Tell el-Hesi: Fields I and III (Neolithic to Modern)

Tell el-Hesi is located southwest of the modern Israeli city of Qiryat Gat. While stratified remains of the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age, the EB III, the entirety of the Late Bronze Age (LB), the second half of the Iron Age, the Persian Period, and the Ottoman Period are known, as well as residual Neolithic and Chalcolithic materials, the vast amount of excavation effort was directed towards the Iron-Age, Persian-Period, and Ottoman-Period remains. Lawrence E. Toombs published the Bedouin Cemetery of the Ottoman Period as well as the modern military trenching (Strata I and II) in 1984. W. J. Bennett, Jr., and Jeffrey A. Blakely published the Persian-Period remains of Stratum V in 1989. This report would complete these earlier efforts by publishing the massive Judahite fortress (Stratum VIII) as well as the extensive late Persian-Period occupation of Stratum IV.