approximately 299 tons of debris from the ancient water system.
In 2010, the team removed approximately 1,040 cubic feet (39 cubic yards – 29 cubic meters) of debris (approximately 50 percent rock and 50 percent dirt), equating to approximately 68 tons. In 2011 the team removed approximately 3,560 cubic feet (132 cubic yards- 101 cubic meters), equating to approximately 231 tons.
In 2012 the Gezer team uncovered a large open cavern at the bottom of the water system. Said Dr. Warner "Opening the cave is something we have been working toward for three summers wondering if it even existed...It gave me a rush. Once inside it gave us a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, but we are not done by a long shot."
In 2013 the team launched a side effort to preserve the ancient Canaanite mudbrick gate and complex near the water system. In the water system: "[m]ost of the first two weeks of the dig were spent searching for the bottom step and cleaning Macalister's causeway. Tons of debris and rocks were removed in the process. When the bottom step was located and the causeway area clear, the team excavated three probes in the pool area. Each of the pool probes reached a depth of more than six feet before the end of the season and the bottom of the pool was discovered in only one probe (Eastern probe) — the one just below the bottom step of the water shaft."
13 boundary stones have been identified at the site, probably dating from the Late Hellenistic period (1st century BCE), the most recent having been found by archaeologists from SWBTS. See also Gezer#Location.
Temple of Amun
One fragmentary but well-known surviving triumphal relief scene from the Temple of Amun at Tanis believed to be related to the sack of Gezer depicts an Egyptian pharaoh smiting his enemies with a mace. There can be no doubt that the person shown on this relief was Siamun as the eminent British Egyptologist, Kenneth Kitchen, stresses in his book, On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Siamun appears here "in typical pose brandishing a mace to strike down prisoners(?) now lost at the right except for two arms and hands, one of which grasps a remarkable double-bladed axe by its socket." The writer observes that this double-bladed axe or 'halberd' has a flared crescent-shaped blade which is close in form to the Aegean influenced double axe but is quite distinct from the Canaanite double-headed axe which has a different shape that resembles an X. Thus, Kitchen concludes Siamun's foes were the Philistines who were descendants of the Aegean-based Sea Peoples and that Siamun was commemorating his recent victory over them at Gezer by depicting himself in a formal battle scene relief at the Temple in Tanis. More recently Paul S. Ash has put forward a detailed argument that Siamun's relief portrays a fictitious battle. He points out that in Egyptian reliefs Philistines are never shown holding an axe, and that there is no archaeological evidence for Philistines using axes. He also argues that there is nothing in the relief to connect it with Philistia or the Levant.
- James F. Ross (May 1967). "Gezer in the Tell el-Amarna Letters". Jstor.org. pp. 62–70. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- "Gilat". Ngsba.org. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- "The standing stone or stele". Netours.com. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- David Ussishkin (2006). Czerny E., Hein I., Hunger H., Melman D., Schwab A., eds. On the History of the High Place at Gezer. Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Vol. II. Leuven: Peeters Publishers. pp. 411–416. Retrieved February 2015. Check date values in:
- "Gezer - Jewish Virtual Library". Webcache.googleusercontent.com. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- "Gezer – Ancient Importance to Israel". Allaboutarchaeology.org. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- Laughlin, John Charles Hugh (2006). "Gezer - Did Solomon Build a City Gate Here?". Fifty Major Cities of the Bible: From Dan To Beersheba. Routledge. pp. 127–131. ISBN 9780415223157.
- "Hidden secret of Gezer: A pre-Solomonic city beneath the ruins" at the Wayback Machine (archived November 27, 2013), Haaretz, published October 24,