HAZOR

ruins of ancient Hazor, courtesy, izbitour.com

Hazor was a fortified city between Ramah and Kadesh, allotted to the tribe of Naphtali in northeastern Israel, and located on the high ground overlooking Lake Merom (today Lake Huleh). The original inhabitants of the city were the Canaanites. During the time of the Israelite conquest under Joshua, Hazor’s king, the powerful Jabin, summoned all the surrounding kings to create a defense alliance against the Israelites. But Joshua defeated the allied forces, and burned the city to the ground (Josh. xi. 1-5, 10-13). The Canaanites must have, later, rebuilt the city for in the time of Deborah and Barak there was another King Jabin reigning there (Judges iv. 2), to whom Israel was temporarily made subject in punishment for its sins. But Israel once again conquered the city and this time, it remained in Israelite hands ever since. In the later history of Israel, Hazor is mentioned again when its inhabitants were carried off to Assyria by Tiglath-pileser (II Kings xv. 29). After the Babylonian Captivity, Hazor was only sporadically settled until it was abandoned altogether.

The site remained in ruins for thousands of years afterwards, save for the nearby Tomb of Honi the Circle-Maker. According to Jewish legend, Honi, a first century BCE rabbi and scholar, had the power to bring rain through his prayers. His burial site adjoins the burial sites of two of his grandsons, Abba Hilkiyah and Hanan HaNihba. Many centuries later, his tomb would become a major pilgrimage site.  

Hazor HaGlilit, courtesy TownsOfIsrael.netzah.org

After Israeli independence in 1948, the new town of Hatzor HaGlilit, located near the ancient Hazor and surrounding the Tomb of Honi the Circle-Maker, was founded in 1952–1953 as a transition camp housing Jewish refugees, primarily from North Africa.

From 1955 to 1958, four large excavation campaigns – the James A. de Rothschild Expedition – took place under the direction of Yigal Yadin on behalf of the Hebrew University, with the aid of PICA, the Anglo-Israel Exploration Society, and the Israel government. A fifth archaeological campaign took place in 1968.

In 1956, Hatzor HaGlilit was given the status of local council. By 1958, Hatzor HaGlilit had a population of 4,000 and received development town status. Over time, the city preserved its Jewish religious-traditional demographic status and later a Jewish ultra-orthodox neighborhood was also established, housing Gur Hassidim.