Jericho is regarded as one of the oldest towns in the modern era. It was one of the villages that was walled off in the Jordan Plain, six miles north of the Dead Sea, in the middle of a palm tree grove. Jericho is also known as "The Date City" and "The City of Palm Trees." The archeological findings are very important to the Old Testament stories. The purpose of the present archeological operations, the historical context of the city of Jericho excavation site, and the relevance of the discoveries to biblical accounts are all covered in this research. The primary object of the essay is to show that archeological evidence found in the city of Jericho archeological site supports the biblical accounts.
Historical Background
The ancient town of Jericho was located about ten kilometers from the river of Jordan. From the Dead Sea, the city of Jericho was about twelve kilometers in the northwest direction and two hundred and four meters below the sea level. From Jerusalem, this city was approximately twenty-two kilometers away and nine hundred and fourteen meters below. The surroundings of the city were fertile, which supported the growth of palm trees. Consequently, people referred to the city as the “City of Palm Trees.” The mountains surrounding the city act as water catchment regions. The water then finds its way to the city through underground spring, which is commonly known as Elisha's fountain. The fresh water from this spring is used for irrigating the surrounding palm farms. Jericho remains the oldest city to be inhabited in history. Many centuries before the Israelites arrived in the city; other communities had already settled.
Between the years 1907 and 1909, a German team carried out the first excavation of the site of Jericho. Their operations were significant as they discovered a pile of mud bricks at the base of the hillock that formed the foundation of the city. However, the excavation methods they used were unable to establish what the pile of bricks represented. Kathleen Kenyon, a British archaeologist, excavated the site again using the modern techniques in the 1950s. She managed to establish that the bricks were from the walls that had collapsed during the invasion by the Israelites. Kathleen also discovered indigenous pottery, ash layers and destroyed grain stores. The excavations by Kathleen help to disapprove the biblical accounts. For instance, she dated the destruction of the city back to 1550 BC, which meant that the Israelites never found a city to destroy.
Other organized excavations on the site include those of British archaeologist John Garstang between 1930 and 1936. Garstang discovered the fallen city walls, burned grain stores and some other signs of destruction of the city by fire. The evidence presented by Garstang dated back to 1400 BC, which was in line with the biblical chronology of the destruction of the town of Jericho. Therefore, his accounts helped to prove the biblical accounts.
Objectives of the Current Archeological Excavations
Italian archaeologists carried out a narrow excavation in the city of Jericho in the year 1997. Renowned archeologists such as Lorenzo Nigro and Nicolo Marchetti worked under the support of Palestinian Archeological Department for one month on the peripheries of Kathleen’s west and south trenches. They later announced that they discovered no signs of destruction of the city from the time of Joshua. This clearly shows that their undertakings were necessary to disapprove the biblical accounts. Therefore, the primary objective of the current excavations is to refute the accounts given in the Bible.
Archeological Progress at the Site
Since the first excavation operation on the site, there has been a lot of advances in the archeological work. The first group of the Germans to carry out the excavation activities on the site relied on old tools. Their findings were restricted by the ability of their devices. Therefore, they were not in a position to make relevant conclusions. However, the archaeologists who explored the site later managed to use the modern instruments. They made significant discoveries that explained the observations made earlier. For instance, by the help of the modern excavation tools, Garstang managed to discover stores stacked with charred barely. This evidence clearly shows that the Israelites never killed the Palestinians through starvation. Rather, they burnt the stores after the walls surrounding the city collapsed. The discoveries made later also helped to show the presence of a new culture in the town after the destruction. The recent developments are quite biased, and their primary objective is to refute the biblical accounts. However, they have also helped to uncover numerous evidence that supports the biblical accounts. For example, Dr. Wood revisited the site after the Italians archeologists had completed their discoveries. Woods discovered that the Italians had also uncovered the piles of the mud bricks that had collapsed from the Jericho walls. As a matter of facts, the Italians unearthed a section of the Jericho wall that remained after the destruction that the previous archeologists had not discovered. Therefore, the current archeologist operations can find more evidence that is in line with the biblical accounts.
Significance of the Discoveries to Biblical Studies
In the Old Testament, the sixth chapter of the book of Joshua gives the account of the destruction of the city of Jericho. The damage happened when the Israelites entered the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Biblical accounts show that the Israelites trooped around the Jericho city seven times. During the seventh lap, the people of Israel shouted, and priests blustered the trumpets. The results were crushing down of the walls surrounding the city of Jericho. In the 1930s, Garstang discovered the piles of the bricks around the foundations of the city. His accounts also dated to the years when Israelites crossed the river of Jordan and entered the city of Jericho. These interpretations give a picture of the events considered in the Old Testament.
After the collapse of the walls, the Israelites proceeded to set the city on fire after storming it. A lot of evidence from archaeologist indicates that there is massive fire destruction of the town as depicted in the Bible. Kathleen and Garstang found proof of a city destroyed by fire after their excavations. For example, Garstang found signs of burnt grain stores and other fire destruction signs. Further, according to the Bible, there was a house built by Rahab on the Jericho wall. She told her family that the house would be spared as the Jericho wall was collapsing. This was evidenced by the archaeologists who found the preserved city wall on the northern side of the city. Therefore, the discoveries from the excavation of this site are in line with the biblical accounts. As a matter of facts, they help to ratify the biblical accounts.
In contrast, two Italian archaeologists did a less concentrated excavation of the site in 1977 spring. Nicolo Marchetti and Lorenzo Nigro excavated for over one month on South trenches and Kathleen fringes. Their primary focus was to disapprove the Biblical accounts of the ability of Joshua to capture this city. These two archaeologists did not find any evidence of the destruction of the town since Joshua's time to the astonishment of the academic community. As a result, the duo failed to submit substantial evidence to support their findings, and hence their work remains unauthentic.
Conclusion
From the evidence presented by this essay, it is clear that the conclusions by different archeologists support the biblical accounts. Modern archeologist uses advanced tools to carry out their operations. Consequently, they have managed to make remarkable discoveries that support the biblical accounts. Kathleen and Garstang discovered the remains of the fallen walls and destruction of the city by fire. This evidence is in line with the accounts given in the old testaments. The remains of the fallen walls support the accounts of the crumbling wall on the seventh day of moving around the Jericho walls. The evidence of charred grains supports the biblical account where Israelites burnt the city after the walls collapsed. Therefore, the archeological evidence helps to establish the biblical accounts in the Old Testament.
Bibliography
Ashley, Scott, and Jerold Aust. 2009. Jericho: Does the Evidemce Disprove or Prove the Bible? January 30. Accessed February 28, 2017. http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/01/Jericho-Does-the-Evidence-Disprove-or-Prove-the-Bible.aspx.
Down, David. 2006. "The Story of Jericho." Journal of Creation 86-92.
Scheffler, Eben. 2013. "Jericho: From Archeology Chalenging the Canon to Searching for the Meaning (s) of myth (s)." HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 1-10.
