This post is published in memory of my dear father, Mendel Levitt ז"ל, on his thirtieth yahrzeit, 9 Ellul 5782, who inspired me in the reality of the bible as our history. The trip it describes took place on 26 August 2022.
Abel Beth Maacah (אבל בית מעכה)—meaning ‘the meadow of the house of Maacah’, and known in Arabic as Tell Abil el-Qameḥ (تل آبل القامع), meaning (in Aramaic) ‘wheat meadow’—is mentioned three times in the Tanach (bible), and in several second millennium BCE sources as well, such as the topographical List of cities that were conquered in 1468 BCE by Thutmose III at the Temple of Amun at Karnak; the early group of the Execration Texts (Middle Bronze Age); and the Amarna letters (Late Bronze Age).
Having dropped Yonatan at a nearby base on the Lebanese border, and seeing the tel nearby, I rather foolishly decided to climb up ad have a look at the excavations, alone, with insufficient water, and in 39 degrees Celcius. But first some history about the place.
It is related in chapter 20 of the Second Book of Samuel that, when a rebel against King David, Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite, fled, David sent Joab, his nephew and the commander of his army, together with his brother Abishai, after him. Joab chased him to the city of Abel Beth Maacah, where he sought refuge. They besieged the city, building a ramp against it, when a wise woman of the city called out to them.
אָנֹכִ֕י שְׁלֻמֵ֖י אֱמוּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אַתָּ֣ה מְבַקֵּ֗שׁ לְהָמִ֨ית עִ֚יר וְאֵם֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לָ֥מָּה תְבַלַּ֖ע נַחֲלַ֥ת יְהֹוָֽה:
כַיַּ֥עַן יוֹאָ֖ב וַיֹּאמַ֑ר חָלִ֚ילָה חָלִ֙ילָה֙ לִ֔י אִם־אֲבַלַּ֖ע וְאִם־אַשְׁחִֽית:
לֹא־כֵ֣ן הַדָּבָ֗ר כִּ֡י אִישׁ֩ מֵהַ֨ר אֶפְרַ֜יִם שֶׁ֧בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִ֣י שְׁמ֗וֹ נָשָֹ֚א יָדוֹ֙ בַּמֶּ֣לֶךְ בְּדָוִ֔ד תְּנֽוּ־אֹת֣וֹ לְבַדּ֔וֹ וְאֵלְכָ֖ה מֵעַ֣ל הָעִ֑יר וַתֹּ֚אמֶר הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ אֶל־יוֹאָ֔ב הִנֵּ֥ה רֹאשׁ֛וֹ מֻשְׁלָ֥ךְ אֵלֶ֖יךָ בְּעַ֥ד הַחוֹמָֽה:
I am of [those] that are peaceful and faithful to Israel; [Why then] do you seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel? Why should you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?"
And Joab answered: 'Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up, or that I should destroy.
The matter is not so; but a man of the hills of Ephraim named Sheba the son of Bichri has lifted his hand against the king, against David; Give us him alone and I will depart from the city.' And the woman said to Joab, "His head shall be thrown to you over the wall."
[Samuel II, 20:19-21]
The city is mentioned twice in relation to military conquests, first by the Aramean Ben Hadad in the 9th century BCE (1 Kings 15:20):
וַיִּשְׁמַ֨ע בֶּן־הֲדַ֜ד אֶל־הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אָסָ֗א וַ֠יִּשְׁלַח אֶת־שָׂרֵ֨י הַחֲיָלִ֚ים אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ֙ עַל־עָרֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיַּךְ֙ אֶת־עִיּ֣וֹן וְאֶת־דָּ֔ן וְאֵ֖ת אָבֵ֣ל בֵּֽית־מַעֲכָ֑ה וְאֵת֙ כָּל־כִּנְר֔וֹת עַ֖ל כָּל־אֶ֥רֶץ נַפְתָּלִֽי:
And Ben Haddad listened to king Asa, and he sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and he struck Ijon and Dan and Abel-Beth Maachah and all Kinereth with all the land of Naftali.
The same verse is repeated in 2 Chronicles 16:4, but the city is referred to as Abel Maim ("meadow of water");
וַיִּשְׁמַ֨ע בֶּן־הֲדַ֜ד אֶל־הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אָסָ֗א וַ֠יִּשְׁלַח אֶת־שָׂרֵ֨י הַֽחֲיָלִ֚ים אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ֙ אֶל־עָרֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיַּכּוּ֙ אֶת־עִיּ֣וֹן וְאֶת־דָּ֔ן וְאֵ֖ת אָבֵ֣ל מָ֑יִם וְאֵ֥ת כָּל־מִסְכְּנ֖וֹת עָרֵ֥י נַפְתָּלִֽי:
And Ben Hadad heeded King Asa, and he sent the officers of his army to the cities of Israel, and they smote Ijjon and Dan and Abel-Maim, and all the storehouses of the cities of Naphtali.
The city is again mentioned in relation to its conquest by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pilesar III in the 8th century BCE (2 Kings 15:29):
בִּימֵ֞י פֶּ֣קַח מֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל בָּא֘ תִּגְלַ֣ת פִּלְאֶסֶר֘ מֶ֣לֶךְ אַשּׁוּר֒ וַיִּקַּ֣ח אֶת־עִיּ֡וֹן וְאֶת־אָבֵ֣ל בֵּֽית־מַעֲכָ֡ה וְאֶת־יָ֠נוֹחַ וְאֶת־קֶ֨דֶשׁ וְאֶת־חָצ֚וֹר וְאֶת־הַגִּלְעָד֙ וְאֶת־הַגָּלִ֔ילָה כֹּ֖ל אֶ֣רֶץ נַפְתָּלִ֑י וַיַּגְלֵ֖ם אַשּֽׁוּרָה:
In the days of Pekah the king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, the entire land of Naphtali; and he exiled them to Assyria.
The tel—which covers around 100 dunams (10 hectares) adjacent to Nahal Iyyon, one of the four headwaters of the Jordan River—was described and identified by a number of prominent 19th-century and early 20th-century explorers. Victor Guérin, the French explorer and amateur archaeologist, wrote up his visit in detail, commenting that “Cette ville est très probablement, comme on s'accorde à le penser, l'ancienne Abel Beth Maachah…” Conder and Kitchener, in the Galilee volume of the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (1881) noted it as Abl, “[a] small Christian village, containing 150 Christians and possessing a modern church. It is surrounded with arable soil of a basaltic nature, and is close to a stream of water from 'Ain ed Derdârah; it has also a spring. Though there is little doubt that this site is that of Abel Beth Maacha, there are tew traces of ancient remains to be seen near it.” Other visitors included Félix-Marie Abel, the French archaeologist, geographer, Dominican priest, and professor at the École Biblique in Jerusalem, and Edward Robinson, the American biblical scholar known for his magnum opus, Biblical Researches in Palestine.
Abel Beth Maacah’s position on the modern border between Israel, Lebanon and Syria—it is located about 2 km south of the town of Metulla—echoes the ancient border between Israel, Phoenicia and Aram. Major ancient highways pass by the site, including the northern section of the Via Maris that joins the north-south road through the Jordan Valley, as well as east-west routes leading to Damascus and Mesopotamia in the northeast and to the Phoenician coast in the west.
Yet despite its obvious historical importance and geographic prominence, Abel Beth Maacah was not excavated before 2012. Previous study of the site involved periodic visits by representatives of the British Mandatory Department of Antiquities and limited surveys carried out by the Israel Department of Antiquities in the 1950s, by Yehudah Dayan in the 1960s, and by Professor William G Dever of the University of Arizona in 1972. A small salvage excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the base of the south-eastern slope revealed several Byzantine tombs, as well as a group of Middle Bronze Age vessels that seemed typical of a tomb assemblage, although no tomb from this period was found. The excavation of Tel Abel Beth Maacah was initiated in 2012, funded by Azusa Pacific University of Los Angeles, and is conducted as a joint project with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. To date, ten seasons of excavation have been conducted from 2013-2022, and two surveys have been carried out, in 2012 and 2020, in order to obtain a complete chronological profile of the site. Five excavation areas have been opened, three in the lower mound (Areas F, O and K), one in the saddle between the lower and upper mound (Area A), and one on the eastern side of the upper mound in the north (Area B).
A survey and excavations have shown that there was occupation from the Early Bronze Age II/III and up to modern times, with gaps in Middle Bronze IIA and Iron IIB; the peak occupation occurred during the Middle Bronze IIB and the Iron Age I and IIA. Thus, since the Bronze and Iron Ages, the upper mound has been inhabited during the Persian, Hellenistic, Byzantine, Early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman periods. The lower mound was abandoned after the Iron Age I in the late 11th and early 10th centuries BCE. That it was an Israelite town during the reigns of David and Solomon is attested by a Hebrew inscription on the lid of a wine storage jar uncovered in the summer of 2019, which reads “leBenayau” (‘belonging to Benayau’), dated to the 10th-9th century BCE.
Five areas had been excavated. Area A is on the eastern slope of the middle saddle and yields remains of Late Bronze and Iron Age I. Area B, on the eastern slope of the upper mound, exhibits remains of Middle Bronze IIB, Iron Age I, Iron Age II, and Persian-early Hellenistic). Area F on the southern end of the lower mound has yielded remains of Middle Bronze IIB, Late Bronze Age I-II and Iron Age I. Area O, on the western edge of the lower mound, has given up remains of Late Bronze and Middle Bronze IIB. Finally, Area K, on the eastern slope of a topographical depression between the lower and upper mounds, yielded Iron Age fortifications.
The pictures below show the various areas excavated, as numbered on the above map.
Top row (left to right): Area K (Iron Age fortifications); Area A (Late Bronze Age and Iron Age); a stone bowl in Area A.
Second row: Apart from the open excavations, this sign in Area A gives the only hint that there is something worth preserving here!; Area A.
Third row: Area A from the upper mound to the north; Area B (Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Persian-Early Hellenistic Period).
Fourth row: Area F (Bronze and Iron Age); Area O (Bronze Age).
It is clear that Abel Beth Maacah was established as a Canaanite city during the Middle Bronze age (2200-1550 BCE), and was conquered in 1468 BCE (the Late Bronze Age) by Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III, as mentioned, after the great battle between Egypt and the Canaanites at Megiddo. In the thirteenth century BCE, Joshua led the Israelites in conquering major parts of Canaan, and the Land of Israel was divided among the twelve tribes; Abel Beth Maacah was part of the territory of Naphtali at that time. It was in the time of King David, as we have seen already, that the town escaped a siege when it handed over the mutinous Sheba son of Bichri to Joab, David's commander. Again, as we have seen, the Syrians and the Assyrians attacked and conquered the city in the ninth and eighth centuries BCE (respectively). When the people of Northern Israel revolted, with the encouragement of the Egyptians, following the death of the Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser III, the Assyrians crushed the remaining territories of the Northern Kingdom in 724-712 BCE. They used a siege ramp at Abel Beth Maacah, destroying what was by then a large fortified city, and the majority of the antiquities found on the tel belong to the period up to the Assyrian destruction. Although the site was later settled, in the Persian and Hellenistic periods (sixth to first centuries BCE), and the Roman and Byzantine periods (First century BCE to the seventh century CE), it was never again a large or fortified settlement.
Two finds from Abel Beth Maacah: Head of an elite figure (left), made of faience, found in Area B, Iron Age IIA [Photo: Gabi Laron; conservation: Mimi Lavi]; a ring flask from Area A [Photo: Tel Abel Beth Maacah Excavations, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46748385]
An Arab village began on the upper mound at least as far back as the 13th century CE. This village was known as Abil el-Qameh, from the Atamaic for ‘wheat meadow’, although no doubt also recalling its ancient biblical name. Abil al-Qamh was a part of the French Mandate of Lebanon until 1923 when it was incorporated into the British Mandate in Palestine. In 1945 the village had a mixed population of 230 Shia Muslims and 100 Arab Christians. As can be seen from the aerial photograph from 1945, above, the Arab village occupied the middle saddle of the mounds.
According to the historian Benny Morris, the residents of the village fled from fear of being caught up in fighting, and the influence of neighbouring towns’ falling, on 10 May 1948 during the War of Independence, following the liberation of Tzfat (Safed) and the successful taking of the police fort at al-Nabi Yusha’ (https://eshchar.wixsite.com/offtrackisrael/single-post/metzudat-koach-al-nabi-yusha). Operation Matateh (‘Broom’) was a Haganah offensive launched ten days before the end of the British Mandate in Palestine, under the umbrella of Operation Yiftah, and carried out by Palmach units under the command of Yigal Allon, with the objective of capturing the flatlands between Lake Tiberias and Lake Hula and clear the area of Bedouin encampments. According to Allon, the operation had a “tremendous psychological impact” on the Arab population in the whole Upper Galilee, precipitating the abandonment of a string of Arab villages including Abil el-Qameh. Allon related afterwards that he was only too happy for such abandonment, in order to create Jewish territorial continuity in the Upper Galilee, and it relieved him of the need for further protracted fighting from village to village, which had already exacted a high cost bot in terms of manpower and lives. The village was occupied by the "Haganah" forces as part of Operation Yiftah, and its abandoned houses were destroyed.
Today the site is a large archaeological tel, about 50 metres tall, with a small upper northern section and a large lower southern one, connected by a saddle. At the summit of the upper mound was an acropolis, surrounded by a wall. Atop this acropolis are two military bunkers and associated trenches and emplacements, overlooking the border with Lebanon.
The tel is today accessible, though unadopted, and frequently deserted except when the excavation season is underway. There is however plenty to see, albeit one must do one's own research to appreciate something of what there is to see. But failing that, the panoramic 360-degree view from the summit is worth the climb, even in 39 degrees!
