Gath (city)

Archaeological findings at *Tell es-Safi*

Gath or Gat (Hebrew: גַּת, romanized: Gaṯ, lit. 'wine press'; Latin: Geth, Philistine: 𐤂𐤕 *Gīt) was one of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis during the Iron Age. It was located in northeastern Philistia, close to the border with Judah. Gath is often mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and its existence is confirmed by Egyptian inscriptions.^[1] Already of significance during the Bronze Age, the city is believed to be mentioned in the El-Amarna letters as Gimti/Gintu, ruled by the two Shuwardata and 'Abdi-Ashtarti.^[2]^[3]^[4] Another Gath, known as Ginti-kirmil (Gath of Carmel) also appears in the Amarna letters.^[5]

The site most favored as the location of Gath is the archaeological mound or tell known as Tell es-Safi in Arabic and Tel Zafit in Hebrew (sometimes written Tel Tzafit), located inside Tel Zafit National Park,^[6] but a stone inscription disclosing the name of the city has yet to be discovered. A Gittite is a person from Gath.^[7]

^ "Gath of the Philistines | Religious Studies Center". rsc.byu.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
^ On the two rulers of Gath, see Nadav Naʾaman of Tel Aviv University, "The Shephelah according to the Amarna Letters", page 282.
^ On the Amarna's name "Gimti" as being an equivalent to the English name "Gath," see Naʼaman (2005), p. 174.
^ Maeir, Aren M.; Chadwick, Jeffrey R.; Dagan, Amit; Hitchcock, Louise A.; Katz, Jill; Shai, Itzhaq; Uziel, Joe (2019). "The Late Bronze Age at Tell es-Safi/Gath and the site's role in Southwestern Canaan". In Aren M. Maeir; Itzhaq Shai; Chris McKinny (eds.). The Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages of Southern Canaan. De Gruyter. pp. 1–18. doi:10.1515/9783110628371-001. ISBN 978-3-11-062837-1. S2CID 199261231. To start with, we believe that the identification of Tell es-Safi/Gath as Gintu of the el-Amarna texts (Maeir 2012) is to be accepted.
^ Naʼaman (2005), p. 207.
^ Cite error: The named reference Harris2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Gittite". WebBible Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2015-08-30.

[1] "Gath of the Philistines | Religious Studies Center". rsc.byu.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-10.

[2] On the two rulers of Gath, see Nadav Naʾaman of Tel Aviv University, "The Shephelah according to the Amarna Letters", page 282.

[3] On the Amarna's name "Gimti" as being an equivalent to the English name "Gath," see Naʼaman (2005), p. 174.

[4] Maeir, Aren M.; Chadwick, Jeffrey R.; Dagan, Amit; Hitchcock, Louise A.; Katz, Jill; Shai, Itzhaq; Uziel, Joe (2019). "The Late Bronze Age at Tell es-Safi/Gath and the site's role in Southwestern Canaan". In Aren M. Maeir; Itzhaq Shai; Chris McKinny (eds.). The Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages of Southern Canaan. De Gruyter. pp. 1–18. doi:10.1515/9783110628371-001. ISBN 978-3-11-062837-1. S2CID 199261231. To start with, we believe that the identification of Tell es-Safi/Gath as Gintu of the el-Amarna texts (Maeir 2012) is to be accepted.

[FOOTNOTENaʼaman2005[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidHmTOoQmf23ACpgPA207_p._207]-5] Naʼaman (2005), p. 207.

[Harris2011-6] Cite error: The named reference Harris2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[7] "Gittite". WebBible Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2015-08-30.

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