Tel Gezer (Gezer Mound)

Tel Gezer (Gezer Mound), located near the village of Karmei Yosef, is a unique National Park due to the fact that 25 layers of settlement were found in it. It rises to the height of 210 meters above sea level and about 95 meters above the area at its foot. Tel Gezer (Gezer Mound) was inhabited already 5,500 years ago, but the Roman period was the last time in which it was thriving. The Canaanite and the Israelite periods were the main periods of prosperity for the ancient city of Gezer, which is mentioned in numerous historic writings (including the Bible). Toward the end of the 19th century, Tel Gezer (Gezer Mound) was identified with the Biblical city of Gezer. In the beginning of the 20th century the "Gezer Calendar” was found here- an ancient limestone tablet containing a Hebrew text- which was dated to the 10th century BCE and included an agricultural calendar. Today it is displayed in a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. In the Tel Gezer (Gezer Mound) National Park are also found the remains of an ancient water-system with a deep water shaft, a Canaanite gate, and more. Many come to Tel Gezer in order to visit the ritualistic complex of the "megalithic shrine” which creates an especially surrealistic display. Arrival through road number 44.