Image Details
Courtesy Avraham Biran and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
This low platform of hewn limestone blocks covered by a canopy may have served as a throne or held a cult statue. Round, carved, socketed bases—two beside the platform on the left and one on the right—indicate that posts were inserted into the holes to support the canopy over the platform. A presumed fourth base has disappeared. This platform may perhaps be explained by, and in turn illustrate, a passage in the Bible: “Then the king arose and took his seat in the gate … and all the people came before the king” (2 Samuel 19:8). To the right of the platform, a stone bench, perhaps for the elders of the city, lines the wall for about 16 feet.