Arad

A city in southern Israel west of the Dead Sea named for Biblical Arad and having ruins visible at Tel 'Arad, just a few miles northeast. First excavated in 1962, 'Arad has three separate phases of occupation. The first settlement was in the Chalcolithic period with a walled city at the beginning of the 3d millennium BC, which was destroyed by c 2700 BC. Imported Egyptian pottery was found in that phase. A resettlement occurred in the Early Bronze I and II phases and a succession of walled citadels and a temple have been found as well as ostraca (inscribed pottery). The last period of occupation was confined to a citadel on the highest part of the earlier town and it was occupied from the 12th-11th centuries BC. It served as a southern frontier post of the kingdom of Judah. There was a sanctuary for the worship of Yahweh. There were also citadels on this site in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The Book of Numbers (21:1-3) tells how the Canaanite king of 'Arad fought the Israelites during the exodus from Egypt, but his cities were utterly destroyed by Israel's armies. The city's name appears on the Temple of Amon al-Karnak Egypt in the inscription of Pharaoh Sheshonk I first ruler of the 22nd Dynasty (reigned c 945-924 BC).

Located in the Negev desert of southern Israel, Arad has revealed evidence of three separate phases of occupation. The first settlement was in the Chalcolithic period and the second in the Early Bronze I and II phases. At this stage, in the later 4th millennium BC, it was a town of c nine hectares, initially unwalled, later surrounded by a wall with semicircular bastions. Houses and twin temples of this phase have been excavated. Trading connections with First Dynasty Egypt were apparent from the finds. The later period of occupation was represented over a smaller area, confined to a citadel on the highest part of the earlier town. It was occupied from the 12th-11th centuries bc and became a southern frontier post of the kingdom of Judah. The most important find of this period is a sanctuary associated with worship of Yahweh. There were citadels on this site also in the Hellenistic and Roman periods and subsequently an Arab khan.