In the Valley of Elah Talkback Add Your Comment
Click for a slide show of larger images. During the summer of 2008, Professor Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University started a new excavation at Khirbet Qeiyafa, located in the Elah Valley southwest of Jerusalem. In an amazing first season, Garfinkel and his team discovered a fortified Judahite city from the Iron Age IIa (1000–900 B.C.). Pottery styles and carbon dating at the site place occupation in the early tenth century—the time of King David. This supports the traditional belief that David established the nation state of Israel at the beginning of Iron Age II.
 
Click for a slide show of larger images. The Elah Valley is mentioned in the Bible as the place where the young shepherd David met the Philistine warrior Goliath in combat (1 Samuel 17). Qeiyafa overlooks this valley, situated between the ancient cities of Azekah and Socoh (Joshua 15:35; 1 Samuel 17:1). Qeiyafa lies just 6.5 miles from the Philistine city of Gath and was probably a fortified border town between the hostile kingdoms of Philistia and Judah.
Click for a slide show of larger images. Excavations in Area B, which include the western portion of the city wall, revealed a four-chambered gatehouse (pictured at right center) and two buildings (on the left). The casemate fortification wall, which is made up of two connected concentric walls with a space in between, can be seen at lower left in the adjacent buildings.
 Click for a slide show of larger images. Renovations made in the Hellenistic period (332–63 B.C.) blocked off parts of the gate and walls with smaller stones, but the original Iron Age gate was built of megaliths laid out in the shape of two inward-facing “E”s to create four chambers. The construction of such massive fortifications would have required the administration and resources that only a king could have provided.
 Click for a slide show of larger images. Inside the gate it is easy to distinguish between the larger, shaped Iron Age stones and the smaller rock constructions from hundreds of years later. The site was built and abandoned early in Iron Age II and was not occupied again until the Hellenistic period, making it very clear that the original site was built and fortified by King David.
 Click for a slide show of larger images. Two buildings were excavated in Area B north of the gatehouse. The casemate wall can be clearly seen at the bottom of the photo. An ostracon (a piece of broken pottery that functioned like ancient notepaper) was found in this building, and may have a lot to tell us about David’s kingdom.
 Click for a slide show of larger images. This ostracon, excavated in a building near the city gate, bears five lines of text totaling 50 letters. The inscription also dates to the early tenth century and is written in proto-Canaanite script—the longest inscription of its kind—but the language is Hebrew. According to Garfinkel, the words “don’t do,” “king,” “judge” and “servant” are all legible. Although a full translation has yet to be completed, it is already the earliest Hebrew inscription ever found, predating the rest by 100 years or more.
Read about Khirbet Qeiyafa in the January/February 2009 issue of BAR.
Dorothy D. Resig
King DavidAs an online student at a major Univeristy in the US I have access to a lot of information that is scholarly reviewed and authenticated...try going to http://www.bible-history.com/archaeology/israel/house-of-david-inscription.html for more information on the recovery of what is called the Tel Dan Stele which mentions one of the kings of Israel of the "House of David" giving us some evidence that there was in fact a King David in literal Israelite history that the lineage of Kings comes from. • • • • • • • In the Valley of ElahAs a participant in excavations at Kh. Qeiyafa, I would like to say "Come and See". Two significant sites to understand the United Kingdom period, IA IIA archaeologically, are Jerusalem and Kh. Qeiyafa. I have never met Goliat nor King David but the results of the ongoing excavations at two sites illuminate political, sociological and adminstrative milieu which have never occurred before. • • • • • • • GoliathI was never sure of Goliath. Then being in the United States Marines Corp. I went to Iraq and Afghanistan. While there i have never met so many tall people in my life. I have been all over this world 11 times, thanks to USMC. I have never witnessed this height advantage like this before, not anywhere I have been. You know they actually liked us there and felt more wanted there than back home. Dont talk or mention anything about Goliath the all just clam up look mean and walk off. I mean everyone around you not just the tall one's. Weird I thought. Sorry I am not a big PHD person just some college. I am a trained scout and have to know what I am looking at, up close and from long distances. These people were not just tall I am 6'1" and these people toward over me and a these guys could wrap one hand onto my head . The bad part is even a couple of women could also. they also looked normal and they did not move gangly. Thank you for your time. • • • • • • • In theValley of ElahWhile it is interesting to do archaeological work and it con sometimes be supportive of what is found in the Holy Bible, it does not and cannot prove the authenticity of the great book, nor should it. The Holy Bible's truths can only be ascertined by the Holy Spirit. To base belief in God, Jesus Christ or anything else in the Bible on physical evidence is contrary to the teachings contained therein. That being said- keep up the digging! I love it! • • • • • • • In the Valley of ElahDavid Willner has to be right. Let's just wait and see how things develop. The article may be a little 'journalistic' but the significance of the site and the find isn't. No-one is yet proving or disproving anything.Congratulations must go to Foundation Stone for its important work, though. The dig deserves all the help and resources it can get. • • • • • • • In the valley of ElahI am also not sure the use of terms like King prove they were related to David. It is hard to take the story of Goliath and David literaly. • • • • • • • Feeling the heat from moder Archeology?This has to be the most unscholarly article I've read for a while. It seems the author is determined to "prove" the existance of King David's unified kingdom, irrespective of contrary evidence, such as the ongoing failure to find evidence of David's kingdom at its supposed seat of power, Jerusalem. The author seems fixated on the term "king", as if no other polity could muster resources for building. The forced assumtion that this king has to be David results in a quite obvious and discraceful shoehorning of the data to fit the predetermined conclusions and a failure to examine any alternative hypotheses. • • • • • • • In ElahReal places figure in myths told by people in various lands. Legendary figures, even when based on historical persons, have fairy-tale like stories told about them, on occasion. It's even called the Goliath Effect in the study of folklore. A fellow named Ambrosius in Britain may really have fought some invading Saxons, after all, but he probably didn't pull a magic singing sword out of a stone or have a magician named Merlin advising him. David may have existed, but he may not have created a great kingdom or knocked down a ten-foot-tall giant. • • • • • • • Valley of ElahWhile it would indeed be nice to say, "...making it very clear that the original site was built and fortified by King David," we do not yet have proof that this is true. In fact, the carbon-14 dating may date the site to the period slightly before King David. Hopefully more information will come to light after this summer's (2009) excavation is completed, but we try to keep a more balanced view of the situation and let the science and the archaeology speak for themselves. Sincerely, David Willner Foundation Stone, CoDirector Elah Fortress Educational Excavation Project • • • • • • • Valley of Elah inscriptionThe inscribed ostracon has the word "king" but does not refer to King David. Therefore, it is certainly a leap to assume the site has something to do with King David. Please, don't jump up and down yet. This is not "the cigar." • • • • • • • |
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Dorothy D. Resig is the managing editor of BAR.
