Archaeology and the Biblical Record by Bernard Alpert

Author:Bernard Alpert [Alpert, Bernard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hamilton Books
Published: 2012-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Figure 5.2. Tel Dan Stele with the “House of David” inscription, 9th-8th century BCE.

The saga of King David as it has come down to us is portrayed in real-life events, unlike the typical biographies of the neighboring kings. His weaknesses, sexual urges, and lewd dances are not hidden; nor is it concealed that he stole another man’s wife and planned the execution of her husband. He mourns the death of his son, Avshalom, despite the fact that Avshalom had tried to kill him in his old age. He becomes obsessed with his beautiful, young companion as senility overtakes him. He is forbidden to build the Temple because the blood of his enemies is on his hands. This story is as real as the acts of modern rulers, especially in the Third World, and leads one to believe that David’s story was written or at least transcribed close to the period of its portrayal. It gives an air of credence to the detailed court history found in II Samuel 8:16-17.

The Biblical account seems to be concerned mainly with explaining how all of David’s sons were disqualified from ruling, with the exception of Solomon, his son by Bathsheba, who was acclaimed king on the day of David’s death. At the same time another of his sons, Adonijah, was proclaiming himself king.

David’s primary accomplishment was the establishment of a united Hebrew monarchy for the first time, with Jerusalem as the religious and political capital of Israel. After reigning from Hebron for seven years, he set out to take the Jebusite city which lay between Judah and Israel. It became David’s royal city, Jerusalem, which like Washington DC today was not aligned with either state.

Jerusalem was separated from the Temple Mount by the Ophel, an uninhabited area that became the government center under Israelite rule. During the reign of Hezekiah, the city walls expanded westward, enclosing the open area on the Western Hill, now known as the Old City. A wealth of archaeological sites in this area of Jerusalem include Hezekiah’s Tunnel, Warren’s Shaft (an earlier structure thought to be part of a water system, named for British engineer Sir Charles Warren), the Pool of Siloam, and the recently discovered Second Temple pool. The Gihon Spring, found on the lower slope of the Ophel Hill, is the source of these water systems, and its location is one of the reasons given for the development of the city of Jerusalem.

There is a long history of excavation activity in this area, including work by R. A. S. Macalister, Dame Kathleen Kenyon, Yigal Shilo, Ronny Reich, and currently Eilat Mazar. In 2007 Mazar reported the discovery of a monumental structure dating from 1000 BCE, the period of King David. Found at the high point of the city, south of the Temple Mount, its location suggested that this might have been the palace built by David that is described in the fifth chapter of II Samuel. It is important to note that this structure is floating on fill. That is, it was not built on bedrock and there is no occupational level.

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