Look at the Strong’s Hebrew Concordance for ‘Ai (word). Next, look at the Strong’s Hebrew Concordance for Tel (word). Now, remember the name of the 27-acre et-Tell and its identification as ‘Ai. While I still think Khirbet Maqatir is a more likely candidate for ‘Ai, given local tradition and the implication in the Biblical account ‘Ai was a small city, we must also also consider that Beitin was certainly Byzantine Bethel. I also suspect Judges 4:5 could be used as evidence placing Iron Age Bethel at Beitin.
