- Series:Archaeology, Transcript English
2 Samuel 5:7
“Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion that is, the City of David.“
The Bible portrays Jerusalem as an established city of some importance even at the time of Abraham. Yet many Biblical scholars describe Jerusalem as, at best, an unimportant settlement as late as the time of David in 1000 B.C. Now a Biblical scholar may have found the evidence to settle the issue in favor of the Biblical history.
The new finds were all previously documented, but they were considered only curiosities. The first piece of evidence was found underneath the site of a Byzantine church in Jerusalem. It is a slab of stone mounted as a monument. Both sides of it are covered with Egyptian hieroglyphics. Another team of archaeologists discovered two clearly Egyptian alabaster vessels in Jerusalem. Their style dates them to the years of 1575 to 1308 B.C. Also beneath the church was a marble-like slab of stone with channels cut in it. While nothing like it has ever been associated with a Byzantine church, such slabs are commonly found as offering tables in Egyptian temples. Well, an excavation in Jerusalem has actually uncovered the site of an Egyptian temple and, finally, Egyptian records dating to the 14th century B.C. contain six letters from the Egyptian provincial ruler of Jerusalem.
Added together, these evidences not only describe Jerusalem as a city, but one of some importance, just as the Bible describes. It was important enough for the Egyptians to build a temple to one of their gods in Jerusalem itself and for David to make it his capital. Author: Paul A. Bartz
I thank You, Lord, that even the history in the Bible is reliable. Amen.
Ref: Biblical Archaeology Review, 5-6/00, pp. 48-57, 67, “What’s an Egyptian Temple Doing in Jerusalem?” Photo: David Harris, courtesy of the École Biblique et Archéologique Française. From Biblical Archaeology Review. (Fair Use)
