Biblical military campaigns reconstructed using geomagnetic field data

Science Daily ^

[FarCenter]

A joint study by Tel-Aviv University and the Hebrew University, involving 20 researchers from different countries and disciplines, has accurately dated 21 destruction layers at 17 archaeological sites in Israel by reconstructing the direction and/or intensity of the Earth's magnetic field recorded in burnt remnants. The new data verify the Biblical accounts of the Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian, and Babylonian military campaigns against the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Findings indicate, for example, that the army of Hazael, King of Aram-Damascus, was responsible for the destruction of several cities: Tel Rehov, Tel Zayit, and Horvat Tevet, in addition to Gath of the Philistines, whose destruction is noted in the Hebrew Bible. At the same time, the study refutes the prevailing theory that Hazael was the conqueror who destroyed Tel Beth-Shean.

...

One of the most interesting findings revealed by the new dating method has to do with the end of the Kingdom of Judah. Prof. Erez Ben Yosef: "The last days of the Kingdom of Judah are widely debated. Some researchers, relying on archaeological evidence, argue that Judah was not completely destroyed by the Babylonians. While Jerusalem and frontier cities in the Judean foothills ceased to exist, other towns in the Negev, the southern Judean Mountains and the southern Judean foothills remained almost unaffected. Now, the magnetic results support this hypothesis, indicating that the Babylonians were not solely responsible for Judah's ultimate demise. Several decades after they had destroyed Jerusalem and the First Temple, sites in the Negev, which had survived the Babylonian campaign, were destroyed -- probably by the Edomites who took advantage of the fall of Jerusalem. This betrayal and participation in the destruction of the surviving cities may explain why the Hebrew Bible expresses so much hatred for the Edomites -- for example, in the prophecy of Obadiah."

[FarCenter]

Reconstructing biblical military campaigns using geomagnetic field data

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2209117119

[hardspunned]

Thanks for posting. I’m my 12 year granddaughter’s world history teacher. This historical narrative aligns with the chapters we recently finished in our 1976 copyrighted text book. I will share this with her.

[Rockingham]

And somehow, the Jews survived those catastrophes and many others, while retaining their identity, religion, and culture and also providing the foundation for Christianity.

[fidelis]

Thanks for sharing. I love stuff like this. So do the guys in my men’s Bible study group.

[SunkenCiv]

• Geomagnetic fields reveal the truth behind Biblical narratives [10/24/2022]
• Biblical Battle Tales Confirmed Using Variations In Earth's Magnetic Field [11/03/2022]