Khirbet el-Maqatir

Khirbet el-Maqatir is an ancient Canaanite site located 1 km east of et-Tell, and thought to be the biblical site of Ai during the time of Joshua.

Features and Description

Khirbet el-Maqatir is only 4 acres in size, and is located 1 mile east from et-Tell, another site thought to be the biblical city of Ai. In the vicinity of Khirbet el-Maqatir, numerous findings have been made. Some of the findings included hundreds of coins and pottery from the Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age I, and Iron Age. Fortifications from the Late Bronze Age I were also found, as well as an infant burial, a Middle Bronze two-chambered city gate (where many sling stones were located), and a wall complex. Two Egyptian scarabs were also found (which are rare to be found in Canaanite sites), one of them displaying a falcon-headed sphinx, tentatively dated to the reign of Amenhotep II. A first century AD house was uncovered as well, indicating that the site was a village in the first century AD, and during the fourth century AD, Byzantine monks built a large monastery at Khirbet el-Maqatir, perhaps in order to preserve the biblical memory of Ai. The site was continuously occupied until the end of the Late Bronze Age I, when the city was destroyed and burned, as indicated by the refired pottery found at the site.

The first-century Roman-era occupation of the site is perhaps the most prominent, with over 300 Roman coins having been found, including an intricate complex of cisterns and underground silos, Roman pottery and nails, and a bronze arrowhead.

Excavations

The site of Khirbet el-Maqatir had undergone little excavation until excavations directed there by Bryant Wood begun in 1995. Since then, excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir directed by Bryant Wood and sponsored by the Associates of Biblical Research has uncovered much of the site, and in 2014, Scott Stirpling replaced Bryant Wood as the director of excavations. Other members of the excavation teams at Khirbet el-Maqatir included Steven Collins, Leen Ritmeyer, Peter Briggs, Brian Peterson, Suzanne Lattimer, Michael Luddeni, Sandy Souza, Henry B. Smith, Louis T. Clauder Jr., Abigail Levitt, Don McNeeley, Steven Rudd, Mark A. Hassler, Boyd Severs, Ellen Jackson, Orna Cohen, Peretz Reuven, Yoav Farhi, and others.

Identification

The ancient site of Ai has been identified by many, prominently including its lead excavator Bryant Wood, as the site of the biblical Ai. Although traditionally Ai was located at et-Tell during the time of Abraham, the biblical description of Ai during the time of Joshua can be identified only with Khirbet el-Maqatir, meaning that the toponym of Ai had changed from et-Tell to Khirbet el-Maqatir sometime during the late Middle Bronze Age or early Late Bronze Age. The biblical description of Ai during the time of Joshua states that it was smaller than Gibeon, however only Khirbet el-Maqatir (2 acres) is smaller than Gibeon (10 acres), whereas et-Tell is considerably larger (20 acres) and thus cannot be identified as the Ai of Joshua. Furthermore, Khirbet el-Maqatir was both occupied and destroyed by fire during the time of Joshua, as the biblical narrative states, whereas et-Tell has no occupation or any signs of destruction during the time of the conquest. For this and other reasons, Khirbet el-Maqatir can be identified with the biblical city of Ai during the time of Joshua.

See More

• Ai
• Joshua

External links

• My Time Excavating Khirbet el-Maqatir