The Achish Goliath

Gath as the home of Goliath — the enormous warrior killed with a slingshot fired by David before he became king of Israel. “David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.” While not personally involved in the uncovering of the gate, Ms Hitchcock said she has made a number of other discoveries that go along with the theory including an inscription of the name Goliath, two Philistine temples, alters and ritual objects.

“The discovery of the gate in the lower part of the city is different to the area where I have been digging,” she said. “I have been excavating the houses of the people who likely built the gate.”

Ms Hitchcock said it was in these houses she made the discovery of some pottery typically associated with Philistine culture. “The domestic remains of distinctive Philistine-style pottery also show elements of Israelite technique,” she said. Even though the excavations correlate with the presence of Gath, Ms Hitchcock doesn’t believe they are unequivocal proof of the existence of God. “We don’t really know how tall he was, but most people from that time were very short,” she said. “So he only would have had to been around 6ft tall for people to consider him a giant.”