On the northwest edge of Mount Gilboa, Jezreel overlooks the Valley that took its name. Built as a fortress in Omri’s day in the 800’s BC, King Ahab had a palace in Jezreel and some believe it was a cavalry base for King Ahab’s military. A view from the city and its postion helped command the highway through the Jezreel Valley from Megiddo and Beth Shean. It was a small village in the early Bronze Age (2700 BC). In 1987 a bulldozer accidentally uncovered ancient structures and David Ussishkin and John Woodhead led the excavation from 1990-1996. They uncov ered four towers and a casemate wall around the fortress built with ashlars and boulders. The fortress covered 11 acres and was surrounded by a 20 ft. deep moat on 3 sides.