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Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Yosef Garfinkel, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, shows off an ark, or stone shrine model, that was found during excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa, an ancient settlement southwest of Jerusalem.
An archaeological dig near Goliath's biblical hometown has yielded evidence of Judean religious practices 3,000 years ago, pointing up fresh historical connections to the stories of King David and King Solomon.
"We have a city with a population relating to the Kingdom of Judah," Yosef Garfinkel, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told me today. "This is totally different from Philistine, Canaanite or the cult in the Kingdom of Israel."
The site, known today as Khirbet Qeiyafa, is about 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem, on top of a hill overlooking the Valley of Elah. For the past five years, Garfinkel and his colleagues have been excavating the ruins of a fortified city there, situated across from what was once the Philistine city of Gath. In the Bible, the giant Goliath came out from Gath to face the Israelites, and was smitten by a rock hurled from David's sling.
Garfinkel can't vouch for the story of Goliath, but he says the weapons, the cult items and even the animal bones found around Khirbet Qeiyafa support his view that the settlement was a key military outpost for the historical House of David, riven by conflict. "There was something here quite military and quite aggressive," he said. "It was not a peaceful village."
Based on radiocarbon dating of burned olive pits found at the site, archaeologists believe the ancient city lasted for only 40 years, from 1020 to 980 B.C., before it was destroyed. Some skeptics have suggested that Khirbet Qeiyafa was just another Canaanite settlement, and that David was at best a minor chieftain, or perhaps a folkloric figure like Robin Hood. But Garfinkel said the items found at the site strengthen the connection to King David and the religious practices specified in the Bible.
"Over the years, thousands of animal bones were found, including sheep, goats and cattle, but no pigs," he said in a news release from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "Now we uncovered three cultic rooms, with various cultic paraphernalia, but not even one human or animal figurine was found. This suggest that the population on Khirbet Qeiyafa observed two biblical bans — on pork and on graven images — and thus practiced a different cult from that of the Canaanites or the Philistines."
Garfinkel told me that the absence of human imagery was peculiar to the Judeans. "In the northern Kingdom of Israel, you find human representations," he said.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
One of the cultic standing stones can be seen in this picture of the Khirbet Qeiyafa site.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
This basalt altar was found during excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
A decorated clay shrine model was found at the Khirbet Qeiyafa site.
The cult objects included five standing stones, two basalt altars, two pottery libation vessels and two portable shrines. Garfinkel said the shrines reflected a Mesopotamian architectural style that went back centuries before the era of King David, and probably inspired the look of the palace built by Solomon, David's son. "It seems that Solomon didn't want to be Canaanite and took a different model from Mesopotamia," Garfinkel told me.
The shrines are boxlike containers made of stone or clay. "I think they were called in Hebrew 'Aron,'" Garfinkel wrote in an email. "This had been translated into English as 'ark' and became a mystic artifact. I think that the Hebrew name was just a simple technical term: a box for keeping god symbols."
Such shrines were probably similar in look to the "Ark of God" highlighted in the Bible as well as in such movies as "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
The clay shrine has an intricate facade, featuring two guardian lions, pillars and birds standing on the roof. The stone shrine was painted red, and its facade is decorated with characteristic triglyph symbols as well as a triple-recessed doorway in front. Garfinkel said the Bible may have referred to those architectural features in its description of Solomon's palace. The technical term usually translated as referring to pillars ("Slaot") may actually be talking about triglyphs, while another term that was thought to refer to windows ("Sequfim") might instead refer to the doorways.
"Now you can see by the model that you have triglyphs at the roof, and you have recessed doorways," Garfinkel said. Such features are also mentioned in biblical references to King Solomon's temple, which was built decades after the age that gave rise to the shrines found at Khirbet Qeiyafa.
Will these finds settle the debate over the historical David? Garfinkel would like to think so. "Various suggestions that completely deny the biblical tradition regarding King David and argue that he was a mythological figure, or just a leader of a small tribe, are now shown to be wrong," he said in today's news release.
But The Times of Israel quoted Bar-Ilan University's Aren Maeir, who's in charge of the dig at Gath, as saying the discoveries don't provide any dramatic new evidence for either side in the debate. For example, the fact that the clay shrine was decorated with lions and birds undercuts Garfinkel's claim that no graven images were found at the site. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted another expert, Tel Aviv University's Nadav Na'aman, as saying that the Canaanites, like the Judeans, observed a ban on eating pork.
Maeir said the distinctions between the various peoples mentioned in the Bible — including David's Israelites and Goliath's Philistines — were "fuzzier than the way they are often described."
"There's no question that this is a very important site, but what exactly it was — there is still disagreement about that," Maeir said. In a blog posting, Maeir said "what is clearly missing is a close interface with mainstream biblical and [Ancient Near East] textual scholars."
What do you think? Feel free to weigh in with your vote in the poll above, or add your comments below.
More about biblical archaeology:
- In Israel, diggers unearth the Bible's bad guys
- Dig yields what may be the oldest Hebrew text
- Artifact suggests Bible written centuries earlier
- Professor hunts for the 'Lost Ark of the Covenant'
- Gallery: Eight Jewish archaeological discoveries
- Cosmic Log archive on archaeology
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
@smt, I doubt seriously that you find any real contradictions in the bible, and even the bible itself admits to parables. The problem with ahteists and non-believers is they cannot stand the possiblilty of being wrong and they relish the thought of suffering. Those of us who have witnessed God and his miracles refuse to let go of beliefs in what we know to be true. We know that he exists, and common sense should tell anyone that the universe was created harmoniously, and not with some random bang. And personally, our beliefs are our business, and we deserve as much respect for our beliefs as everyone else. I too feel sorry for non believers, because regardless of whether they are right or wrong, they make themselves miserable now.
Listen to yourself. You can either "believe" or "know", not both. If you KNOW that god exists, you don't have any need for faith or belief. Sadly for you, the main component of christianity is faith.
Knowledge denies faith, and without faith, you don't have a religion.
Since when did you become an English major Eat Rolos. You can know & believe all you want. Is that what you have been reduced to. Pulling apart sentences thinking you found an error but didn't. Here is some wisdom for you Rolos. If everyone thought like you did the world would be a perfect place in your eyes. YOu are such a tard. just listen to yourself..you cant know and believe both at the same time..dudududu. Dumb ass.
Yes, you sound like a genius.
Nobody KNOWS god exists, that's the entire point of faith. Sorry you don't like the truth. See you in hell.
1) Our universe is anything but "harmonious".
2) Your understanding of universe formation is very sad.
3) Your understanding of common sense could also use a bit of polish.
Man invented Religion, not Jesus. However, instead of attempting a response to such a varied and typical set of opinions, I urge the following to you. Read 'The Case for Christ' and 'The Case for Faith' by Lee Strobel. I have no vested interest in my statement. I.E. I will gain nothing by stating this. Lee was a flaming, fist pounding Aetheist set out to disprove Chrisitanity and most, if not all, of the unbelievers opinions expressed in this thread. He was Hell bent on proving it myth, fantasy, lies, invention and worthless by mighty reason, sound logic, investigative and corroborative evidence by 'using his brain' and every other earthly bit of strength he possessed. For two years Lee turned over the rocks, dug up the muck and scrutinized scripture. The evidence continuously and compellingly drew him to admit and accept Jesus was, is and always will be the unique Son of God. That He did the things the Bible states and that He died and rose again.
In the end, Lee could not deny the truth of evidence. He believed. He accepted Jesus and became a Christian. I strongly urge you to open your minds and hearts to the Word. To dig your heels in and emphatically state that God is impossible is exactly the same as stating you know everything there is to know in existence. That, to me, is the foolish. To me, that is the invented, untrue, worthless and mythical position to take. For the instinctively reactionary people, Jesus is fantasy and mind blowingly crazy... no doubt. It slaps the face of human reason and intelligence. I get it...I was there once. The really cool thing is the earthly reason, brain power and human contemplation that an unbeliever uses to find the prove and evidence that Jesus was fable and Christianity is foolish, will be the same reason, brain power and contemplation mulling over the evidence you find in the Word that will change your minds. God does that all the time.
One last thing. Bloodshed, murder, adultery, deception and the like are not the theme of the Bible nor are these are not the character of God. These are the qualities and characteristics of Man...Fallen Man. Love is the main theme of the Bible. The fact is it's ugly down here on Earth...Satan's Earth, because we made it so. Man fights, man kills, man lies, man cheats, man dis-believes. God is only trying to break up the dog pile. Love cannot, will not, does not work when it is coercive. Love only works when it is persuasive. The unbeliever is angry that God is punishing them and commanding them to Hell when the exact opposite is true. He is trying to save you from all that pain, ugliness and gnashing of teeth. He asks that you open your minds and hearts to the One who came here to die for us all. He asks you to believe.
They dug up a decorated clay urinal and think it's holy. I have a clay baking pot with a bird as a handle on the lid. It's holy! What will happen thousands of years from now when the next civilization conducts a dig and find the remnants of a Hobby Lobby? These guys would think they found God's personal treasure. But that's too easy... wait till they uncover a bowling alley. All those sticks and balls must mean it was a military operation or a house of torture... both holy.
And when they dig up an actual cathedral and reconstruct the pew placement, they will announce their finding of an ancient dinner theater.
Maybe they will dig up your grave site and find that earth had retards buried too.
@Savvy you are spot on (Middle is the apparent retard here)
In college I took several courses in archeology. Several times we were presented with an unusual artifact, such as a bit of stone carved in the shape of a hook, or with markings carved on it. The task: what is the artifact, what was it used for? When there was no apparent use the opinion of my professor: "it is a religious artifact. We don't know what it was used for so apparently it was used for some religious ceremony."
The lesson stuck- when in doubt- it must be a religious artifact.
Cool! These are the times I wish I could be an archaelologist. Once again, the Bible is proven correct.
Please summarize 1) what was found, and 2) what this proves.
You will find that it does not prove the bible any more correct than when finding the site of Troy proved the Iliad correct.
First of all, regarding the survey: there's a huge gap between choice one and choice two, so I had to choose one because I believe the Biblical account of David. Skewed survey much?
Secondly, regardless of personal beliefs, I found it interesting that, considering even the cultural foundation of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the article kept referring to Jews as a cult. Judging by the responses here, I think everyone's pretty confident in their belief systems without the help of the author.
This is really cool...
King David is a myth.
Isn't it odd how we 'intelligent folk today' will swallow up just about anything as true based on minimal (or no)evidence, but when it comes to biblical assertions with a reasonable amount of evidence, all red flags of skepticism and doubt arise?
The dig proves nothing of David and Goliath's existence, it only adds to the probability that their two cultures did exist in the area and during the timeline in which the Bible reports their encounter happened.
But even if the dig would have found David's slingshot, Goliath's sword, Saul's helmet and armor, and a big clay tablet labeling all as such, there would still be just as many beleivers as there are doubters.
Exactly, just like when the site of Troy was discovered it proved that the city existed in the time frame detailed in the Iliad. I'm still skeptical about the existence of the cyclops however.
I really get a kick out of some folks when they claim to know more than God and deny his word. Science and reason derived from man's mind cannot explain the wonders and mysteries of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and instruction. ( Proverbs 1:7) Why do some spend so much time and energy trying disprove and dispel what is so simple and freely given? Ask and you will be forgiven, believe and you will inherit the kingdom of God. My heart aches for the non-believers.
You presume there is a god in the first place, that is the fundamental leap that you have taken that others have not. You have chosen to accept as truth something that cannot be seen, felt, heard and for which there is zero physical evidence, only what you have manifested in your mind. Please do not condemn those of us who have not jumped to the same conclusion.
Actually MANY things once attributed to god have been thoroughly explained through science. How life works, how pregnancy happens, why the moon rises, why people get sick, why there are natural disasters, what stars are, what is on the top of mt. Olympus, norther lights. Shall I go on?
My head aches when I have to listen to believers.
In an archaeological sense, or a historical look at the lives of the ancients, I think these digs are fascinating. I'm currently reading 'Jericho:Dreams, Ruins, Phantoms' by Robert Ruby. It isn't written in the context of proving or dis-proving religion. It's more of a historical time-line. You are left to draw your own opinion as far as the religious connection. Fascinating read.
I didn't read all the comments, so maybe someone else already said this. I watched an interesting show once about Giantism and they hypothesized that if Goliath had the condition, he would have had a large tumor growing on his pituitary gland (which produces the human growth hormone), and that tumor would have been pressing on his optic nerve, which would have caused difficulty seeing. He possibly did not see David, and when David slung the rock, it could have ruptured the tumor, killing him instantly. Just thought it was an interesting tidbit!
I love when science and religion co-mingle and everyone opens their minds to a possibility. I personally have faith that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for us and that the bible is a guide for how we should live (New Testament), even when I don't understand or am skeptical about different things (Old Testament), but it's awesome when science can take some of the skepticism away. If anyone reads at least the New Testament, could they really argue that we shouldn't strive to be as good as Jesus was?
People really want to believe that one of the bibles has some truth to it.
Why are people still debating if the Holy Bible, that is riddled with history, mystery, love, and divine power is One of true accounts and has prevailed as the Number One best seller of all time? There is a GOD, ruler of all Universe. There is a Holy SON that even Lucifer will have to bow down to someday.
However, this article was very interesting. I wish and hope that archealogists will find more proofs.
Garfinkel: I discovered that there is actually a North Fork Ranch near Dallas, therefore, all of the TV episodes were real.
Garfinkel set out to prove the biblical fairy tales were true, and voila! The fact is that the bible is a collection of Middle Eastern goat herder fables. Most fables have a bit of truth at their core but that does not make the fable true. the great and mighty David is absent in the historical record, right along most with most of the other fabled biblical heroes. Garfinkel could probably find some evidence that Mary actually did have a little lamb.
I didn't know the Applle Macintosh was invented back then. Looksd loike burnt out Mac case.!!!
Oh and all those morons that believe the fairy tales created by a bunch of ignorant, drunklen hallucinating sheperds that like to have sex with animals, their daughters, sisters, etc, those people are class a idiots
Those artifacts were clearly placed in the ground by Satan in order to mislead mankind!
The Wailing wall in Jerusalem is sacred to Judaism, it is the temple of God built by Solomon. If Solomon built it and he was Davids son, David therefore must be real. I love how the atheists always condem those of faith for having faith and condemn us because we pity those without faith. They resort to childish name calling, like "stupid" or "dumb". Man did not create God, God created man and gave us his laws for a happy life. Unfortunately there are those whose hearts are so twisted by evil, they corrupt Gods law for their own vile purposes rather than for God. There are those who wish to live a life of baseist desires, which is contrary to Gods law, so to have their way, their solution is to reject Gods law. Those who think they can go to an eternal life of happiness without God, I say,
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" John 14:6
This is not a judgement, I may not like what you do or your opinion, but I will not attempt to deny your right to it or to express it, nor will I lower myself to childish name calling. No one is perfect, I least of all, but I have repented of my wayward ways as I know,
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23
People of faith have the same rights as you to our opinions and to express it. In the very end, it will not be any persons judgement of you that truly matters, it will be Gods judgement that matters.
"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Revelation 22:11-12
All hail the Magic Man in the Sky.
followed by "they resort to childish name calling", "hearts are so twisted by evil", "their own vile purposes".
You may worship a holy spirit but you are every bit the imperfect man you profess to have risen above.
The literal story about David & Goliath is purely a fairytale - Most Biblical stories, including Noah's Arc, should be pondered for their "symbolic" significance - Looking for remnants of pieces of wood to verify that Noah's Arc actually existed, or digging to uncover imprints of Goliath's gigantic foot-print to prove the literal story, is an expedition bridge to the land of deceptions!!
I love it when archeologists find sites such as this one. It is so cool to see how those in the past lived and died. One should still keep in mind that it is ancient history and has no bearing on the present.
"Ancient history" has tremendous bearing on the present, just as the highway between your home and your work does, as it is "how you got there". History is the story of how we got here, to where we are now.
#62.1 - Fri May 11, 2012 9:24 AM EST
That is exactly why so many are lost, if one does not know where one is coming from and where one is, one can not know where one is going, so typical, and they claim themselves to be evolutionists lol
So basically, there is evidence of David, there is evidence of Goliath but hey the story of their battle is not correct. Based on what? There is no evidence to disprove the story but there is evidence of the two of them and being in proximity. Seems to me, that would make the biblical story more plausible not less.
Agreed. I don't doubt that something akin to their battle did occur. I won't claim it was divine however.