Gibeah

Ancient town of the Israelite tribe of Benjamin, located just N of Jerusalem. A fortress was built here in the Middle Bronze Age (c.2000 BC–1550 BC) and was reconstructed in the 12th-c BC–11th-c BC. During the time of King Saul (10th-c BC) it was replaced by an important citadel which fell into decline and was later destroyed (AD 70). The severely eroded site was twice partly excavated by William Foxwell Albright (1922, 1933).

Name

Gibeah – could be a variation of the Hebrew word of Geba, meaning “hill,” other names include Gibeah of Benjamin and Gibeah of Saul Tell el-Ful – modern name of the Arabic town, meaning “mound of horse beans”

Location

Central Benjamin Plateau 3 miles (4,8 km) north of Jerusalem along the Watershed Ridge 2,754 ft. Albright led his first excavation 1933 - Albright returned for a second excavation 1960 - Albright’s work was published 1964 - P. Lapp conducted a six-week salvage excavation

Ancient History (History of Ancient Israel and Judah)

Benjamin allotment - Joshua 18:28 Hometown of Phinehas and the burial place of his father, Eleazer, the son of Aaron - Joshua 24:33 Story of the Levite and his concubine and the Israelite Civil War - Judges 19-21 Israel’s first king, King Saul, reigned from Gibeah for 38 years - 1 Samuel 8-31 Prophetic mention during the period of the Divided Kingdom - Hosea 5:8, 9:9, 10:9; - Josephus, War of the Jews

Modern History

King Hussein of Jordan began construction on his West Bank palace in Tel el-Ful, but construction was halted when the Six-Day War broke out.