Free Republic

While some depict the Bible’s Passover meal and Jews’ Exodus from Egypt as a fable, archeological and other evidence squares with the Bible’s account.Tonight begins Passover, or Pasach, celebrated worldwide by Jews. As recounted in Exodus 13:3-10, this ritual meal marks their ancestors’ escape from Egyptian captivity.About three weeks earlier, Christians celebrated Easter to commemorate Jesus’ Resurrection. Judaism and Christianity share not merely monotheism, but also recount their miraculous foundations as history.Together they form the moral foundation for Western culture, a foundation that is collapsing, in part due to post-Enlightenment critiques of the historicity of these religions. But, as a...

In the systematic excavation project of the temple area in the lower city of Gath, a team from Bar-Ilan University has overseen the reconstruction of the plants used in Philistine rituals.The mysterious culture of the Philistines that flourished during the Iron Age (1200-604 BCE) profoundly affected the southern Levant's cultural history, agronomy, and dietary customs. More than a quarter century of excavations at Tell es-Safi/Gath in central Israel, identified as the biblical Gath of the Philistines and the home of Goliath, has provided a unique window into the world of this ancient civilization.In the systematic excavation project of the temple...

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.( Judges 13:1)The Book of Judges is a divine record of the early years of the History of Israel, as they took possession (or failed to take possession) of the Promised Land. It is a tedious and repetitious record consisting of a recurring cycle, in which Israel initially relied on God in Faith, and set out in Battle against her enemies to take the Land, and then would prevail for a season, possess the...

The Bible In Paintings 2 ENCOURAGEMENT FOR APPRECIATING AND APPLYING GOD'S MESSAGE J U D G E S CHAPTER 16 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are...

The Bible In Paintings 2 ENCOURAGEMENT FOR APPRECIATING AND APPLYING GOD'S MESSAGE J U D G E SCHAPTER 15 Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves. 1 2 3 4 When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, because his wife was given to his friend.” So...

VALLEY OF ELAH—After local homegrown terrorist David slew Goliath with a fully automatic, high-capacity sling, Philistine activists began calling for common-sense bans on the dangerous weapons of mass destruction. "Nobody needs a sling that holds five rocks just to go hunting or protect their sheep," said one Philistine woman with pink hair and several face piercings. "This tragedy could have been avoided if only David were forced to use one of the old bolt-action model slings." Investigators believe the shepherd boy, radicalized by religious texts, built up an arsenal of approximately five hollow-point, armor-piercing rocks, "a deadly stockpile." "Can you...

A senior Hamas terrorist told a Lebanese news outlet, which the allied jihadist group Hezbollah operates, on Thursday that his group would offer “no compromise” on the destruction of Israel, describing the Jewish state as having “no future in the region.” Osama Hamdan, the top Hamas representative in Lebanon, threatened all who support the existence of Israel, telling Hezbollah’s al-Manar news, “Whoever counts on it or attaches their future to it will lose.” Hamdan’s comments echo the ideological provisions of the Hamas terrorist charter and statements made since 2023 by officials in Iran, the world’s premier state sponsor of terrorism...

The Near East is often described as the cradle of civilisation. The Bronze Age Canaanites, later known as the Phoenicians, introduced many aspects of society that we know today.. However, historical records of the Canaanites are limited. They were mentioned in ancient Greek and Egyptian texts, and the Bible which reports widespread destruction of Canaanite settlements and annihilation of the communities.... In the first study of its kind, an international team of scientists have uncovered the genetics of the Canaanite people and a firm link with people living in Lebanon today. The team discovered that more than 90 per cent...

anti-Zionism, antisemitism, BDS, Conflict history, Media Bias, The I/P conflictThe colourful Twitter history of PalestineSocial media sites such as Twitter portray a wonderful history of a state called Palestine – but first let us quickly remember the truth.The historical facts:For the Islamic world, the area of 19th century Southern Syria was a sparsely populated forgotten backwater with rival clans and nomadic tribes presenting a hazardous obstacle for every trip. The weakening of the occupying power (the Ottoman Empire) and growing global trade – resurrected European interest. It was Christian travellers recognising this area as their ‘Holy Land’ that put an...

Homebrewers will soon be able to time travel with their taste buds and brew beer similar to what the Philistines in Goliath’s hometown of Gath drank. An interdisciplinary team of researchers, archaeologists and brewmasters in Israel first isolated 5,000-year-old yeast in 2019, as published in the peer-reviewed mBio journal in 2019. But now, the fruits of that discovery are about to become available for hobby brewers and sourdough aficionados everywhere, when the first batch of commercially available ancient yeast ships in December. Pre-orders are open now. “We want to create an opportunity for every person to connect with this story,...

A joint study by TAU 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,...

"At first, I hoped to sell it to someone to make some money," Nidal Abu Eid, the farmer, told The New Arab, "but an archaeologist told me that it was of great archaeological value.""At first, I hoped to sell it to someone to make some money," Nidal Abu Eid, the farmer, told The New Arab, "but an archaeologist told me that it was of great archaeological value." Staff at the ministry concluded that the head belonged to a statue of Anat, the goddess of love, beauty and war in Canaanite mythology, Rida said. The statue will go on display at...

We know that King Solomon fed his guests beef, lamb, venison, and poultry, in addition to bread, cakes, dates, and other delicacies. But … bananas?The amount of water needed to grow bananas makes them an unlikely fruit in ancient Israel, but a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported some unexpected remains were scraped off the teeth of Canaanites and Philistines who died in the late second millennia B.C., the period of Solomon’s reign. Teeth don’t lie: They ate bananas.The dietary evidence indicates “a dynamic and complex exchange network connecting the Mediterranean with South...

Tel Beth Shemesh was one of the first biblical sites to be excavated in the Land of Israel. The site is perched on a low hill overlooking the wide Soreq Valley, a main water source crossing lush agricultural land, on the border between the higher Shephelah (foothills) to the west and the Judean Highland to the east. Biblical Beth-Shemesh appears in the Books of Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles—notably as the place where the Philistines returned the briefly captured Ark of the Covenant to the Israelites (1 Samuel 6).In 1856, Edward Robinson...

When the Aramean king laid siege to biblical Gath 2,800 years ago, the defenders resorted to desperate measures ...the Gittites manufactured the arrowhead from bone when the city was besieged by Hazael’s forces, around 830 B.C.E., because they were short of raw materials to make metal weapons. ...Testament to Hazael’s military power are impressive siege works, including a massive trench and several towers, archaeologists have found surrounding Gath and dated to the time of the Aramean onslaught. Under Hazael, the northern Levantine kingdom of Aram, with its capital in Damascus, briefly expanded into a mini-empire that controlled a good chunk...

A bone arrowhead found in the ancient Philistine city of Gath may have been fired off by the city's defenders as part of a last stand described in the Bible. According to the Hebrew Bible, a king named Hazael), who ruled the kingdom of Aram from around 842 B.C. to 800 B.C., conquered Gath (also known as Tell es-Safi) before marching on Jerusalem.

A 12-storey Gaza tower block housing the offices of the U.S.-based Associated Press and Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera collapsed on Saturday after being struck by Israeli missiles, a Reuters witness said. The owner of the building had been warned in advance of an impending Israeli missile strike, and the building had been evacuated. The Israeli military did not immediately provide comment on the incident. The building also contained a number of apartments and other offices.

In an article from 2008, the New York Times reported an unusually interesting archeological discovery: The burial of 10 donkeys at a 3,000-year-old funerary complex south of Cairo."When you consider the fact that donkeys were revered in the ancient world, it isn’t really that surprising," notes Dr. Aren Maeir, director of excavations at Tel Tzafit, which many hold to be the Philistine city of Gath from the Bible.In fact, Maeir adds, the remains of donkeys brought to the land of Israel from Egypt were also found at the Tel Tzafit excavations. The beasts of burden can be as lovable as...

The researchers found a Philistine cemetery in Israel – home to 145 human remains dating back to between the 11th and the 8th centuries BC. The discovery, made in 2013 and finally revealed in 2016, may yield answers to an enduring mystery surrounding the origins of the Philistines. It came at the end of a 30-year excavation by the Leon Levy Expedition. The Philistines were an ancient people who lived from the 12th century BC until 604 BC. They are known for their biblical conflict with the Israelites.

Over 3,500 years ago, a potter finished shaping a new jug in Gath, a settlement in the Judean foothills overlooking the southern coastal plain of Israel. Before firing the vessel in the kiln, maybe the artisan looked at it, even touched it one last time, perhaps feeling proud of the work, without imagining that a couple of millennia later, a group of researchers would not only find the artifact, but also identify the fingerprints on its surface, reconstructing the age and gender of the jug's ancient manufacturer. As explained to The Jerusalem Post by Bar Ilan University archaeologist Aren Maeir,...