Object description

Tel Erani or Tell esh-Sheikh Ahmed el-ʿAreini is a multi-period archaeological site on the outskirts of Kiryat Gat in the Southern District of Israel. It is also known by the name ʻIrâq el-Menshiyeh , although thought to have borne the original Arabic name of Menshiyet es-Saḥalīn. The tell was first occupied in the Chalcolithic period, but its most notable remains are from the Bronze Age and Iron Age, when it was the site of a substantial Philistine city with links to Egypt. It has been identified with the biblical cities of Libnah, Gath, Mmst, Eglon and Makkedah, but none of these identifications are certain. The city was destroyed in the 6th century BCE, possibly by the Babylonians. In the Persian period, it was the site of a temple. There are also signs of settlement in the Hellenistic, Byzantine, and Mamluk periods. The Palestinian village of Iraq al-Manshiyya was located at the foot of the tell until it was depopulated in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.