I visited two of the three inscribed tels on my tour around Israel in November of 2019. The biggest and the most popular of them is Megiddo, in the Lower Galilee. It had been settled from Neolithic times through the Bronze and Iron Ages until about 3rd century BC. Excavations in the 20th century unearthed over twenty layers of cities successively built on this site. Beyond the gates to the site, the rest of it is low wall outlines and occasional stand-alone features. A casual visitor is unlikely to be able to find enough visuals to appreciate anything more than the vague yet obvious notion that this place is really really old. There are a dozen and a half designated points of interest on the walking circuit; having them explicitly named and dated by different eras, in my opinion, is somewhat disorienting - I recognize the attempt to cover more than a single stratum of history but it clashes with the notion that many different layers were built here, when one is emphasized.

Viewpoints above the Jezreel Valley are among the highlights. At the end of the walking circuit, you can descend into the underground water capture system built during the Israelite period around 8th century BC. The tunnel guided water from a spring outside of the city boundaries to a well inside the city walls, thus offering the residents access to fresh water without having to venture beyond the walls. It is probably the most remarkable surviving artifact of the city, even though it does not offer much to look at.

Another inscribed tel is Be’er Sheva at the edge of the Negev Desert. This site is significantly smaller than Megiddo but has a comparable history with the prime coming around 8th century BC. Be’er Sheva is mentioned over 30 times in different places in the Bible. As elsewhere, the outer gates are among the most impressive standing structures on the site, except here you can actually see with the naked eye where the original structure ends and the reconstruction begins. Although many of the walls have thus been visibly reconstructed since the excavations were started here in the 1970s, being able to discern the city plan makes Be’er Sheva a shade more interesting archaeological site to visit. The purpose-built observation tower allows for a good overview of the city anatomy. There is also a water capture system at Be'er Sheva, feeding an underground reservoir from the nearby river. Not much to actually see, but an opportunity to appreciate the industry of a civilization that existed nearly 3,000 years ago.

Both Tel Megiddo and Tel Be’er Sheva are a bit over an hour away from Tel Aviv by car in opposite directions. A true aficionado of archaeology can probably spend 3-4 hours at Megiddo, whereas most other people will cap the visit at about an hour-plus. At Be’er Sheva, an hour would be a stretch for a casual visitor. The third inscribed tel, Hazor, is located in the north of the country close to Tzfat and did not make the cut for my itinerary. If you have the "orange card" Israel Pass - which allows one entry to nearly all national parks in Israel over a period of two weeks - there is no additional charge for entry at each of these. Plenty of tourist traffic exists throughout a day at Megiddo, whereas at Be'er Sheva I had the site nearly to myself in the early morning.