GEZER, a royal Canaanite city described in the Old Testa mqnt as on the boundary of Ephraim, in the maritime plain, and near the Philistine border. According to Jerome, Gezer was four Roman miles north of Nicopolio (`Amwas). At this point, near the village of Abu Shusheh, stands Tell Jezar, whose identi fication with Gezer was suggested by Clermont Ganneau in 1871 and subsequently confirmed by the discovery of boundary in scriptions with the name Gezer inscribed on rock-outcrops around the site.
In the time of Papi I. (c. 250o B.c.) Gezer marked, the high tide of Egyptian invasion of Palestine, and was an ob jective in the time of Sesostris I. (198o-1935 B.c.). It is the Kazir of Thutmose III.'s lists (c. 1 Soo B.c.) and three of the Tell Amarna tablets came from Gezer (Gazri). Merneptah, in quelling the revolt of the Palestinian cities, evidently looked upon Gezer as formidable, for he proclaims himself "Binder of Gezer," and "Seized upon is Gezer" is a triumphal cry in his hymn of victory. Throughout the Maccabean wars Gazera, as it was known, was an important frontier post.
The site was excavated systematically and thoroughly by Macalister for the Palestine Exploration Fund from 1902-05 and 1907-09. The excavations revealed a whole series of strata covering all periods from the Neolithic age to the time of the Maccabees, together with a long series of structures and objects illustrative of a corresponding variety of cultures and cults. Amongst the discoveries of special interest are two cunei form tablets of the 7th century B.C., an alignment of monoliths (mazzeboth), many instances of presumed infant sacrifice, a water tunnel cut to a vertical depth of 94 ft., an agricultural calendar for the year written on a limestone plaque, and a variety of cult objects. Part of the site, including the acropolis, was unfortu nately not available for excavation. Fresh excavations were begun on the site in 1923-24, at the instigation of a private individual. Tombs and diverse epochs with furniture intact have been dis closed.
See R. A. S. Macalister, Bible Sidelights from the Mound of Gezer (1906) , and The Excavations of Gezer, 3 vols. (1912) ; W. N. Stearns, "The Story of Gezer," Bibliotheca Saera 75 (1918) 104 seq.
(E. Ro.)
