city state · Anatolia and the Levant

Gezer

1800 BCE – 950 BCE (approx.) · capital Gezer

Gezer, a Canaanite city on the road from Egypt to Jerusalem, captured by pharaohs and, by biblical tradition, given to Solomon as a dowry.

Origins

Gezer lay on a hill at the edge of the Judaean foothills, overlooking the coastal road. In the Middle Bronze Age it was fortified with massive walls and gates, and a row of tall standing stones marked a cultic high place that still stands.

Rule and society

In the Late Bronze Age local kings ruled as vassals of the Egyptian Empire New Kingdom. Thutmose III lists Gezer among his conquests, its kings Milkilu and Yapahu wrote Amarna letters, and the Merneptah Stele boasts that Gezer was seized. The Gezer calendar, an early Hebrew inscription, was found there.

Decline and legacy

Gezer kept its independence after the end of Egyptian rule until a pharaoh burned it, according to 1 Kings, and gave it to Solomon of the United Kingdom of Israel. Its later Israelite gate is often linked to that era.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Gezer. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gezer
MLA
“Gezer.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gezer. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Gezer.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gezer.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Gezer’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gezer (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻