Tel Dan תל דן
Tel Dan - Remains of the Iron Age (Israelite) Gate on the City's South Wall
Shown within Israel
Alternate name	تل القاضي
Location	Israel
Coordinates	33°14′56″N 35°39′07″E / 33.249°N 35.652°E / 33.249; 35.652
Type	conserved ruins
History
Founded	c. 4500 BC
Abandoned	c. 733 BC
Periods	Neolithic, Bronze, Iron
Cultures	Neolithic, Canaanite, Israelite
Site notes
Public access	yes
Website	Tel Dan Nature Reserve

Dan (Hebrew: דן‎), is a city mentioned in the Bible, described as the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Israel, belonging to the Tribe of Dan. The city is identified with the tel known as Tel Dan ("Mound of Dan" תל דן in Hebrew), or Tel el-Qadi ("Mound of the Judge" in Arabic, تل القاضي, literal translation of the Hebrew name Tel Dan, "Dan" meaning "judge", or "one who judges") in Israel.

Identification and names[link]

Dan was first identified by Edward Robinson in 1838, and has been securely identified with the archaeological site of Tel Dan, which the Book of Judges (Judges 18:27-29) states was known as Laish ( /ˈleɪ.ɪʃ/^[1]) prior to its conquest by the Tribe of Dan,^[2] whereas in Joshua 19:47 it is called Leshem.

Geography[link]

Dan is situated in Israel, in the area known as the Galilee Panhandle. To the west is the southern part of Mount Lebanon; to the east and north are the Hermon mountains. Melting snow from the Hermon mountains provides the majority of the water of the Jordan River, and passes through Dan, making the immediate area highly fertile. The lush vegetation that results makes the area around Dan seem somewhat out of place in the otherwise arid region around it. Due to its location close to the border with Lebanon and at the far north of the territory which fell under the British Mandate of Palestine, the site has a long and often bitterly contested modern history, most recently during the 1967 Six-Day War.

History and archaeology[link]

According to the archaeological excavations at the site, the town was originally occupied in the late Neolithic era (c 4500BCE), although at some time in the fourth millennium BCE it was abandoned, for almost 1000 years.

Bronze age[link]

According to the Book of Judges, prior to the Tribe of Dan occupying the land, the town was known as Laish, and allied with the Sidonians; This might indicate they were Phoenicians (Sidonians were Phoenicians from the city of Sidon), who may or may not have been Canaanite. The alliance had little practical benefit due to the remoteness of the town from Sidon, and the intervening Lebanon mountains. The town was also isolated from the Assyrians and Aram by the Hermon mountains; the Septuagint mentions that the town was unable to have an alliance with the Aramaeans. The masoretic text does not mention the Aramaeans, but instead states that the town had no relationship with any man - textual scholars believe that this is a typographic error, with adham (man) being a mistake for aram.^[3].

According to the narrative in Judges concerning Micah's Idol, the Tribe of Dan did not at that point have any territory to their name (Judges 18:1), and so, after scouting out the land, eventually decided to attack Laish, as the land around it was fertile, and the town was demilitarised. Most Biblical scholars now believe that the Tribe of Dan originated as one of the Sea Peoples, hence remaining on their ships in the early Song of Deborah, and not having Israelite land to their name,^[4][5] though conservative scholars argue^{[citation needed]} that the Tribe of Dan migrated because they were forced out of their original lands by the Philistines.

Tel Dan - Excavation and reconstruction of the Eastern Bronze Age gate

The bible describes the Tribe of Dan brutally defeating the people of Laish and burning the town to the ground, and then building their own town in the same spot. However, textual scholars believe that the whole narrative concerning Micah's idol is a slur on the sanctuary at Dan, by a writer or writers who were opposed to the presence of idols there, and that the apparent brutality may not reflect historic reality.^[3] The narrative states that Laish subsequently became known as Dan, after the name of the tribe, and that it housed a sanctuary filled with idols, which remained in use until the time of captivity of the land and the time that the house of God ceased to be in Shiloh. Scholars think that the former refers to the Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by Tiglath-pileser III in 733/732 BCE, and that the latter refers to the time of Hezekiah's religious reform;^[5] an alternative possibility, however, supported by a minority of scholars, is that time of captivity of the land is a typographic error and should read time of captivity of the ark, referring to the battle of Eben-Ezer, and the Philistine capture of the Ark, and that the ceasing of the house of God being in Shiloh refers to this also.^[6]

The excavators of Tel Dan uncovered a city gate made of mud bricks estimated to have been built around 1750 BCE, presumed to be the period of the Biblical patriarchs. Its popular name is Abraham's gate, because Abraham traveled to Dan to rescue his nephew Lot. Genesis 14:14:

"And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan."

The gate was restored in the late 2000s, and has become a popular tourist attraction.^[7]

Iron Age[link]

According to 2 Kings 10:29 and 2 Chronicles 13:8, Jeroboam erected two golden calves as gods in Bethel and Dan. Textual scholars believe that this is where the Elohist story of Aaron's Golden Calf actually originates, due to opposition in some sections of Israelite society (including the Elohist themselves) to the seeming idol-worship of Jeroboam.^[8] However, Biblical scholars believe that Jeroboam was actually trying to outdo the sanctuary at Jerusalem (Solomon's Temple), by creating a seat for God that spanned the whole kingdom of Israel, rather than just the small space above the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem; the seat for God in the Jerusalem sanctuary was represented by a cherubim on either side, while scholars believe that Jeroboam was using the calves to represent the sides of his seat for God - implying his whole kingdom was equal in holiness to the Ark^[8]

The Tel Dan Stele

Within the remains of the city wall, close to the entrance of the outer gate, parts of the Tel Dan Stele were found^[9]. The basalt stone bears an Aramaic inscription referring to one of the kings of Damascus; the excavators of the site believe that the king it refers to is Hazael (c 840 BCE),^[10] though a minority argue that it instead refers to Ben-Hadad (c 802 BCE)^[11]. A small part of the inscription remains, with text containing the letters 'ביתדוד' (BYTDWD), which some archaeologists agree refers to House of David (Beth David in Hebrew.^[12][13] In the line directly above, the text reads 'MLK YSR'L', i.e. "King of Israel". Hebrew script from the era is vowel-less), which would make the inscription the first time that the name David has been found at an archaeological site dating before 500 BCE.

Dan suffered in the era of expansion by the Aramaeans, due to being the closest city to them in the kingdom of Israel. The several incursions indicated by the Book of Kings suggest that Dan changed hands at least four times between the Kingdom of Israel and Aramaeans, around the time that Israel was ruled by Ahab and the Aramaeans by Ben Hadad I, and their successors. Around this time, the Tel Dan stele was created by the Aramaeans, during one of the periods of their control of Dan. When the Assyrian empire expanded to the south, the kingdom of Israel initially became a vassal state, but after rebelling, the Assyrians invaded, the town fell to Tiglath-pileser III in 733/732 BCE.

In 1992, in order to tidy up the site for presentation to visitors, a heap of debris was removed which dated from the time of the Assyrian destruction of the city by Tiglath-pileser III in 733/2 BCE. A hitherto unknown earlier gateway to the city was uncovered. The entrance complex led to a courtyard paved with stone with a low stone platform. In the 9th century BCE, the podium was enlarged, and major fortifications were built, a city wall with buttresses and a complex gate. The podium was enlarged further in the 8th century BCE by Jeroboam II, then destroyed by Tiglath-pileser III.^[14]

Later periods[link]

During the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods, remains indicate that cultic activities continued around the podium (AKA "the High Place").^[14]

Tel Dan nature reserve[link]

The Tel Dan reserve was first declared on 391 dunams surrounding the tel in 1974. 90 dunams were added to the reserve in 1989.^[15] The Dan River is one of the three water sources of the Jordan River that meet in the northern part of the Hula Valley.^[16]

See also[link]

• Micah's Idol
• Tribe of Dan

References[link]

External links[link]

Tel Dan Excavations - official Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology website

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dan (ancient city)

• Tel Dan inscription
• Picture of Tel Dan inscription, at Univ of Texas, course at University of Texas course
• Stele in context
• Israel Nature & Natural Parks Protection Authority Site
• Photos of Tel Dan

v t e Nature reserves of Israel Northern District Ein Afek · Akhziv Islands · Alonei Yitzhak · Alonei Abba · Amud Stream · Nahal Ayun · Balfouria · Bitan Aharon · Nahal Betzet · Nahal Dishon · Dor Beach and Ma'agan Michael Islands · Ein Avazim · Ein Elah · Ein Nymphit · Ein Te'oh · Ein Yehuda · Nahal Gamal · Gamla nature reserve† · Snir Stream · Hermon nature reserve† · Nahal Hermon† · Hula Valley · Hurshat Tal · Hurshat Zakum · Kerem Ben Zimra · Nahal Kziv · Mount Arbel · Mount Carmel · Mount Gilboa · Mount Meron · Mount Tabor · Pa'ar Cave · Rosh HaNikra · Shamir-Nahal Rachum · Shimron · Nahal Taninim · Tel Anafa · Nahal Tavor · Tel Dan · Tel Shikmona · Nahal Yehiam Central District Adullam · Ashdod Nitzanim Sand Dune Park · Bnei Zion · Avshalom Cave · Hadasim · Ein Hemed · Gador · HaMasrek Reserve · Har HaTayasim · Neot Kedumim · Nahal Poleg · Nahal Sorek · Nitzanim dunes · Palmachim beach · Tel Yitzhak · Te'omim Cave · Udim Southern District Ein Gedi · Craters in the Negev · HaMakhtesh HaGadol · HaMakhtesh HaKatan · Makhtesh Ramon Eilat Region Coral Beach Nature Reserve  · Timna valley  · Yotvata Hai-Bar † Located in the Israeli-occupied territories

Acronyms[link]

TEL is a three-letter acronym for:

• Tetra-ethyl lead, a gasoline additive to make leaded gasoline
• Tokyo Electron, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer
• Transporter erector launcher, a mobile missile launch platform
• Technology-Enhanced Learning
• The European Library
• Tax and Expenditure Limitation, a mechanism to limit growth in tax revenues, spending or both
• Test of Economic Literacy
• TEL oncogene
• Telugu language, ISO 639 code
• Thomas Edward Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia

Other[link]

Tel may also refer to:

• an abbreviation for telephone.
• tel:, a URI scheme used e.g. on the Web to link to telephone numbers
• .tel domain name
• tel parameter in the hCard microformat
• Tel river, a tributary of the river Mahanadi in Orissa, India
• Tel, Azerbaijan, a village in Khachmaz Rayon
• Tel Aviv, major Israeli city
• Tel, alternate name of Tall-e Nemat, a village in Iran
• A tell, a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation

See also[link]

• Tell (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Look up dan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Dan is a name. It refers sometimes to the short form of the name Daniel. Dan, or the acronym DAN may refer to the following:

Persons

• Fyodor Dan, a Russian Marxist revolutionary
• DJ Dan, an electronic music artist who uses the singular name "Dan" as his stage name
• Dan (Bible), one of the sons of Jacob

Places

• Gush Dan, metropolitan area in central Israel
• Dan (ancient city), the biblical location also called Dan, and identified with Tel Dan
• Dan, Israel, a Kibbutz in northern Israel
• Dan River, a river in North Carolina and Virginia, USA
• Dan River (Israel), a tributary of the Jordan River
• Dan River (China), a tributary of the Han River in Eastern China
• Dan, a subdistrict of Kap Choeng District, Thailand

Fictional characters

• Dan Dare, a classic British science fiction comic hero
• Desperate Dan, regular in The Dandy since 1937
• Dan Hibiki, a character from the Street Fighter series.
• Dan Moroboshi, the alter-ego of Ultra Seven from the 1967 namesake tokusatsu

Organizations

• Dan-Air, a defunct airline in the United Kingdom
• Dan Bus Company, a public transport company in Israel
• Dan Hotels, a hotel chain in Israel
• Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!), an organization concerned with autism
• Dialogue Australasian Network, an educational organization
• Direct Action Network, a confederation of anarchist and anti-authoritarian affinity groups, collectives, and organizations
• Divers Alert Network, a non-profit organization for Scuba diving

Other

• Dan, a 1914 film starring Lois Meredith
• Dan (Chinese opera), a female role in Beijing opera
• DAN (protein), a family of tgf beta signaling protein inhibitors
• Dan (newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Montenegro
• Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia
• Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa
• Dan (rank) in Japanese, Chinese and Korean fine and martial arts and Go
• Dorsal attention network, a sensory orienting system in the brain
• Tribe of Dan, one of the Tribes of Israel

See also[link]

• Daniel (disambiguation)
• daN (decanewton), unit of force—see newton, kilogram-force

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Garry Kasparov (Гарри Кимович Каспаров)
Country	Russia
Born	(1963-04-13) 13 April 1963 (age 49) Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
Title	Grandmaster
World Champion	1985–93 (Undisputed) 1993–2000 (Classical)
FIDE rating	2812 (May 2012) (inactive)
Peak rating	2851 (July 1999, January 2000)

Garry Kimovich Kasparov (Russian: Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров, Russian pronunciation: [ˈɡarʲɪ ˈkʲiməvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsparəf]; born Garik Kimovich Weinstein,^[1] 13 April 1963) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time.

Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at the age of 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov.^[2] He held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organization, the Professional Chess Association. He continued to hold the "Classical" World Chess Championship until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. He was the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls, when he lost to Deep Blue in 1997.

Kasparov's ratings achievements include being rated world No. 1 according to Elo rating almost continuously from 1986 until his retirement in 2005 and holding the all-time highest rating of 2851.^[3] He was the world No. 1 ranked player for 255 months, by far the most of all-time and nearly three times as long as his closest rival, Anatoly Karpov. Kasparov also holds records for consecutive tournament victories and Chess Oscars.

Kasparov announced his retirement from professional chess on 10 March 2005, to devote his time to politics and writing. He formed the United Civil Front movement, and joined as a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing the administration of Vladimir Putin. He was considered to become a candidate for the 2008 Russian presidential race, but later withdrew. Although he is widely regarded in the West as a symbol of opposition to Putin, support for him in Russia is low.^[4]