The Sacred Precinct of Tel Dan Revisited

The sacred precinct or “High Place” of Tel Dan has been the subject of several studies since its excavation by Avraham Biran a half-century ago. The biblical account attributes its construction to Jeroboam I, at the northern border of his new Israelite kingdom. This account was taken at face value by Biran and by subsequent researchers. The stratified monumental features of the sacred precinct were attributed mainly to the 10th–8th centuries b.c.e. and its construction phases attributed to the more powerful, long-reigning Israelite kings mentioned in the biblical text—Jeroboam I, Ahab, and Jeroboam II. However, an analysis of the stratigraphy, architectural features, and the material culture of the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods reveals that much of what was assigned to the Iron Age should be reassigned to those later periods. Much of the material culture of the Tel Dan sacred precinct has parallels in Phoenician material culture.