A lost city dating to the rule of King David from the Old Testament has been uncovered in Jerusalem, according to the results of radiocarbon dating samples taken by Archaeologists from the floors and foundations of a dwelling buried deep under an artificial mound at Tel Eton, in the valley near the Hebron hills.
The city that once stood at the site has been identified by Professor Faust of Bar-Ilan University who led the excavation, as Eglon, which city, according to the Bible, fought against the Israelites as part of the five Amorite kings coalition and was later listed as part of the tribe of Judah.
King David is an ancestor of Jesus, according to biblical sources, which say he ruled around BC 1,000.
Archaeologists say that found ruins date to the 10th century BC.
This ties in with the time-frame for when the bible says King David existed, making the link between the two ‘plausible’, researchers claim, according to Breaking Israel News.
The discovery is a milestone in the ongoing debate over the veracity of Biblical King David as a historical figure with most archaeologists now looking to the Bible as having a factual basis.
Speaking to Breaking Israel News, Professor Faust clarified that although no artifacts bearing the actual name of King David have been discovered, the researchers did find “signs of a social transformation in the region which are consistent with a change from Canaanite culture to a Judean culture.”
“Hundreds of artifacts were unearthed within the debris, including a wide range of pottery vessels, loom weights, many metal objects, botanical remains, as well as many arrowheads, evidence of the battle which accompanied the conquest of the site by the Assyrians,” he told BIN, according to the Christian Post.
“The association with the highland kingdom, as well as the time of the change, are the main discovery, and if someone thinks that there was no King David, that person should come with a different name for the highland king in whose time the region was incorporated into the highland kingdom,” Faust continued.
Dr. Eilat Mazar, a prominent Israeli archaeologist, according to The Christian Post, said that the researchers do not begin with the specific intention of trying to find proof for the Bible.
“We first find evidence and then try to understand the truth behind the evidence,” she noted.
She pointed out that many of the big events surrounding David’s life as described in the Bible would not have been of the kind that would have left archaeological proof, according to the news outlet.
“We can use the Bible as a source to guide our search, but we cannot use the Bible as proof,” she said. “But conclusions are drawn after a very long and thorough process of proof. After proving the connection using archaeological methods, the Biblical connection can now be brought.”
Others, such as AnaRina Heymann, director of Jerusalem Watch and the outreach coordinator for the City of David, have said that past discoveries, such as an inscribed stone found in 1993 excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel, offer solid proof that David was a real historical figure.
The inscription found at the time talks of victories over the king of Israel, and references David as the founder of the Kingdom of Judah.
“The Tel Dan Stele absolutely one hundred percent proves that King David existed,” Heymann said. “It refutes any claim that King David was merely a story.”
editor@ugchristiannews.com
