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Gibeah (Hebrew: גבעה‎) – could be a variation of the Hebrew word meaning “hill,” other names include Gibeah of Benjamin and Gibeah of Saul. The site is believed to be identical to Tell el-Ful meaning “mound of horse beans” in Arabic, a hill next to the modern Jerusalem neighbourhood of Pisgat Ze'ev.

It is located along the Central Benjamin Plateau, 3 miles (4,8 km) north of Jerusalem along the Watershed Ridge at 2,754 ft. (860 m) above sea level.

The site was first excavated in 1868 by Charles Warren, while C.R. Conder described the remains in 1874. William F. Albright led his first excavation from 1922 to 1923, and returned for a second season in 1923. His work was published in 1960. P.W. Lapp conducted a six-week salvage excavation in 1964.

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; Isaiah 10:29
• The 10th Roman Legion camped here in their assault on Jerusalem in 70 A.D. - 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. Since Israel won the war King Hussein's palace was never finished and now all that remains is the skeleton of the building.

• [1] AncientSandals.com
• [2] Pictorial Library of Bible Lands vol. 2
• Jewish Encyclopedia.

• P. Arnold, Gibeah, Anchor Bible Dictionary (1992).
• N. Lapp, Tel el-Ful, Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East (1997).
• L. A. Sinclair, An Archaeological Study of Gibeah (1960).
• W. F. Albright, The Archeology of Palestine (1971).