KIRIATH-SEPHER

also called Debir, or Lo-debar, modern Tall Bayt Mirsham ancient town of Palestine, located near Hebron (in the Israeli-occupied West Bank). According to the Bible, the town was taken from the Canaanites either by Caleb's son-in-law Othniel or by Joshua himself. Tall Bayt Mirsham (Tell Beit Mirsim) was excavated (192632) by W.F. Albright, who uncovered exceptionally clear stratification from which he was able to give the first comprehensive description of Palestinian pottery sequences between about 2300 and 588 BC. Excavations showed that the Canaanite town of the 14th13th century had been destroyed by the Israelites toward the end of the 13th century and that the town was finally devastated by the Babylonians about 588.