Tel Zafit National Park, of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, is located about 3 km. southeast of Kibbutz Kefar Menahem. Route 383 leads to the park past Kefar Menahem and Gefen, through Haruvit Forest. 3.5 km. From route 383 a winding road, marked in red, leads to the northwest edge of the tel.
The national park includes Tel Zafit, the surrounding hills, and the HaEllah riverbed that runs north of the tel. The tel rises to around 100 m. above the surrounding area and offers an impressive view of the entire region. There are chalk cliffs in the northern part of the tel, and some contain hewn caves.
Tel Zafit contains archeological finds from numerous eras and is considered one of the most important ancient sites in the plains region. The first archeological excavations took place there in 1899, by the British Palestine Exploration Fund, but stopped shortly afterwards. New excavations were started by Bar Ilan University, led by Prof. Aharon Meir, started in 1996 and they are still in progress.
Tel Zafit is identified with the Philistine city of Gat. Gat is first mentioned in letters of El Amrana from the 14th century BCE. Gat is first cited in the Bible, in the book of Joshua, as a Philistine confederation city. The city is mentioned many times in the book of Samuel, primarily in relation to the life of King David, and the leader of the city, Akhish King of Gat, is also noted. Goliath went from Gat to fight David (before he became king) in the Ella Valley. Gat was the largest and most important of the five Philistine cities. Numerous interesting finds were discovered there.
In 2005 a manmade channel dug around the tel, on three sides, was discovered at Tel Zafit. Different tests indicated that the channel was part of a highly sophisticated monumental siege system which dates to the time of the siege laid on Gat by Haza'el King of Aram, as noted in the book Kings 2, chapter 12, verse 18. The remains of the siege system around Tel Zafit are the earliest such remains known to man anywhere in the world. The ruins of the city, which covered some 500 dunams (about 125 acres), include remains of houses which were completely destroyed in the 9th century BCE. The city never recovered from the destruction and the community subsequently deteriorated rapidly. The community was renewed during the time of the kingdom of Judea and part of it was destroyed a second time by Sennacherib King of Assyria.
During the Crusader Period, in 1142, the Blanche Garde (White Guard) Crusader fortress was built there and a village was established nearby. The village and the fortress were taken by Sallakh A-Din in 1187. In the early 13th century the fortress and the village were restored to Crusader hands but, in 1244, the place was conquered by the Moslems who destroyed the fortress. The Moslems established a new village there, Tel -A- Zafit, which survived until the War of Independence in 1948. After the war the village was abandoned. Its remains – piles of stones and wells – are scattered around the area.
