Driving out the off-road drivers from Tel Goded

Photo source: Dafna Meroz,
Israel Nature Conservation Society
via ynetynet has a news report in Hebrew and English on the planned restoration of Tel Goded (Tell ej-Judeideh). It begins:

After years of unsuccessful campaigns, Jewish National Fund and Israel Antiquities Authority decided to act and protect the archeological site at Britain Park from modern-day trespassers – lawless off-road drivers who trample thousands of years of history and natural habitat, and refuse to stick to marked trails.

and finishes with the recommendation, that "it is possible and highly recommended to travel by foot through this important site, where history lurks under every cave."

Tel Goded is generally identified with Moresheth Gath, Micah's apparent hometown, which is also mentioned in the Amarna letters. Shmuel Vargon has suggested identifying it with an otherwise obscure place name, Gedud, apparentely based on Micah 4:14. The verse contains the term בת-גדוד Bath-Gedud, which normally translated as "daughter of troops" but comes in opposition to two other mentions of placenames in the chapter: מגדל-עדר Migdal-^cder and בת-ציון Bath-Sion.

Some more pictures of Tel Goded

• Gibson, Shimon. "The Tell ej-Judeideh (Tel Goded) excavations; a re-appraisal based on archival records in the Palestine Exploration Fund". Tel Aviv 21,2 (1994): 194-234.
• Sagiv, N., Zissu, B., and Avni, G. "Tombs of the Second Temple Period at Tel Goded, Judean Foothills." ^cAtiqot 35 (1998): 7*-21* (Hebrew), 159-61 (English).
• Vargon, Shmuel. "Gedud, a place-name in the Shephelah of Judah". Vetus Testamentum 42,4 (1992): 557-564.
• Vargon, Shmuel. "The book of Micah: Introduction" (Hebrew). World of the Bible: Minor Prophets II, ed. Zeev Weisman. Tel Aviv: Divrei Hayamim Publishing, 1995.