Tel Hazor

For other uses, see Hazor.

Tel Hazor
תל חצור (Hebrew)
House of Pillars at Hazor
Location within Northeast Israel Location within Israel Location within West and Central Asia
33°1′0″N 35°34′1″E
Type	Settlement
Location	Tell el-Qedah, Israel
Region	Upper Galilee
History
Abandoned	732 BC
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Biblical Tells – Megiddo, Hazor, Beer Sheba
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv, vi
Designated	2005 (29th session)
Reference no.	1108
Region	Asia-Pacific

Tel Hazor (Hebrew: תל חצור, romanized: Tel Ḥāṣor), translated in LXX as Hasōr (Ancient Greek: Άσώρ), and in Arabic Tell Waqqas or Tell Qedah el-Gul (Arabic: تل القدح, romanized: Tell el-Qedah), is an archaeological tell at the site of ancient Hazor, located in the Upper Galilee, north of the Sea of Galilee, in the northern Korazim Plateau. From the Middle Bronze Age (around 1750 BCE) to the Iron Age (ninth century BCE), Hazor was the largest fortified city in the region and one of the most important in the Fertile Crescent. It maintained commercial ties with Babylon and Syria, and imported large quantities of tin for the bronze industry. In the Book of Joshua, Hazor is described as "the head of all those kingdoms" (Josh. 11:10) and archaeological excavations have emphasized the city's importance.

The Hazor expedition, headed by Yigael Yadin in the mid-1950s, was the most important dig undertaken by Israel in its early years of statehood. Tel Hazor is the largest archaeological site in northern Israel, featuring an upper tell of 12 hectares (30 acres) and a lower city of more than 70 hectares (175 acres).

In 2005, the remains of Hazor were designated a World Heritage Site as part of the Biblical Tels—Megiddo, Hazor, Beer Sheba.