” Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 2011.
Yosef Garfinkel, “Another View: Christopher Rollston’s Methodology of Caution,” Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 2012.
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If this place has a palace of king David, then why are all the items for the king in someone elses name?
Israel Finkelstein’s article has yet to be produced online and some of us are very interested in reading it. Israel? how about it? Get it out here?
A couple of years ago I sent an e-mail to Yosef Garfinkel which highlighted the similarities between the Madaba map and the excavation site at Khirbet Qeiyafa. The Madaba map is supposed to be mosaic map of the holy land in the sixth century CE. But if you overlay the map onto a picture of the Khirbet Qeiyafa excavation site it almost fits exactly. My question to Yosef Garfinkel was, could Khirbet Qeiyafa be the former city of Jersualem before it was destroyed by Nebuchanezzar? His response was the Madaba map was sixth century of course. It is interesting though that Garfinkel now claims the site could be one of David’s palaces.
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“stamped with an official seal as was customary in the Kingdom of Judah for centuries,”
well ,very intrigued …what it might look like?shame is not a picture .
[…] Stone, who said Garfinkel was indulging in “unabashed sensationalism.” On the Bible History Daily blog, Noah Wiener said the dramatic link to David was “sure to elicit a great deal of […]
[…] Stone, who said Garfinkel was indulging in “unabashed sensationalism.” On the Bible History Daily blog, Noah Wiener said the dramatic link to David was “sure to elicit a great deal of […]
[…] Stone, who said Garfinkel was indulging in “unabashed sensationalism.” On the Bible History Daily blog, Noah Wiener said the dramatic link to David was “sure to elicit a great deal of […]
[…] Stone, who said Garfinkel was indulging in “unabashed sensationalism.” On the Bible History Daily blog, Noah Wiener said the dramatic link to David was “sure to elicit a great deal of […]