GILGAL, Gilgala (Heb. Hag-Gilgâl "The Circle"). - The first camp of the Israelites after the crossing of the Jordan (Josh. 4:19) and the base of operations for their various expeditions for the conquest of the land of Canaan (Josh. 7:10). Because of its memories - the dwelling of the Ark, the erection of the monument of the 12 stones carried off from the Jordan, circumcision and the celebration of the Passover (Josh. 5:2-12) - it acquired special importance in the history of Israel. Samuel, every year, at the great assemblies, visited its sanctuary (I Sam. 6:16); Saul was proclaimed king there and there later lost the kingdom and his descendants (I Sam. 10:8; 11:15; 13:5; 15:12). David was received there festively by the tribe of Judah on his return from his flight into Transjordan (II Sam. 19:16). After G. later became a center of idolatry, like the sanctuary of Bethel, it was condemned in the invectives of the prophets (Hos. 4:15; 9:15; Am. 4:4) and after the Babylonian exile its memory was lost.
The Hirbet el-Eqaleh ("ruins near the terebinth") 5 km from the Jordan and 4 km east of Tell es-Suljân (ancient Jericho) offers the best guarantees of representing the Israelite G., although the name of Birbet Gilğâlijjeh or of Tell Gilğâl, unknown to the local Bedouins, is repeated on European indications.
On the authority of ancient texts (Fl. Josephus, Antiq. Jud., V, 1, 4; Eusebius, Onom., 64, 22) and of medieval pilgrims, G. was sought in the vicinity of Jericho and more precisely at Hirbet el-Muğfir, 2 km northeast of Ajn es-Suljân, where the Madaba map seems to mark the church of the Dodecaliton. The excavations begun in 1935 brought to light a sumptuous Arab palace from the time of the Umayyads (8th century) built, in part, with Christian architectural elements carried off, perhaps, from the church of the Dodecaliton, from Hirbet el-Eqaleh, where there are remains of Byzantine constructions.
Other localities with the name of G. are: G. visited by the prophets Elisha and Elijah (II Kings 4:28), today Gilğâlijjeh, 12 km north of Bethel; G. in the plain of Sharon (Josh. 12:23), Gilğâlijjeh 5 km north of Rûa el-'Ajn; G. (Deut. 11:30), Guleğâl, 4 km southeast of Shechem.
Bibliography3 works
Donato Baldi