Located in the southern Judean foothills, Tell Beit Mirsim contains the ruins of a significant Canaanite and Israelite city. Spanning 3 hectares (30 dunams) and rising 473m above sea level, the mound looms 60m over the northern valley of Nahal Duma.
The first organized settlement started as a small city at about 2000 BC (Middle Bronze period). After a comparatively brief time the city was destroyed by fire. The Canaanite city was soon rebuilt, but this time (~17th Century BC) the second city was fortified by the Hyksos with very high walls (7m high), dry moat (3m deep) and a glacis. These formidable fortifications indicate this was a royal Canaanite city with great importance.
The city was partially destroyed in the mid16th century. Its defense walls were rebuilt. From that period, during the years ~1500 to 1200, the city grew bigger and seem to have flourished. It was dominated by Egypt, as attested by Egyptian findings.
The excavations revealed another destruction layer which they dated to the transition from the Bronze age to the Iron Age (13th to the 12th Century). This is the estimated time of the conquest of Joshua. After about 150 years the city was rebuilt with inferior fortifications – a 2m wide wall and smaller glacis. This indicates that the city status was degraded to a minor Israelite provisional city.
During the Israelite Kingdom period, between the 10th and 9th Century, the city was once again partially destroyed, although it sustained less damage than in the previous conquest. The eastern gate was breached, but then it was repaired with a higher new wall around it. The western gate was destroyed and set on fire. The excavators relate this destruction to the intrusions of Shishak, king of Egypt (940 BC).
Beit Mirsim was destroyed again at the end of the 8th century BC, probably during the Assyrian conquest. All in all, there were 5 destructions in the city. The Israelite city was never built again.
The city was excavated in the 1920s by W.F. Albright. Renewed excavations were conducted in 2021. Albright identified the site as Kiryat Sepher or Debir (Joshua 15:15). This identification is not currently accepted by most scholars, and one of the leading identifications is the Levitical city of Ashan, belonging to the tribes of Judah and Simeon. 1 Chronicles 6:59: “…And Ashan with her suburbs”.
Visit: https://www.biblewalks.com/beitmirsim/
