Jeroboam, son of Nebat, divided the Kingdom after King Solomon's death. The northern Israelite tribes revolted due to the high taxes levied by Rehoboam son of Solomon, and in 930BC they established a second Kingdom in parallel to the Kingdom of Judah, ruled by Kings of the house of David.
Jeroboam established in Dan a substitute worship place for Jerusalem. The Bible described these acts of Jeroboam son of Nebat, erecting a golden calf and building an altar (1 Kings 12 28-31): "Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi".
The ritual precinct was rebuilt in the 9th C BC, by Jeroboam son of Joash. It served the residents of the city throughout the ages, and was in use until the end of the Roman period.
On the north side of the mound, above the spring and overlooking the valley with beautiful views of Mt Hermon, is the area (45m x 60m) of Tell Dan's ritual place. Here the excavation team unearthed and reconstructed the remains of a unique Israelite High Place. It was in use since the times of King Jeroboam son of Nebat (930 BC), rebuilt by Jeroboam son of Joash (8th C BC), and reused during the Hellenistic period (3rd C BC) until the end of the Roman period.
The following photo shows a view of the ritual place complex. It consists of a reconstruction of the altar on the left (the metal frame), the houses of the priests (structures behind the altar), and a large raised platform ("Bamah", 18.2M x 18.7m) to the right of the great oak tree, with a wide (8m) staircase leading up from the altar.
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