| Gath (city) |
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'Gath of the Philistines' was one of the five Philistine city states, established in northwestern Philistia. According to the Bible, the king of the city was of Aram Damascus. Recent excavations at the site have produced dramatic evidence of a siege and subsequent of the site in the late 9th cent. BCE, most probably related to this event. Although in the past various suggestions were raised on the location of Gath of the Philistines, currently, based on analysis of the references to the site, most scholars (in particular following Anson Rainey) identify the Philistine Gath at Tell Es-Safi (aka Tel Zafit). Gath is also mentioned in the El-Amarna letters as "''Gimti''", ruled by a king Shuwardata , and possibly by Abdi-Ashirti as well. Recent excavations at the site appear to confirm this identification, due to abundant finds from the relevant Late Bronze and Iron Age periods — roughly when Gath is mentioned as existing in the various Biblical and other historical sources. Recently, an inscription dating to the Iron Age IIA (ca. 10th-9th cent. BCE), mentioning names very similar to the name Goliath was discovered at the site. REFERENCES
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