Architectural Biography in Area A at Tell es-Safi/Gath: From Unknown Unknowns to Unknown Knowns and Known Knowns, in Order to Arrive at the Known Unknowns


 This contribution aims to understand the history and function of a rectangular structure, probably domestic in nature and located in the early Philistine sector of Area A at Tell es-Safi/Gath. Tell es-Safi/Gath is one of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis, located in modern Israel, mentioned in the Old Testament, and popularly associated with the legendary giant Goliath. The understanding of this building is achieved through presenting a building biography. This will include a discussion of the building’s complicated construction history, construction styles, associated features, and later disturbances. Although there is a substantial amount of research on object biography, most of that work deals with the reuse and modification or design of contemporary buildings, or megalithic monuments of the European prehistoric eras. A building biography situates the Area A structure within its role in preserving early Philistine identity, history, memory, and imbuing the landscape with symbolic meanings.