I have just returned from the Galilee where I have been taking part in another season excavating at an archaeological dig. Finds include the usual pottery, beads and seals, but one particular find made the international news and has implications for our understanding of an early biblical period. The picture (below) shows a 3ft high standing stone (stela) which we unearthed last week.
We are currently excavating a section of a site that may be the town of Bethsaida that we know from the Gospels. However, the area we are excavating is 1,000 years older than the time of the Gospels. All the indications are that at this time the site was the capital of the Kingdom of Geshur, which was an ally to the Israelite nation (Joshua 13:13).
David married the daughter of the King of Geshur (2 Samuel 3:3). Their son Absalom would later attempt a rebellion and spend time in exile in Geshur. The relationship of King David to Geshur was clearly a convenient alliance.
Evidence for a united Kingdom
Mention of King David can light the touchpaper in some scholarly circles. Such a reaction reflects a deep scepticism over the biblical account of David. If there were really a unified kingdom from the time of Saul, David and Solomon, then why do we not have more direct evidence for them?
The evidence is gradually emerging. The 1993 discovery of the Tel Dan Stela was the most dramatic find. Broken fragments of an Aramaic inscription make direct reference to the house of King David and the King of Israel. Since then, excavations in Jerusalem have continued to reveal a monumental building from the time of David which has been identified as a strong candidate for his palace.
The truth is that often the further back we go in history the more ambiguous is the physical evidence. Direct evidence for someone who lived 3,000 years ago is particularly difficult when the places associated with them have been continually occupied and redeveloped ever since.
This is the challenge at Bethsaida/Geshur. Impressive city gates have been excavated. This has revealed a substantial and wealthy city from Old Testament times. But this city was built after the time of David. So how would evidence for the period of David be found? Recent seasons have seen us excavating the earth from walls and structures buried beneath the newer city.
Confirmation of the ancient city
We have been searching for the city gate of Geshur from the time of David. Already towers, walls, a plaza and drainage channel from that time have emerged. But this is only after 20 years of excavation at other levels of the site. Until last week we could only say that we had ‘probably’ found the city gate. Then, from the rubble, emerged the stela dating to 950 BC. It was part of a shrine and confirms that this was the ancient city gate. It bears a striking similarity to one found at the entrance to the later city gate. After 3,000 years buried in the earth, we finally know that we are looking at the entrance to a city, along with its symbols, last seen at the time of King David.
Of course, this is not in itself ‘proving the Bible’. This backbreaking, sweatforming hard labour in Israel’s countryside is simply showing that we are discovering more and more about the land at the time of the Bible stories. And as each piece of the puzzle is put together we have more and more evidence to show that what we read in the Bible fits with what we know of the ancient world. In years to come, the gateway will be excavated and a city from the time of David will open up to exploration.
Who knows what may be found? It is the dismissive claims of sceptical scholars that go out of date. It is the Bible that continues to stand the test of time.
