Middle East
Israel
Jerusalem District

Khirbet Qeiyafa

Khirbet Qeiyafa, also known as Elah Fortress and in Hebrew as Horbat Qayafa, is the site of an ancient fortress city overlooking the and dated to the first half of the 10th century BCE.
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qeiyafa.huji.ac.il
Wikipedia
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • Type: Archaeological site
  • Description: Archaeological site
  • Also known as: “Hirbat Qaiyafa”
  • Historically known as: “Keiyafa” and “Qeiyafa”

Places of Interest Nearby

Highlights include Tel Sokho and Tel Azekah.

Peak
Sokho is the name given to two ancient towns in the territorial domain of Judah as mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, west of the Judean hills. Both towns were given the name Shuweikah in Arabic, a diminutive of the Arabic shawk, meaning "thorn".

Ruins
Photo: היידן, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Azekah was an ancient town in the guarding the upper reaches of the , about 26 km northwest of . The current tell by that name, also known as Tel Azeka or Tell Zakariya, has been identified with the biblical Azekah, dating back to the Canaanite period. is situated 2 km west of Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Ruins
Photo: Shelly Eshkoli, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tel Yarmuth or Khirbet Yarmuk is an ancient Near East archaeological site in located 25 kilometers southwest of and near modern . is situated 2 km northeast of Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Places in the Area

Nearby places include Zekharia and Netiv HaLamed-Heh.

Village
Photo: אסף.צ, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a moshav in central . It sits on the ancient Palestinian village of Zakariyya, whose inhabitants were expelled in 1949. Located near , it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council.

Village
Photo: דג קטן, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a kibbutz in central . Located in the , it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2023 it had a population of 677. is situated 2½ km east of Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Village
Photo: אסף.צ, CC BY-SA 3.0.
, also known as Li On, is a community settlement in central . Located to the south of . It falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. is situated 3 km southwest of Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Khirbet Qeiyafa

Latitude
31.69643° or 31° 41′ 47″ north
Longitude
34.95736° or 34° 57′ 27″ east
Elevation
327 metres (1,073 feet)
Open location code
8G3PMXW4+HW
Open­Street­Map ID
node 2365417887
Open­Street­Map feature
historic=­archaeological_site
Geo­Names ID
8259959
Wiki­data ID
Q910323
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikipedia.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Khirbet Qeiyafa from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Arabic to Russian—“Khirbet Qeiyafa” goes by many names.
  • Arabic: “خربة قيافة”
  • Chinese: “基亞法”
  • Czech: “Churvat Keijafa”
  • Dutch: “Khirbet Qeiyafa”
  • French: “Khirbet Qeiyafa”
  • French: “Sha’arayim”
  • French: “Shaarayim”
  • German: “Khirbet Qeiyafa”
  • Hebrew: “ח’ירבת קייאפה”
  • Hebrew: “חורבת קיאפה”
  • Hebrew: “חורבת קייאפה”
  • Hebrew: “מבצר האלה”
  • Indonesian: “Khirbet Qeiyafa”
  • Japanese: “エラ要塞”
  • Persian: “فلسطين”
  • Persian: “قلعه الاه”
  • Polish: “Khirbet Qeiyafa”
  • Russian: “Хирбет Кейафа”

Localities in the Area

Explore places such as Darchei Shmue and Darchei Shmuel.

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About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikipedia page “Khirbet Qeiyafa”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.