Tell Ali Muntar
mountain in Gaza
Tell Ali Muntar, also known as Tell al-Muntar, is a tell (a mound created by accumulation of remains) at an elevation of 270 feet (82 m) above sea level, the highest elevation is the area, some 2 kilometres (1 mi) south-east of Gaza City in Palestine. The ancient site is thought to have been occupied in the Middle Bronze Age, about the 2nd millennium BCE, covering an estimated area of 100 square metres (1,100 sq ft).
Tradition holds it as the place where Samson brought down the city gates of the Philistines. The hill is crowned by a Muslim shrine (maqam) dedicated to Ali al-Muntar. There are old Muslim graves around the surrounding trees, and the lintel of the doorway of the maqam has two medieval Arabic scriptures.
Tell Ali Muntar was surveyed in 1998 as part of the Gaza Research Project, but it has not been excavated. The archaeologists discovered mud bricks from buildings and pottery that ranged from the Middle Bronze Age to the Ottoman period. It is likely that Tell Ali Muntar was occupied at the same time as the Bronze Age settlement of Tell Gaza; archaeologists Joanna Clarke and Louise Steel suggest that settlement may have shifted from Tell Muntar to Tell Gaza. UNESCO has verified that more than 150 heritage sites have been damaged or detroyed as a result of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip starting in 2023, including Tell Ali Muntar.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Tell Ali Muntar” as mountain in Gaza. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as mountain in Gaza. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q131381487. Authority coordinates are 31.490, 34.474. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1998 and 2023.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Tell Ali Muntar”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Tell Ali Muntar primary sources, Tell Ali Muntar archive and Tell research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Tell Ali Muntar”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Tell Ali Muntar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.