By the early 1990s Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, National Parks and Nature Reserves Authority and the Israel Antiquities Authority were concerned that none of the large, highly visible archaeological sites were those of the “Biblical” periods. Sites like Beth Shean, Cesearea and Sepphoris had later classical or rabbinic period remains (many of which were not really “Jewish” in nature). The Bronze and Iron Age (often called the “Biblical period”) sites were not as well preserved and smaller in scale.
Surveying excavated archaeological sites, officials were sufficiently impressed by the excavations at Tel Dan to budget and execute its reconstruction, including the already impressive Iron Age fortification wall and gate complex, the Middle Bronze Age mudbrick gate, and the Israelite High Place. This ambitious project, carried out under our archaeological supervision, has made Tel Dan one of the country’s premier Bronze and Iron Age sites and a must for anyone interested in archaeology.
The excavation seasons of the late 1990s and those of 2005-6 were carried out as part of the conservation and restoration process.