I Sam 25 – 27
James 4
Archeologists Unearth Remains From Time of David and Solomon
from the February 04, 2014 eNews issue
A chunk of a 3000-year-old clay jar found in Jerusalem may offer evidence that the kingdom of Solomon truly did exist there after all. Secular archeologists generally question the historical existence or importance of David and Solomon’s reigns because physical remnants from their kingdoms have seemed slim. These Jewish kings have often been relegated to the category of King Arthur, and their histories in the Bible regarded as just stories. A variety of important artifacts have been discovered, however, that give credence to the Bible’s descriptions of the kingdoms of David and Solomon and the nature of the monarchy they created out of the disjointed tribes of the time of the Judges.
The Ophel Inscription
An ancient piece of a jug found in the Ophel area of Jerusalem is exciting archeologists because of the writing on its side. The 3,000-year-old letters of the Ophel inscription have been described as an ancient form of southern Hebrew, and the very existence of the letters is as important as what they say. And what do they say? One clear word is yayin, the lowest form of wine, and the whole inscription should read “in the year [.] M, wine, part, m [.],” according to Gershon Galil, a professor of ancient history and biblical studies at the University of Haifa. Galil believes the label describes the contents of the jar and the year of the king who had it made.
Common little villages do not label their wine jars, nor do they differentiate between fine wine and common wine. The jug indicates that it held wine that the common people might drink, workers set on building projects by somebody much higher in power. Labelling a jar “cheap wine” with a date attached is the act of a rich authority who has the luxury of dividing wine into categories, who can set aside wine for the laborers as opposed to more carefully processed wine reserved for people of higher echelons, kings and nobles and their guests. The jar dates to the time when Solomon would have reigned in Jerusalem.
Galil believes the inscription corroborates the Bible’s descriptions of Solomon. He’s not just impressed with the age of the writing or what it says; he’s impressed that the writing existed at all. “The most important thing this tells us is that somebody during this time knew how to write something,” he said. Galil believes the ability to write demonstrates a fully functioning administration as early as the last part of the 10th Century BC.
“The Bible claims that Solomon built the temple and that he was the man that enlarged the city,” explained Galil. “Even if my reading is not the right one, the fact that somebody knew how to write [in Hebrew] during this time, shows that somebody could have easily written a book a little while later like… Samuel and Judges.”
Fragments of David
Archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel has collected a variety of items he believes prove the validity of the biblical accounts of David and Solomon. “These guys said, ‘We didn’t have any archaeological memories, so David and Solomon are mythological figures,’” Garfinkel said. Yet the “archeological memories” are all over the place.
A stone tablet from the Moabite king Mesha that referred to the “House of David” was discovered in 1868. The tablet dates to 840 BC, within 200 years of David’s reign, and it indicates Moab had to contend with a Davidic dynasty in Israel. Another stone was found in the 20th century in northern Israel with “House of David” on it, written by Hazel, the king in Damascus. “He said, I killed 70 kings. I killed a king from Israel and a king from the House of David,” Garfinkel explained.
Above the Valley of Elah, where David famously slew Goliath, a fortress sits frozen in time. The Hebrew name is “Khirbet Qeiyafa” or “Fortress of Elah”, but it is still known locally as “Khirbet Daoud” or “David’s Ruin.”
“It turns out that this beautiful city and all the finds is [sic] from about 1020 to 980 BC, and this is exactly the time of King David,” said Garfinkel, who uncovered the city in 2007. The fortress fits the description of Sha’Araym “the city of two gates” in the Bible. Garfinkel argues it’s clearly a Jewish city because it’s built in the Jewish style and contains only the bones of kosher animals, no pigs or dogs. There are no idols among the ruins.
“It has a big casement city wall and houses abutting the city wall,” said Garfinkel. “This is known from four other sites, so now we have five sites. All these five cities are in Judah. None of them is in Philistia. This is really typical Judean urban planning.”
An ostracon, a pottery shard, found in the city offers the oldest example of Hebrew writing ever found, and it contains commandments to help widows and orphans and slaves. Even the religious shrines in the city match the Bible’s description of the temple layout, including triple-framed doors.
Garfinkel told CBN News he hadn’t intended to go dig up evidence to support the Bible, but it worked out that way. “These are the animal bones, these are the radiocarbon dating, this is the inscription, these are the fortifications, and then you have the biblical tradition. And what do you know — they just happen to fit nicely with each other.”
Hebron Remains
More work is being done to dig up the truth about King David. In a politically tricky area of the West Bank under Israeli control, the nation’s Antiquities Authority began an excavation in Hebron, the first capital set up by David before he moved to Jerusalem. The 1.5 acres are owned by Jews, and the Hebron Jewish community wants to develop an archaeological park there in the part of the city called Tel Rumeida. Walls that date to the time of Abraham and even older have been excavated in the area in the past, and a dwelling from the time of the First Temple has been found.
The Palestinians are not pleased with the existence of the excavation. Hebron is a highly contested area in the West Bank, especially considering its vitally important position in Israeli history.
Hebron’s Jewish Community spokesman David Wilder wrote on his Facebook page in January, “Fifteen years ago archaeologist Emanuel Eisenberg, from the Israeli Antiquities Authority, headed excavations that led to fascinating discoveries in Tel Hebron. This week he returned, together with Prof. Shlomo Ben-David from Ariel University, and renewed excavations on the tel. Hopes are high for more fascinating finds, going back to the days of King David and before.”