God, Science and the Bible: An ancient fortress slowly yields its secrets

article by Scott Ashley

Khirbet Qeiyafa, also known as the Elah Fortress, is the site of an ancient city about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem.

Evacations at Khirbet Qeiyafa have revealed extensive fortification, including this defensive gateway on the western side.
Source: Wikimedia

It sits on a ridge overlooking the Elah Valley along what was, in the time of the biblical kings Saul and David, the border between the Philistines and the kingdom of Judah. Archaeologists have been exploring it since 2007-and they're increasingly glad they have.

One unusual aspect of the site is that it shows only two short periods of occupation-one thin layer dating to the Hellenistic period (332-141 B.C.) and an extensive but short-lived Iron Age settlement dated to 1050-970 B.C.-the the time of King Saul and King David.

Such limited occupation with major construction is quite rare in an area where many cities were built, destroyed, and rebuilt again and again over thousands of years. As such, it is something of a "snapshot" of conditions at the time of Saul and David. What does this "snapshot" show, and why is it important?

The view many Bible critics long held was that Kings Saul, David and Solomon were mythical figures invented by Israelites to enhance their history. When the 1993 discovery of the Tel Dan stele with its inscription referring to the "house [dynasty] of David" proved David's existence, the argument then shifted to dismissing the biblical record of him as a king over Judah and Israel, with critics arguing that he was nothing more than a local tribal leader of no real significance, and that the kingdoms of Judah and Israel didn't exist as states until centuries later.

And this is where the findings at Khirbet Qeiyafa prove significant.

As noted earlier, Khirbet Qeiyafa is on the hotly contested border area between the Israelite kingdom and Philistia, the major rivals of Saul and David's day. The city was clearly constructed as a fortress-defended as it was by a massive wall 12 feet wide.

Read the full article at www.ucg.org/science/god-science-and-bible-ancient-fortress-slowly-yields-its-secrets/

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