Overview
Tell el-Kheleifeh is a low mudbrick mound about 500 m inland from the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, about halfway between Eilat and Aqaba. Fritz Frank surveyed it in 1933 and identified it with biblical Ezion-geber. Nelson Glueck accepted that identification and excavated three seasons in 1938–1940. He announced it as Solomon's port and a great copper smelter.
Glueck never published a technical final report. Gary Pratico went back to his records and pottery (BASOR 259, 1985). He found two main building phases, a casemate fortress and then a fortified settlement, and pottery from the 8th to 6th centuries BCE with a later postscript. On that evidence nothing at the site belongs to the 10th century.
Glueck returned to the site's interpretation in 'Ezion-Geber' (Biblical Archaeologist 28, 1965); that article's text is not quoted here. In January 2026 Ben-Ami, Weiss, Erickson-Gini and Boaretto (Levant 58) paired Kheleifeh with the 'En Hazeva fortress at the Arabah's northern outlet. They dated 'En Hazeva by radiocarbon to the first half of the 8th century BCE, before Assyrian dominance, and attributed both forts to the northern Kingdom of Israel.
What the evidence shows
- A casemate fortress, later expanded into a fortified settlement (Pratico 1985).
- Pottery horizons from the 8th to the 6th centuries BCE; no securely 10th-century assemblage (Pratico 1985).
- The site stands about 500 m from the present shoreline. No harbour installations are reported in the published abstracts.
- Glueck's 'smelter' reading of the main building is not supported by Pratico's 1985 reappraisal of the excavation records, which assigns the pottery to the 8th–6th centuries BCE.
- 'En Hazeva, the matching fortress at the Arabah's other outlet, is radiocarbon-dated to the first half of the 8th century BCE (Ben-Ami et al. 2026).
Open questions
- Is Tell el-Kheleifeh Ezion-geber at all? Frank (1933) and Glueck (BASOR 71, 1938; BASOR 75, 1939; BASOR 79, 1940) identified it as Ezion-geber, and Glueck's dating followed from that identification. Pratico (1985) says the identification 'is both an archaeological and an historical problem'. His pottery gives 8th–6th centuries BCE, while 1 Kings 9:26 places Solomon's fleet at Ezion-geber in the 10th. Either Solomon's Ezion-geber lies elsewhere, or it left no remains at this mound.
- Who built the fortress? Ben-Ami et al. (Levant 2026) argue the 8th-century date of 'En Hazeva and the scale of both forts point to the northern Kingdom of Israel, before Assyrian hegemony. An 8th-century date also overlaps Judah's Uzziah/Azariah, who 'built Elath and restored it to Judah' (2 Kgs 14:22). That reading of the text is mine; the Levant abstract does not discuss it.
- Glueck's 5 periods from the 10th to 5th century (BASOR 1938–40) against Pratico's two phases from the 8th to 6th century (BASOR 1985). The difference comes from Glueck fitting the pottery to the biblical date, which Pratico sets aside.
Since 2024
- 2026-01Ben-Ami, Weiss, Erickson-Gini and Boaretto (Levant 58) date the 'En Hazeva fortress by radiocarbon to the first half of the 8th century BCE. They pair it with Tell el-Kheleifeh as twin forts at the two outlets of the Arabah and attribute both to the northern Kingdom of Israel. [4]
Sources
- N. Glueck, 'The First Campaign at Tell el-Kheleifeh (Ezion-geber)', BASOR 71 (1938) 3–18; 'The Second Campaign at Tell el-Kheleifeh (Ezion-geber: Elath)', BASOR 75 (1939) 8–22; 'The Third Season of Excavation at Tell el-Kheleifeh', BASOR 79 (1940) 2–18 link excavation report
- G. D. Pratico, 'Nelson Glueck's 1938–1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal', BASOR 259 (1985) 1–32 link excavation report
- N. Glueck, 'Ezion-Geber', The Biblical Archaeologist 28.3 (1965) 70–87 link study
- D. Ben-Ami, E. Weiss, T. Erickson-Gini, E. Boaretto, 'Fortresses and frontiers: ‘En Ḥaẓeva and Tell el-Kheleifeh in the early 8th-century BCE Arabah Valley', Levant 58.1 (2026) 25–42 link study
Corrected from the earlier edition of this page
- Old date '10th–9th century BCE' / 'c. 1000–800 BCE' is wrong. Re-study of the excavated pottery gives the 8th to 6th centuries BCE (Pratico 1985). The 10th-century date came from Glueck assuming the site was Solomon's port.
- Old entry says the site 'has been the subject of extensive archaeological investigation since the late 19th century'. It was first identified in 1933 (Frank) and dug only in 1938–1940 (Glueck).
- Old 'copper production… extensive slag heaps and processing facilities' repeats Glueck's 1938–1940 smelter theory; Pratico's 1985 reappraisal of Glueck's own records finds no 10th-century occupation to attach it to.
- Old claim that it 'Matches biblical Solomon port reference' does not hold. No 10th-century remains are reported, and Pratico treats the identification itself as a problem.
- Old location 'on the border between Jordan and Israel' is imprecise. The mound is on the Jordanian side, about 500 m from the Gulf shore, between Eilat and Aqaba.
- Old size 'approximately 5 hectares' is unsourced and could not be verified; it is dropped.
- Old biblical link '2 Chronicles 8:1 (Solomon's trade)' points to the wrong verse. The Ezion-geber verses are 2 Chr 8:17–18 and 20:36–37. '1 Kings 10:22' is the Tarshish fleet and does not name Ezion-geber.
Checked against new publications through 2026-09.