Posted on 05/11/2012 8:54:41 AM PDT by robowombat
Artifacts from King David's Time Confirm Bible
By Julie Stahl CBN News Mideast Correspondent Friday, May 11, 2012
JERUSALEM, Israel -- Was the Bible's King David man or myth? That's the question Israeli archeologists are answering with new archeological finds. Their discoveries also shed light on how the first Jewish temple was built.
Khirbet Qeiyafa is in the Elah Valley. Not far from here the Bible says David killed the giant, Goliath.
"We don't know much about the history, the politics really and about urbanization in the time of David," archaeologist Prof. Yosef Garfinkel of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem told CBN News. "From the Bible we don't know it. And here in Khirbet Qeiyafa for the first time, we have a fortified city from the time of King David."
About 20 miles outside Jerusalem, Khirbet Qeiyafa was a border city in the Kingdom of Judah -- not too far from Goliath's hometown of Gath. Carbon dating shows it existed from 1020 to 980 BC, around the time of King David.
Garfinkel, who worked together with the Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist and co-director at the site Saar Ganor, said they excavated dozens of rooms. He believes three of them were used for religious purposes.
"The infrastructure is different, you have (an) isolated room in (the) building while in Canaanite and pagan (structures), you have real temples," Garfinkel said.
But that's not all. Garfinkel presented religious artifacts at a press conference in Jerusalem.
"We have two boxes -- one made from pottery and the other made from stone and they were used for keeping symbols of God," he told journalists.
The portable shrines were shaped like temples and confirm the biblical description found in the Old Testament book of First Kings. That describes the architectural style in Solomon's Temple and shows that style existed even before Solomon.
The site contained no statues or pig bones. That means the people who lived here followed the biblical commandment not to eat pork or keep graven images -- unlike their Canaanite or Philistine neighbors.
Earlier archaeologists also found the oldest Hebrew inscription at the site.
"OK, so the ethnicity of the city is like Judah," he said.
So why are these discoveries important? Garfinkel says it disproves the argument of some scholars who say the Bible was written 800 years after King David, with no connection to real history.
"This is, I think, the strength of our argument -- that we have historical memories imbedded in the Hebrew Bible, and people cannot say David and Solomon are mythological figures. They were actually human beings," he said.
Garfinkel says the Bible and archaeology have to work together.
“Was the Bible’s King David man or myth?”
I had no idea this was ever a question.
He was a real person in history.
Bible archology proves once and for all that the Bible is not only IS hisoric but also TRUE.
A 2700-year-old Hebrew seal from the First Temple period bearing the name ‘Matanyahu’ was recently uncovered near the Temple Mount.
The name is similar to Israel’s current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and actually shares the same meaning—“Giving to God.” Archaeologist Eli Shukron said both names were “typical of the names in the Kingdom of Judah in the latter part of the First Temple period—from the end of the eighth century BCE until the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE.” Indeed, the names are also mentioned several times in the Jewish Scriptures.
“Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah [Matanyahu], a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.” (2 Chronicles 20: 14)
“With them were certain Levites—Shemaiah, Nethaniah [Netanyahu], Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah—and the priests Elishama and Jehoram.” (2 Chronicles 17:8)
This seal, which was just uncovered in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden near the Temple Mount, is believed to be from the First Temples period and therefore, about 2700 years old.
The seal, which measures two centimeters in diameter and is made of semi- precious stone, is engraved with the name of its owner: “Lematanyah Ben Ho...”, which means “[belonging] to Matanyahu son of Ho...”.
Only the first syllable of the name of Matanyahu’s father has survived. Such personal seals would have been set in a ring and used to sign documents, in a way that is similar to their use today.
“To find a seal from the First Temple period at the foot of the Temple Mount walls is rare and very exciting,” Shukron said. “This is a tangible greeting of sorts from a man named Matanyahu who lived here more than 2,700 years ago.”
With its Herodian, Byzantine, and early Arab structures, the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden next to the Temple Mount has been a veritable gold mine for archaeologists. This site has been the source of dramatic and even monumental finds that include the most recent First Temple-era seal.
The artifact was found in the rubble on the floor of the remains of a building dating to First Temple period. The building is an amazing find in itself because it’s the closest structure to the First Temple found to date in archaeological excavations. It’s located below the base of a Roman-era drainage ditch, which is beneath Robinson’s Arch in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden, adjacent to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. This ancient channel is currently being exposed in Israel Antiquities Authority archaeological excavations.
In passing one wonder what was Matanyahu’s fate. Was he one of many who perished in the destruction of the First Temple and the fall of Jerusalem to the neo-Babylonians?
I think there is not archeology finding supporting a King David. But this finding seems to support that there was at least a first step to prove there was a king david.
Have you contacted the Freemasons? Part of their history predates King David and they educate that masons built the temple. I would think they have a good history.
Bookmark
Since King David is also a major Prophet in Islamic traditions who is actually questioning it.
Excellent post. Thank you, robowombat.
Ping!
What were the muzzies doing back then? Oh that’s right, they didn’t exist. Yet today the muzzies take up 99.98% of all the land in the middle east. Oh those greedy Jews!
There is no evidence that Freemasons existed before the 16th century. Contrary to Mason doctrine.
See: 3,000-year-old artifacts fuel Biblical archaeology debate from May 8.
ML/NJ
It is amazing, no doubt about it, a jewel in a desolate desert. But to be fair Israel has gotten a LOT of money from the US to make that happen. Not every nation gets tons and tons of cash from someone else to build infrastructure and defense and the like.
Thanks for the PING!
“...Part of their history predates King David and they educate that masons built the temple...”
Liars.
The Masons go back to medieval times.....Biblical history goes back 3300 years, give or take a few hundred years.
Well Said !
The Bible has a historically-credible pedigree that is second to none. The remainder of the authentication is by faith.
That said, the credibility and authenticity of the Bible has a special heyday in our present generation: not just the EXISTENCE of Israel as a modern-day nation state, but its existence in spite of all the laws of probability against it. That is staring the world right in the face, and the world resents it. It is an incontrovertible fact. Dozens of prophecies, very specific ones, are fulfilled in Israel’s present, sustained existence. Only God can do that. It cannot just happen by itself.
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