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Tel Dan Shrine: A broad staircase at Tel Dan leads to a raised platform of limestone blocks—probably an example of a “high place” (bamah) condemned in the Bible. Excavator Avraham Biran dates this shrine to the reign of the first ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel, Jereboam I (928–907 B.C.E.), who is said to have constructed shrines at Bethel and Dan to compete with the Jerusalem Temple (1 Kings 12:30–31). This, along with other finds at the Dan shrine, suggests the cultic character of the site.