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Note: gratuitous use of straw man “some skeptical scholars”. In what, the 17th Century?

There has been almost continual archeological excavations going on in the Middle East since the 19th Century, probably a bit earlier, the vast majority of which was done by either religious scholars investigating religious archaeology, or secular scholars investigating secular archeology. While there was considerable overlap, there was very little interest in “debunking” as compared to confirming what had been written, which was not an easy task.

The French campaign in Egypt and Syria under Napoleon Bonaparte (1798–1801) caused an explosion in Egyptology (including the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, the first great breakthrough in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics), that was to a great extent driven by religious scholar archeologists looking for traces of the Hebrews in Egypt as well as creating a Pharaonic timetable in hopes they could have some idea of when this all took place.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a single scholar in archeology who for a moment thought that the Davidic and Solomonic kingdoms were mythical. While nothing remains of the 1st Temple (Solomon) but its dimensions, there seems to be few doubts that the 2nd Temple was accurate to the 1st, excepting the additional features added by Herod the Great.

There is a school of Israeli scholars who think so. They are inbued with zionism: not the return of the Jews, but of a Jewish national state, with Torah as only a common national myth,like,as the article says, King Arthur. But more and more the evidence is making it clear that David’s career was as historical as Charlemagne’s and King Alfred’s. Both have legendary elements that make them seem mythical, but so does Washington’s story.

Speaking of, the more we dig into Washington story, the more he seems alive and a truly heroic figure. They have made several movies about the winter campaign in New Jersey, and none of them capture the true story. If they showed what really happened the movie critics would pan it. At Princeton, for instance, he rallies the troops and gets them into line to receive the British attack. he sat there as unmoving as a statue and bullets came whizzing around. The troops took one look at him and forgot themselves and turned back British regulars.

Anyway, our world has little respect for the truth.