Khirbet Qeiyafa is located at the western edge of the high Shephelah, in theElah Valley, between Socoh and Azekah (see Fig. 3). In ancient geopoliticalterms, it is situated on the border between Judah and Philistia, dominatingthe main road leading from the Coastal Plain to the hill country and thecities of Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem.

duringIron Age IIA, the 10th–9th centuries BCE, Gath in the Elah Valley becamethe dominant Philistine center and the biblical tradition recounting theborder disputes between the Philistines and the Israelites accordingly shiftsfrom the Sorek Valley to the Elah Valley.

Traditions connected to the Elah Valley are preserved in the books ofSamuel and Chronicles, which relate to Iron Age IIA.