In The City Gate in Ancient Israel and Her Neighbors, Daniel A. Frese provides a wide-ranging description of the architecture, use, and symbolism of city gate complexes in the southern Levant during the Iron II period (ca. 980-586 BCE).

 Acknowledgments  List of Figures  List of Abbreviations  Introduction  1Sources, Goals, Methodology  2Goals of the Present Study  3Synchronic Analysis  4The Hebrew Bible  5Archaeological Data  6Assyrian Reliefs  7Gates and the Rural Population of Ancient Israel  8Corpus of Gates Section 1: Gate Architecture  1Gatehouse Architecture: the Ground Floor  1Building Materials  2“Gatehouse” in the Hebrew Bible  3Gatehouse Passage and Chambers  4Gatehouse Doors  5Posts and Pivots  6Metal Bands  7Thresholds  8Locking the Gate  2Gatehouse Architecture, Part 2: the Upper Floor  1Ceilings  2Doorways  3Windows  4The Second Floor  5The Gatehouse Roof  6Towers  3The Architectural Purpose of the Gatehouse  1Three Sets of Doors?  2Emergency Blockage?  3Guardrooms?  4Horse Hitching Stalls?  5The Architectural Function of Piers and Chambers  6Metrological Data  7Contemporaneous Architecture in the Southern Levant  8Stacked Broad Rooms  9Middle Bronze Gatehouse Architecture  4The Use of the Gatehouse  5Gate Complexes and City Planning  1Plazas  2Number and Location of Gates  3Water Drainage  4Considerations Affecting Gate Size and Building Materials  5Public Works in the Gate Complex Section 2: Gate Functions  6The Gate as a Public Space  1Public Notice  2Public Assembly and Public Address  3Display of Corpses or Body Parts  4Public Humiliation  5Propaganda  6Privacy in the Gate  7The City Council in the Gate  1Elders, Kings, and Honor in the Gate  2Legal Transactions in the Gate  3Judicial Proceedings in the Gate  4Punishment in the Gate  5Governmental Functions in the Gate  8Other Gate Functions  1Cultic Functions in the Gate  2Commercial Use of the Gate  3Agricultural Functions in the Gate  4Military Functions of the Gate  5Indirect Entry Gates  6Social Functions of the Gate Section 3: Figurative Gates And Gate Symbolism  9Figurative Gates  1“Gates” in the D Source  2The Entrance to the Tabernacle Courtyard  3The Desert Encampment “Gate”  4Other Figurative Uses of שער  5Possible Figurative Uses of שער  6“Entering” and “Exiting” at the City Gate  10Gate Symbolism  1Monarchs and Building Projects  2New States, New Buildings  3City on a Hill  4Designed to Impress  5Conspicuous Consumption  6The Gate as a Symbol of Community Well-Being  7Gates and Prophetic Discourse  11Gates as Boundaries  1Gates and Liminality  2Gates as Literal and Symbolic Boundaries  3Magic and Ritual at the Gate  4Dangerous Gateways?  5Evaluation of Liminality  Summary and Conclusion  Appendix A: Chart of Gatehouse Dimensions  Appendix B: Chart of Average Gatehouse Dimensions  Appendix C: Plans of Gates in Corpus  Bibliography  Index