5,500-year-old Gate Discovered In Israel, Offers Glimpse Into Ancient Urbanization

About 1.5 meters of the gate remain intact.

In a significant archaeological discovery, researchers have uncovered the oldest known gate in Israel, a 5,500-year-old imposing stone and mud-brick passageway to the ancient city of Tel Erani, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday.

This structure was unearthed by researchers during excavations near Kiryat Gat’s industrial zone, just before the installation of a water pipeline.

The excavation in Tel Erani unveiled not only the gate but also a portion of a fortification system, all dating to the Early Bronze Age, approximately 3,300 years ago.

According to the Antiquities Authority, the discovery provides valuable insights into the development of urban centers and their strategic defense in ancient times.

According to Emily Bischoff, Director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “This is the first time that such a large gate dating to the Early Bronze IB has been uncovered. To construct the gate and the fortification walls, stones had to be brought from a distance, mudbricks had to be manufactured, and the fortification walls had to be constructed. This was not achieved by one or a few individuals. The fortification system is evidence of social organization that represents the beginning of urbanization.”

“It is probable that all passers-by, traders or enemies, who wanted to enter the city had to pass through this impressive gate,” says Martin-David Pasternak, an Israel Antiquities Authority researcher of this period.

According to Dr Yitzhak Paz, an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist specializing in the Early Bronze Age period, “Tell Erani, which is about 150 dunams in size, was an important early urban center in this area in the Early Bronze period. The Tell site was part of a large and important settlement system in the southwestern area of the country during this period. Within this system, we can identify the first signs of the urbanization process, including settlement planning, social stratification, and public building.

“The newly uncovered gate is an important discovery that affects the dating of the beginning of the urbanization process in the country. The extensive excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority over recent years have led to dating the beginning of urbanization to the end of the fourth millennium BCE, but the excavations carried out at Tell Erani have now shown that this process began even earlier, in the last third of the fourth millennium BCE,” he added.

Tel Erani is a 150-dunam (37-acre) site whose origins are associated with the ancient Philistines. The city, located on the present-day outskirts of Kiryat Gat, was destroyed in the 6th Century BCE, presumably by the Babylonians.