GILGAL

The site enclosed by a wall on this long, oval hill overlooking the Wadi Far’ah is known to the Arabs as el ’Unuq (the necklace). Zertal suggests that it may be the Gilgal mentioned in Deuteronomy 11:30 as a reference point for the location of Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim. Apparently unnoticed by archaeologists until examined by the author in 1985, the site features a nearly 6-foot-wide wall of unworked stones enclosing an area measuring 800 feet by 500 feet. A possible inner wall divides the enclosure into a one-third portion in the northern (far) end and a two-thirds portion in the southern (near) end. One of the site’s most intriguing features, which the author hopes to excavate some day, is a stone pile positioned on the long axis in the southern portion. The ribbon of greenery behind the hill marks the course of the fertile Wadi Far’ah, which links the sites of Shechem, Mt. Ebal and Tell Far’ah North (Tirzah) to the Jordan River.The name "Gilgal" was not originally a specific place-name, but rather a term for a fortified camp. El ’Unuq appears to be just that. Although the site lacks permanent living quarters, it contains considerable pottery, the earliest of which dates to the 13th and 12th centuries B.C.E. and closely resembles pottery from the altar the author excavated on Mt. Ebal. In addition, the monumental size of el ’Unuq’s enclosure wall suggests a fortification. This evidence supports the identification of el ’Unuq as a fortified camp from the early Iron I period, the period of Israel’s earliest history in Canaan.
Professor Benjamin Mazar of the Hebrew University has further elaborated this idea. He identified the valley of Succoth at the point where the Jabbok River enters the Jordan—exactly opposite Wadi Far’ah—as a vital area in the patriarchal narratives and showed how this same area played a central role in early Israelite history.
　
According to the Jericho tradition, however, the important site of Gilgal was in the neighborhood of Jericho: "The people came up from the Jordan … and encamped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho" (Joshua 4:19), where Joshua set up 12 stones to commemorate the Jordan crossing.

Another Gilgal, a northern Gilgal, a rival to the famous Gilgal of Jericho. (Hence, the title of Sellin’s book, Gilgal.) In Deuteronomy 11:30, after describing how the blessings should be pronounced on Mt. Gerizim and the curses on Mt. Ebal, the text locates these two well-known mountains in these words:

"Are they [Gerizim and Ebal] not on the other side [of the] Jordan, by the way where the sun goes down [west], in the land of the Canaanites that dwell in the country over against Gilgal, besides … Moreh."

Apparently there were two Gilgals (and more), a northern one and a southern one (and others). It has long been recognized that "Gilgal" is not a specific location, but a type of fortified camp.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• When Joshua led the nation through the Jordan, representatives of the twelve tribes carried twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan riverbed. They piled them up at Gilgal as a memorial of God’s miracle in allowing Israel to cross through the river on dry ground (Josh 4:20-24).
  
• The males of Israel were circumcised at Gilgal because they had not practiced this ritual during the forty years in the wilderness (Josh 5:7).
  
• At Gilgal, the Israelites observed the Passover for the first time since leaving Egypt (Josh 5:10).
  
• The day after that Passover, the Israelites ate produce from the land as the supply of manna ceased (Josh 5:11,12).
  
• Gilgal became Joshua’s base after Israel entered the Land. It was from there that they attacked Jericho and later launched the central campaign against the cities of the hill country. From Gilgal, Israel’s men climbed from twelve hundred feet below sea level to an elevation of three thousand feet to the Central Benjamite Plain.
  
• Representatives from Gibeon, the largest city of the Central Benjamite Plain area, came to Gilgal to deceive Joshua into making a covenant that Israel would defend their city if attacked (Josh 9:6).
  
• Gilgal was one of the cities, together with Bethel and Mizpah, Samuel visited annually to judge the people (1 Sam 7:16).
  
• Saul was confirmed as the first king of Israel at Gilgal after he rescued the city of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites (1 Sam 11:14,15).
  
• Saul used Gilgal as a base camp for his attack against the Amalekites. Samuel rebuked Saul for taking the spoils of this battle, which was contrary to God’s command. The prophet told him that, because of his disobedience, the kingdom of Israel would be taken from him (1 Sam 15:21-33).