"Fortified Cities Up Above The Palm Tree" - At the Gates of the Citadel

In Biblical History:

Israelites were acquainted with fortified cities. The report of cities "great and fortified up to heaven," inhabited by the sons of Anak, by Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites and Canaanites, struck terror into the hearts of the Israelites in the wilderness, and called forth murmurings from them on their way to Canaan (Numbers 13:28 ff; Deuteronomy 1:28). Not that these cities were at all of the extent or population of modern cities, or of Nineveh, Babylon and Memphis of old. But to a people who were as yet little better than a horde of fugitives accustomed to the simple camp life of the wilderness and unacquainted with appliances for siege and assault, the prospect of scaling the walls and conquering the inhabitants was appalling. The cities of the Canaanites were already old when Joshua led the Israelites to the conquest of the land. Not a little of their history has become known to us, and the character of their defensive works has been disclosed by Palestinian excavation in recent years.

Before the Monarchy:

On the passage of the Jordan the Israelites found in Jericho a walled city of great strength barring their progress. The excavations recently made have disclosed the common features of Canaanite fortresses--an outer wall, surrounding the entire area, 6 1/2 ft. thick, a citadel and protecting walls of hardly less substantial workmanship. Nearby also is the essential spring to furnish the water supply. Within the citadel were found the walls and rooms of Canaanite houses, and in many cases remains of infants buried in jars under the clay floors (Driver, Modern Research as Illustrating the Bible, 91 ff). These examples of "foundation sacrifices" with which the excavations at Gezer have made us familiar give point to the account of the resettlement of the city in the days of Ahab, when Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho, laying the foundation thereof with the loss of Abiram, his firstborn, and setting up the gates thereof with the loss of his youngest son Segub (1 Kings 16:34).

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[jowilliamson493]

@rephaim23 The Citadel of Jerusalem, one of the most significant landmarks, the formidable fortress, centre of power and governance of Jerusalem until the 20th century...but one can understand the motives behind the re-naming of the Citadel as “Tower of David.” Nearly millennium known by its Arabic name, al-Qal’a whether contemporary literary sources or by the local Palestinian of Jerusalem, gives visitors an incorrect impression of its real history, creates unjustified misconceptions..

[rephaim23]

The Anakim might be mentioned in the Egyptian Execration texts of 1800 BC. This text lists a people in central Canaan called ly-Anaq (People of Anaq). Their rulers were: Erum, Abiyam, and Akirum.

These people of Anaq have remarkable similarities to the sons of Anak mentioned in the Bible. And in the original Hebrew, Anak is spelled with a Q, as in Anaq, or Onaq.