A Dig Into Jerusalem's Past Fuels Present-Day Debates [Palace of King David Found]

Washington Post ^ | December 2, 2005 | Scott Wilson

[West Coast Conservative]

Down the slope from the Old City's Dung Gate, rows of thick stone walls, shards of pottery and other remains of an expansive ancient building are being exhumed from a dusty pit.

The site is on a narrow terrace at the edge of the Kidron Valley, which sheers away from the Old City walls, in a cliffside area the Bible describes as the seat of the kings of ancient Israel.

What is taking shape in the rocky earth, marked by centuries of conquest and development, is as contested as the neighborhood of Arabs and Jews encircling the excavation. But the Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar believes the evidence she has uncovered during months of excavation and biblical comparison points to an extraordinary discovery.

She believes she has found the palace of King David, the poet-warrior who the Bible says consolidated the ancient Jewish kingdom around the 10th century B.C. and expanded its borders to encompass the Land of Israel. Others are doubtful.

"There is sometimes a reality, a very precise reality, though maybe not all true, described in the Bible," Mazar said. "This is giving the Bible's version a chance."

Mazar's find is emerging at the nexus of history, religion and politics, volatile forces that have guided building, biblical scholarship and war in this city for millennia. Even before the findings have been assembled in a scientific paper, the discovery is prompting new thinking about when Jerusalem rose to prominence, the nature of the early Jewish kingdom, and whether the Bible can be used as a reliable map to archaeological discovery.

Only a small fraction of the structure has been exposed. But it is yielding rare clues to the early development of Jerusalem, long debated within Israel's university archaeology departments.

[GOPPachyderm]

Assuming this isn't a rhetorical question, the answer is that there are no archaelogical discoveries that disprove the Bible. Previously, however, assured results of higher criticism used to tell us the Bible wasn't true because there was no proof of the existence of the Hittites. Subsequently archaeological evidence proved these experts wrong and the Bible right. Assured results of higher criticism also said that people didn't travel as far as Abraham claimed in his travel from the city of Ur. Archaeologists later found proof that not only did people travel that far, wagons were rented that presumably would not only travel that far - but be returned! Bible critics were again proved wrong.

[SunkenCiv]

Finkelstein should be reassigned to excavate on or under the Temple Mount. It would be a good job for him. L'arn him a think or two.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

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[xzins]

King David story posted earlier.....and maybe there's another one out there under even a different title

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 12/02/2005. Thanks West Coast Conservative.

One of *those* topics.

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