18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

5500-year-old city gate unearthed in Israel -the earliest known in the Land of Israel-

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday that archaeologists have discovered the earliest known ancient gate in the land of Israel, at Tel Erani, near Kiryat Gat Industrial Zone.

The Tel ‘Erani was fortified in the Early Bronze I period, more than 5,000 years ago, and was one of the major economic and commercial centers of this period in the southern Levant.

The ancient city of Tel Erani is one of the first examples of urbanization in Israel and the gate’s discovery indicates that urbanization in the region occurred centuries earlier than believed.

Previously, experts had believed that urbanization in this area had started around 5,200 years ago, which was the age of the oldest known gate in Israel. Until the current discovery, the oldest gate to a fortified city was in Tel Arad, near Beersheba. But the dating of the Tel Erani gate pushes the evidence of the start of urbanization back by a number of centuries, to around 5,500 years ago.

Prior to laying a water pipe, the Israel Antiquities Authority conducted an excavation funded by Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, over the last month. During this excavation, a gate and part of an ancient city’s fortification system dating to the Early Bronze IB, approximately 3,300 years ago, were discovered. These structures reflect the beginning of urbanization in the Land of Israel and the Southern Levant.

The Tel Erani gate, which was preserved at a height of 1.5 m, is comprised of a passageway built of large stones that leads into the ancient city. Two towers made of large stones flank the gate, and between them there are rows of mudbricks. This gate is attached to the city walls that were uncovered in previous excavations.

Uncovering the city gate. Photo: Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority
Uncovering the city gate. Photo: Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority

According to Emily Bischoff, Director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority: “This is the first time that such a large gate dating to the Early Bronze IB has been uncovered. To construct the gate and the fortification walls, stones had to be brought from a distance, mudbricks had to be manufactured and the fortification walls had to be constructed. This was not achieved by one or a few individuals. The fortification system is evidence of a social organization that represents the beginning of urbanization.”

“It is probable that all passers-by, traders or enemies, who wanted to enter the city had to pass through this impressive gate,” says Martin-David Pasternak, IAA researcher of this period. “The gate not only defended the settlement, but also conveyed the message that one was entering an important strong settlement that was well-organized politically, socially, and economically. This was the message to outsiders, possibly also to Egypt, where the process that would lead to the unification of the Lower and Upper Egypt under King Narmer was already beginning.”

Pasternak adds that, “At the end of the Early Bronze Age, the Egyptians themselves arrived here and settled the tell, and they reused the gate.”

Ancient vessels found at the site. Photo: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority
Ancient vessels found at the site. Photo: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority

According to Dr. Yitzhak Paz, IAA archaeologist specializing in the Early Bronze Age period, “Tell Erani, which is about 150 dunams in size, was an important early urban center in this area in the Early Bronze period. The tell site was part of a large and important settlement system in the southwestern area of the country in this period. Within this system, we can identify the first signs of the urbanization process, including settlement planning, social stratification, and public building. The newly uncovered gate is an important discovery that affects the dating of the beginning of the urbanization process in the country.”

The extensive excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority over recent years have led to dating the beginning of urbanization to the end of the fourth millennium BCE, but the excavations carried out at Tell Erani have now shown that this process began even earlier, in the last third of the fourth millennium BCE.

Archaeologists also found a number of interesting smaller discoveries, including a complete alabaster jar, a number of juglets, and red-colored bowls.

IAA

Cover Photo: The ancient gate at Tell Erani. Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority

Related Articles

The Entire Genome Of 35,000-Year-Old Skull From Romania Sequenced “Peştera Muierii 1”

24 May 2021

24 May 2021

Researchers have successfully sequenced the whole genome from the skull of Peştera Muierii 1, women who lived in today’s Romania...

8,000-year-old Yarmukian ‘Mother Goddess’ figurine discovered in Israel

9 July 2022

9 July 2022

An 8,000-year-old Yarmukian Mother Goddess figurine was found at Sha’ar HaGolan archaeological site, located on the northern bank of the...

A protected Punic-Roman tower “Tal-Wilġa” has been turned into a building site

15 August 2021

15 August 2021

The Tal-Wilga tower, one of Malta’s Punic-Roman heritage sites, is in danger from construction work near it. The Superintendent of...

Thracian Horseman Votive Tablet Discovered in Bulgaria

28 July 2023

28 July 2023

A stone votive relief depicting a Thracian horseman was found during excavations at the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica, located...

1000-Year-Old Tomb Found in Perre Ancient City in southeast Turkey

1 July 2021

1 July 2021

A 1,000-year-old tomb was unearthed in the ancient city of Perre in Adiyaman province. Perre is one of the five...

Precious Roman Gem Engraved with Mythological Figure Discovered in Italian Lagoon

8 August 2023

8 August 2023

During excavations at Lio Piccolo (Cavallino-Treporti), conducted by Ca’ Foscari University, a precious agate stone carved with a mythological figure...

A burial complex and an Ancient Dog Statue have been unearthed during excavations in Appio Latino quarter the Rome

8 January 2022

8 January 2022

Workers laying pipes for utility company Acea at Via Luigi Tosti in Rome’s Appio Latino quarter have unearthed an ancient...

4,500-Year-Old Dog Teeth-Adorned Bags Found in Germany May Have Been Elite Baby Carriers

11 July 2025

11 July 2025

Archaeological excavations near Krauschwitz reveal rare decorated leather bags buried with women and infants—shining new light on Neolithic burial customs...

The Error That Caused II.Ramses to Lose the Battle of Kadesh

5 February 2021

5 February 2021

The Battle of Kadesh between the Hittites and Egyptians in Anatolia, the two superpowers of the Bronze Age period, has...

The historic Egyptian Palace is being demolished, it may hold a surprise underneath

27 August 2021

27 August 2021

The cause for the evacuation and demolition of the ancient Tawfiq Pasha Andraos Palace, located in the precincts of the...

1.5-Million-year-old Footprints have Revealed the Co-Existence of two Ancient Human Species in Kenya

30 November 2024

30 November 2024

Thanks to a set of preserved footprints on the ancient shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya, researchers have uncovered the...

A painted Wooden Saddle Discovered in an Ancient Tomb in Mongolia Represents Earliest Evidence of Modern Horse Riding

13 December 2023

13 December 2023

Researchers unearthed a wooden saddle framed with iron stirrups in a tomb in Urd Ulaan Uneet, popularly known as the...

Gold from the ancient cities of Troy, Poliochni, and Ur had the same Origin

3 December 2022

3 December 2022

Using an innovative mobile laser method, scientists determined that gold found in ancient Troy, Poliochini, and Ur had the same...

Archaeologists unearthed the ruins of an imposing stoa from the Greco-Roman era in Sicily

1 April 2024

1 April 2024

Archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of an imposing stoa from the Greco-Roman period in the small village of Tripi in...

Human Presence in Malta Earlier Than Previously Thought: Hunter-Gatherers Navigated 100 km by Sea 1,000 Years Before Farmers

14 April 2025

14 April 2025

Recent archaeological findings have dramatically reshaped our understanding of human history in the Mediterranean, revealing that hunter-gatherers were capable of...