Evidence Behind the Bible
March 26th, 2010By Aubrey Moulton
Eliat Mazar, Israeli Archaeologist, is claiming excavations recently completed date back as far as 3,000 years. This provides credence to the belief that the Holy Bible is not just a long-lived story but an real event. She states that the fortifications surrounding Jerusalem date back to King Solomon and demonstrate that Jerusalem was a powerful city with a sturdy central ruling system. Mazar feels that the evidence indicates that Jerusalem had resources and manpower required to build such enormous fortifications.
However this item is debated among many scholars. Mazar believes that Hebrew Kings such as David and Solomon governed Jerusalem in the 10th century B.C. There are other archaeologists who support the idea that King David’s monarchy was merely a story and that there was not a centralized government during that time period. Mazar held a press conference via the University of Jerusalem and related that her find is the “most significant construction we know of from First Temple days in Israel.”
She feels that Solomon, King Davids son, constructed the strongholds protecting the city. These are the structures just excavated. She is sure that this is the actual structure mentioned in the Book of Kings in the Bible. She also believes that this wall indicates the power of a centralized government because of the requirements a structure of that size would call for.
The fortifications also comprised a gatehouse and a long portion of wall that is about 70 meters in length and is located right outside the present-day walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. The fortifications are also right next to the Temple Mount.
The Old Testament says that Solomon constructed the foremost Jewish Temple on the very place, but the temple was subsequently raized by the Babylonians; then rebuilt and renovated by King Herod about 2,000 years ago. Yet after that the Romans are said to have obliterated it in 70 A.D., so the question remains if such a large piece could really be found. Presently, the compound houses two crucial Islamic buildings - the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque.
It isn’t that Mazar was the first archaeologist to unearth the wall. It was unearthed commencing in the 1860s and also in the 1980s. However, she affirms that her dig was the only complete excavation and that it was the first to show compelling evidence for the wall’s age. Remnants of pottery were charted along the wall and helped Mazar determine the wall’s approximate age.
But Mazars assertions, as noted earlier, have met with disapproval. Aren Maeir, a professor of archaeology from Bar Ilan University, wants to be shown the substantiation that the walls are as old as Mazar confirms. He says that there are relics as far back as the 10th century in Jerusalem but declarations that it was the hub of a strong centralized kingdom are a bit of a stretch. While some archaeologists consider that the story of King David and Solomon is just a tale, there are others who believe it is precisely fact. And so the debate rages on.
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