Archaeological work conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in conjunction with Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute has revealed a connection between biblical stories and actual archaeological finds in the City of David.
The research results, published in the scientific journal PNAS, provide a new understanding of the history of Jerusalem in Biblical times.
Important discoveries were the precise dating of city walls and buildings now associated with early royal building projects. The expansion of Jerusalem towards Mount Zion began in the 9th century BC, during the reign of King Joash, centuries before the period of Assyrian exile proper.
Professor Yuval Gadot from Tel Aviv University pointed out that these data contradict the previously accepted view that the city expanded with the arrival of refugees after the Assyrian exile, and noted that the reason for this was the growth of internal demography and the strengthening of state structures.
An additional discovery concerns the dating of the eastern wall of the City of David, which turned out to be older than expected, built during the reign of King Uzziah, not Hezekiah. This allows scholars to rethink the historical significance of the wall for Jerusalem.
These findings have the potential to reformulate traditional understandings of the development of Jerusalem and stimulate further research into biblical narratives in the context of archaeological evidence. Source
Source: Port Altele
