Tel Hazor contains an upper acropolis and an enormous lower city that together made it one of the largest urban centres in the southern Levant during the second millennium BC. Its position controlled routes between Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia and the coast. Excavated palaces, temples, gates, domestic areas and a deep water system reveal repeated cycles of power, destruction and rebuilding.
Bronze Age Hazor appears in Egyptian and Mesopotamian records, including the Mari archives, as an important kingdom. A major destruction ended the Late Bronze city around the thirteenth century BC; archaeologists debate who caused it. Later Iron Age settlement included fortifications and administrative architecture associated with the kingdoms of Israel. Biblical narratives are important historical texts but do not remove the need to test chronology through excavation.