treaties enforced by rituals performed here. Both the number and size of the standing stones confer a unique character to this cultic site. Such massebot are found elsewhere in the country, but those from Gezer massebot are the most impressive examples. The area was almost completely cleared by Macalister. The remains were re-excavated in 1968. A double cave beneath the high place was shown to be predating it and not connected to it. Late Bronze Age In the Late Bronze Age (second half of the 2nd millennium BCE) a new city wall, four meters thick, was erected outside the earlier one. It is a very rare example of Late Bronze Age fortifications in the country, witness for the elevated political status of Gezer in southern Canaan during Egyptian rule. Thutmosid Period The Canaanite city was destroyed in a fire, presumably in the wake of a campaign by the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III (ruled 1479–1425 BC). The oldest known historical reference to the city is to be found on an inscription of conquered sites at Thutmose's temple at Karnak. A destruction layer from this event was found in all excavated areas of the tell. Amarna Period The Tell Amarna letters, dating from the 14th century BCE, include ten letters from the kings of Gezer swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh. The city-state of Gezer (named Gazru in Babylonian) was ruled by four leaders during the 20-year period covered by the Amarna letters. Discoveries of several pottery vessels, a cache of cylinder seals and a large scarab with the cartouche of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III attest to the existence of a city at Gezer's location in the 14th century BCE - one that was apparently destroyed in the next century - and suggest that the city was inhabited by Canaanites with strong ties to Egypt. In the 14th century BCE, a palace was constructed on the high western part of the tell, the city's acropolis. Archaeologists also discovered remains of what might have been the Egyptian governor's residence from the same period in the northern part of the tell. Ramesside Period In the late reign of Ramesses II, climate became drier and colder causing turmoil in the Mediterranean from around 1250 BC, eventually leading to the Late Bronze collapse. The death of Ramesses II caused cities in Canaan to rebel to become independent. Merneptah of Egypt, who succeeded Ramesses II, had to