Tel Gath fly-in from Elah Valley

Gath was one of five major Philistine cities and was the home of Goliath. The city was built on a  large hill near the main highway that connected Africa with Europe and Asia. The site is the  oldest archaeological dig in the southern part of Israel today. You can see some of the  archaeological work in this video clip. David interacted with the people of Gath several times.  First, he defeated Goliath in the nearby Valley of Elah. Between :30 and 1:00 in this video,  you’ll see hills in the distance. Over the first ridge would be the Elah Valley. The more distant  ridge is where David lived in Bethlehem. The close proximity of the sites helps us understand  why Saul was determined to keep the Philistines from getting any closer to his territory in the  mountains. While running from Saul, David returned to Gath alone. He promptly suffered something akin to a panic attack (1 Samuel 21:10-15). He fled the city and hid in a cave near  Adullam, where he wrote Psalm 34. In time he returned to Gath with a band of men, lived in the  city for a short while before relocating to Ziklag. As king, he conquered Gath and had a personal  bodyguard of 600 Gittites from Gath (2 Samuel 15:18).