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Tel Dan – the ancient gate of La’ish

Posted in Israel, tagged , , , on June 3, 2024| 2 Comments »

In Tel Dan, the rocks do tell tales. 

The name of Dan before the tribe of Dan took over the town was Laish (La’ish). The Bible describes the people of Dan brutally defeating the people of Laish and burning the town to the ground and then building their own town on the same spot. See Judges 18:7.

As it says in Joshua 19:40-48, the tribe of Dan was originally assigned lands adjacent to the Philistines, along the southern coast of Israel. The Philistines were a constant source of battles and oppression. In Judges chapter 18, we find the tribe of Dan searching for anew home. If you have studied through the book of Judges, you may remember the things that Samson did to his enemies the Philistines, namely burning their fields, killing them in battle, and destroying their temple with them in it. As one might expect, this did not make the Philistines big fans of the Israelites, leaving the tribe of Dan in a very precarious position. This likely influenced their decision to relocate to the north of Israel. The abundance of water and fertility of the area was probably not bad either.

Going Deeper: Tel Dan
1. Who was Dan? (Hint: Genesis 30:1-6)

2. What do you learn about the City called Dan from Genesis 14:14?

3. What land was originally given to Dan in the conquest according to Joshua 19:40-48?

Read Judges 18 relating to the relocation of the Tribe of Dan to the North

 

Head waters of the Jordan (from Mt Hermon and several springs in the area)
Dan in the Spring.
Judges and Elders of the City would often sit in the city gate and conduct business or city affairs.

Gate preserved to the ancient town of La’ish. It is possible that through such a gate the patriarch Abraham may have passed as he searched for Lot.

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City Gate of La’ish (Tel Dan)

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Tel Dan

Posted in Israel, tagged , , on March 18, 2020| 1 Comment »

In the north of Israel, almost to the border with Lebanon, is some of the most beautiful landscape in Israel. Here one can find the head waters of the Jordan River, and some very important places in the history of the people of God.

You may not know this, but Dan is the name of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. When each of the tribes was given its portion of the promised land by lot in the Book of Joshua, the portion given to the tribe of Dan was in the south of the country. A portion of the land given to Dan bordered the coast of the Mediterranean, but unfortunately, to the south of the land given to Dan lived the Philistines, arch enemies of Israel. Because they were unable to defeat the Philistines and ended up in constant conflict with them, the Danites decided to relocate to the north to a city previously known as Laish.

Dan was part of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) when the kingdoms were divided after Solomon died. They worshiped idols including a golden calf which was located at Tel Dan.

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Spring at Tel Dan

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Spring at Tel Dan

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Beautiful greenery and water at Tel Dan

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2020 with the rains, the water flow was tremendous at Tel Dan

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Head waters of the Jordan River

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Snow melt from Mt Hermon (Head waters of the Jordan River)

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Head waters of the Jordan River

The pictures above show you how green it is in the Spring at Tel Dan and the tremendous flow of water. This water will end up flowing in the Jordan River.

Below are photos of the site where the altar was in Dan. It was a pagan altar and not a place sanctioned by God for worship by the Israelites. The northern kingdom was ultimately destroyed by the Assyrians which God clearly stated was because of Israel’s idolatry.

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Altar site at Tel Dan

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Altar Site at Tel Dan

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Altar remains at Tel Dan

Also at the Tel Dan Nature reserve are the remains of the ancient city of Laish and the gate of the city which is sometimes called “Abraham’s Gate” because it is believed that this is the city gate that Abraham would have come through when he was looking for Lot and his family who had been kidnapped. (See Genesis 14) That will be addressed in a future post.

If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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