A literally earth-shattering Biblical discovery

Excavations at the City of David in Jerusalem have persisted through the lockdown period and continued to produce material evidence for Old Testament history.

In 2021 the excavators made an announcement that was literally earth-shattering – walls from the middle of the eighth century BC that had suffered from a major earthquake. Inevitably, archaeological sites often look like an earthquake has hit. But this is rarely the case. Cities and towns often crumble through war, poverty or neglect. However, the discipline of archaeoseismology (try saying that out loud) can identify destruction caused by earthquakes.

The displacement of walls and patterns of damage to artefacts can all be indications of earthquake. I once worked with an archaeologist for whom this was a speciality – literally being able to distinguish between a fracture caused by an earthquake and those caused by warfare or erosion.

Geological fault line

This is important in the Holy Land because Israel stands on a significant geological fault line. The Jordan Rift Valley, or Syro-African depression, runs all the way down the country following the line of the Jordan River, through the Sea of Galilee and Dead Sea, on into Africa. The result is that the land is subject to earthquakes, often minor but sometimes causing catastrophic damage.

Particularly strong earthquakes can be identified in AD363 and AD749. The Biblical text suggests earthquakes at the time of the conquest of Jericho (Josh. 6) and at the time of Christ’s crucifixion (Matt. 27). The ancient site of Jericho provides evidence of earthquake destruction in the Late Bronze Age and even the modern city suffered a major quake in 1927. There is evidence of an earthquake from the time of Christ (c.AD31) from research into seismic activity in the Dead Sea.

The recent discovery at the City of David, in Jerusalem, is earthquake damage to a wall, collapsed buildings and shattered pottery from the first half of the eighth century BC. Evidence for the same earthquake has already been identified at Megiddo, Lachish and Hazor, three other important Biblical cities.

Amos’ vision

Remarkably, an earthquake from this time is also referred to in the Bible. Amos opens with ‘the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.’ (Amos 1:1) There can be no doubt that this reference refers to a real event. With the information from archaeology we know it occurred c.760BC and estimates place it as magnitude 8. It would have been felt throughout the land and the earthquake was so significant that it became a point of reference in the ancient world.

That such a passing reference in the Biblical text lends itself to archaeological study emphasises that we are engaging with real history when we read its pages. The impact of an earthquake 2,800 years ago can still be seen. The recent announcement from the Jerusalem excavation aids our defence of the Bible and illustrates how reliable the Bible can be in helping us understand the ancient world.