Microscope image of blue fabric (Tx1) found at Bronze Age Beycesultan in western Turkey. Courtesy Çiğdem Maner, Eşref Abay, Recep Karadağ, Emine Torgan Güzel, “Untwisting Beycesultan Höyük: The Earliest Evidence for Nålbinding and Indigo-dyed Textiles in Anatolia” Antiquity 99 (2024), CC BY 4.0.

Textiles play an important role in the world of the Bible. From the finely crafted garments described in the book of Exodus to the special robe given to Joseph in Genesis, clothing in biblical narratives often signals status and wealth. Yet actual textiles rarely survive in the archaeological record because they are made of organic fabrics that decay easily. Usually, scholars reconstruct ancient textile production indirectly through tools such as spindle whorls, loom weights, and textile impressions left on clay. A recent study of two burnt textile fragments discovered at Beycesultan in western Anatolia (Turkey) offers a rare glimpse into textile production during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (roughly 2000–1200 BCE)—eras often associated with the patriarchal period of the Bible.

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Beycesultan is a large settlement mound that was occupied for thousands of years. Excavations first conducted in the 1950s uncovered numerous occupation layers dating from the late Chalcolithic period through the end of the Bronze Age. Among the most notable discoveries was a large palace complex destroyed by fire. Renewed excavations beginning in 2007 have continued to reveal evidence that the settlement was an important regional center during the Bronze Age. The textile fragments discovered there were found adhered to the ground within the burned remains. The charring stabilized the fabric and prevented it from decomposing entirely.

The two textile fragments analyzed in the study were discovered in different contexts within the settlement. The first fragment (Tx1) was found in a Middle Bronze Age structure dating to approximately 1915 to 1745 BCE. Nearby, archaeologists discovered pottery vessels, storage jars, and a stone weight, as well as four systematically spaced postholes likely used for a loom frame. The second fragment (Tx2) was uncovered in a later domestic structure dating to roughly 1700 to 1595 BCE. This room contained numerous textile tools including spindle whorls, loom weights, a weaving comb, bronze needles, and beads. The concentration of tools strongly suggests that this space was regularly used for textile production.

To understand how the fabrics were made, researchers used several scientific techniques. Optical microscopy allowed them to study the structure of the threads, while scanning electron microscopy helped identify the fibers themselves. The team also used high-performance liquid chromatography to detect any dyes that may have been applied to the cloth.

The first fragment (Tx1) produced the most surprising results in terms of weave, material, and color. Microscopic analysis showed that the fabric lacked the typical structure found in woven cloth. The threads formed loops created by passing a single needle through earlier stitches, indicating that the textile was made using the technique known as Nålbinding or “single-needle” knitting. This looping method predates modern knitting and creates a dense, durable fabric. If this interpretation is correct, the fragment may represent the earliest physical example of this technique discovered in Anatolia and possibly the broader Near East. Further analysis revealed that the yarn was made from hemp fibers, a material rarely identified in Bronze Age textiles from this area. Chemical testing revealed another remarkable feature: the cloth had been dyed blue. Researchers detected indigotin, a compound likely derived from the plant Isatis tinctoria (woad), making this the earliest known example of blue-dyed fabric from a Bronze Age context in Anatolia.

Microscope image of Tx1 (cropped), evincing the Nålbinding or “single-needle” looping technique. Courtesy Çiğdem Maner, Eşref Abay, Recep Karadağ, Emine Torgan Güzel, “Untwisting Beycesultan Höyük: The Earliest Evidence for Nålbinding and Indigo-dyed Textiles in Anatolia” Antiquity99 (2024), CC BY 4.0.

Finds from the second fragment (Tx2) were simpler but still informative. Microscopic analysis showed that it featured the most basic weaving pattern, tabby weave. The fibers were likely plant-based, though heavy burning made precise identification difficult. Chemical analysis detected no dye, suggesting that the cloth was probably intended to show its natural color.

Together, these finds reveal that the inhabitants of Beycesultan produced a range of fabrics using different techniques, fibers, and levels of craftsmanship. Such discoveries help scholars reconstruct the economic and technological landscape of the ancient Near East. For readers of the Bible, they provide valuable context for the many references to clothing, weaving, and dyed fabrics—reminding us that behind the biblical texts stood a vibrant world of skilled artisans. Blue textiles are of particular significance: Israelite priests wore blue threads in their garments (Exodus 28:31–35), the broader Israelite community was instructed to use blue cords to attach tassels to the corners of their cloaks (Numbers 15:38–39), and the tabernacle curtains featured blue alongside purple and scarlet (Exodus 26:1). The blue-dyed fabric from Beycesultan offers a tangible example of how such prized colors could be produced, helping us better imagine the luxurious, symbolically charged textiles that colored the biblical world.

Lauren K. McCormick is an assistant editor at Biblical Archaeology Review and a specialist in ancient Near Eastern religions, visual culture, and the Bible. She holds degrees in religion from Syracuse University, Duke University, New York University, and Rutgers University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship on religion and the public conversation at Princeton University.

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On this stela from El-Amarna, Egyptian King Akhenaten is seen with his wife Nefertiti and their daughters bearing offerings to the sun-disk Aten. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Defying centuries of traditional worship of the Egyptian pantheon, Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten decreed during his reign in the mid-14th century B.C.E. that his subjects were to worship only one god: the sun-disk Aten. Akhenaten is sometimes called the world’s first monotheist. Did his monotheism later influence Moses—and the birth of Israelite monotheism?

In “Did Akhenaten’s Monotheism Influence Moses?” in the July/August 2015 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, University of California, Santa Barbara, emeritus professor of anthropology Brian Fagan discusses this tantalizing question.

Egyptian King Akhenaten, meaning “Effective for Aten”—his name was originally Amenhotep IV, reigned from about 1352 to 1336 B.C.E. In the fifth year of his reign, he moved the royal residence from Thebes to a new site in Middle Egypt, Akhetaten (“the horizon of Aten,” present-day Tell el-Amarna), and there ordered lavish temples to be built for Aten. Akhenaten claimed to be the only one who had access to Aten, thus making an interceding priesthood unnecessary.

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In the BAR article “The Monotheism of the Heretic Pharaoh,” Donald B. Redford, who excavated Akhenaten’s earliest temple at Karnak (in modern Thebes), describes how Akhenaten instituted worship of Aten:

The cult of the Sun-Disk emerged from an iconoclastic “war” between the “Good God” (Akhenaten), and all the rest of the gods. The outcome of this “war” was the exaltation of the former and the annihilation of the latter. Akhenaten taxed and gradually closed the temples of the other gods; the images of their erstwhile occupants were occasionally destroyed. Cult, ritual and mythology were anathematized, literature edited to remove unwanted allusions. Names were changed to eliminate hateful divine elements; and cities where the old gods had been worshipped, were abandoned by court and government.

Akhenaten destroyed much, he created little. No mythology was devised for his new god. No symbolism was permitted in art or the cult, and the cult itself was reduced to the one simple act of offering upon the altar. Syncretism was no longer possible: Akhenaten’s god does not accept and absorb—he excludes and annihilates.

Did Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten’s adamant worship of one deity influence the Biblical Moses, leader of the Israelite Exodus? Was Akhenaten’s monotheism the progenitor of Israelite monotheism? According to BAR author Brian Fagan, we are talking about two different kinds of monothesisms:

“Israelite monotheism developed through centuries of discussion, declarations of faith and interactions with other societies and other beliefs,” Fagan writes. “In contrast, Akhenaten’s monotheism developed very largely at the behest of a single, absolute monarch presiding over an isolated land, where the pharaoh’s word was divine and secular law. It was an experiment that withered on the vine.”

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When Tutankhaten—the second son of Akhenaten; we know him as the famous King Tut—ascended to the throne, he, working with his advisers, restored worship of the traditional Egyptian pantheon and its chief god, Amun. Tutankhaten also changed his name to Tutankhamun, meaning “the living image of Amun.”

To learn more about the monotheism of Egyptian King Akhenaten, read the full article “Did Akhenaten’s Monotheism Influence Moses?” by Brian Fagan in the July/August 2015 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on June 8, 2015.

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Proposed reconstruction of the second Jerusalem temple. Illustration: Shalom Kveller, City of David.

Solomon’s Jerusalem Temple is easily one of the most central and important buildings in the Hebrew Bible. However, an archaeological discovery suggests that for much of the First Temple period (c. 1000–586 BCE), Solomon’s Temple was not the only place of worship in Jerusalem. On the eastern slopes of the City of David, just a few hundred yards away from the Temple Mount, archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority claim to have uncovered a second temple.

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A Shocking Discovery

At over 2,300 square feet and partly dug into the side of the hill, the cultic site is made up of eight rock-hewn rooms, each containing different installations, including an altar, a massebah (standing stone), an oil press, and a winepress. The oil and winepress were probably used for preparing offerings to the temple’s deity (represented by the massebah), and the altar, which included a drainage channel, might have been the site of sacrifices. According to the researchers, who published their results in the journal ‘Atiqot, the temple was most likely built in the 16th century BCE—at the very end of the Middle Bronze Age—and went out of use in the eighth century BCE, around the time of King Hezekiah.

A carved installation identified as an altar, with a channel for liquid drainage. Kobi Harati, City of David.

According to Eli Shukron, director of the excavation, “The structure ceased to function during the eighth century, possibly as part of King Hezekiah’s religious reform. According to the Bible, Hezekiah sought to centralize worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, abolishing the ritual sites scattered across the kingdom. The Bible describes how, during the First Temple period, additional ritual sites operated outside the Temple, and two kings of Judah—Hezekiah and Josiah—implemented reforms to eliminate these sites and concentrate worship at the Temple.”

Another room of the temple featured mysterious V-shaped carvings on the floor. According to the excavation team, the carvings may have been used for preparing liquids, or as the base for a loom or perhaps a tripod structure used for ritual activities. At one end of the room, a small cave was carved into the hill that contained a stash of objects dating to the eighth century. Among the objects were cooking pots, jars bearing fragments of Hebrew writing, loom weights, scarabs, stamp seals, and grinding stones. The inscriptions may have served magical purposes or had some other religious meaning. The cave was carefully sealed before the building went out of use, which may suggest it was used as a favissa, a cultic storage place.

The V-shaped floor carvings with the doorway to the favissa behind them. Courtesy Kobi Harati, City of David.

The temple itself is quite different from other Iron Age temples. “A key characteristic of this compound is its construction within rock-cut chambers,” Helena Roth, one of the report’s authors, told Bible History Daily. This is a “unique feature compared to other Iron Age cultic compounds in the region, which are typically stone-built. While some architectural elements, such as the small back chamber hosting the standing stone, align with known Iron Age temples, the lack of an apparent eastern wall raises questions about its function. It is possible that this was a ceremonial temple, open to the valley and the opposite slope.”

Despite clear differences with other Iron Age temples, such as the lack of a tripartite structure, the researchers are still quite confident in their assessment of it as a cultic site. “This is indicated by the discovery of a massebah and its platform, the carefully sealed favissa, and the unique and significant artifacts,” continued Roth. “While no in situ finds were located due to the rooms being sealed after their floors were cleared, the nature of these artifacts points towards a centralized institution, possibly a temple.”

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Illustration of the carved rooms discovered in the City of David. Illustration: Shalom Kveller, City of David.

If the researchers are correct in their interpretation, the discovery of this second temple is shocking, not only because it appears to run counter to the biblical impression that Solomon’s Temple was the sole place of worship in Jerusalem, but there are also very few known temples in the whole kingdom of Judah from this time. A few notable exceptions have been discovered at sites like Arad, Beer Sheva, Lachish, and Moza. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to determine which deity (or deities) was worshiped in this newly discovered temple. However, it seems unlikely that it was a place of worship for the Israelite god Yahweh, as it would be unusual to have two temples to the same deity within such proximity. Nonetheless, the careful way in which the temple appears to have been decommissioned, with its standing stone left upright, is reminiscent of the Arad temple, which is often believed to have been dedicated to Yahweh.

This article first appeared in Bible History Daily on January 20, 2025.

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Wood engraving by Gustave Doré depicting Dante’s Inferno, Canto XXXIV, in which Dante and Virgil encounter Satan in the Ninth Circle of Hell.

From the most comical of cartoons to the most grotesque of gargoyles, the majority of the population today can immediately recognize an image of the devil. But does our modern conception of Satan have any resemblance to the devil in the Bible? Just who is Satan? Is this horned, red-skinned monster with a pitchfork ruling hell truly the great enemy of God envisioned by the writers of the Biblical texts?

The short answer: no, not really.

In the Hebrew Bible, YHWH’s greatest enemies are not fallen angels commanding armies of demons, nor even the gods of other nations, but, rather, human beings. It isn’t the devil that spreads evil across the face of creation—it is mankind. Other than human beings, YHWH has no nemesis, nor are there malevolent spiritual forces not under his authority. YHWH is ultimately a god of justice. He is behind the good and the bad, behind the blessings and the curses. It is within this divine court of justice and retribution that Satan has his origins.

The Hebrew word śāṭān, meaning “accuser” or “adversary,” occurs several times throughout the Hebrew Bible and refers to enemies both human and celestial alike. When referring to the celestial adversary, the word is typically accompanied by the definite article. He is ha-satan—the Accuser—and it is a job description rather than a proper name. From the Accuser’s appearances in the Books of Job and Zechariah, it seems that the job entails calling attention to the unworthiness of mankind. The Accuser is essentially the prosecuting attorney of the divine court of YHWH, and part of his job includes collecting evidence to prove his cases. With this bit of knowledge in mind, it isn’t difficult to envision the various “outcries against sin,” such as that against Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20–21), as the voice of the Accuser.

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It is difficult to determine at which point in Israel’s history the Accuser began to take on a much more sinister role in the Israelite/Jewish belief structure, or how heaven’s great prosecutor became the prince of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). It is certainly easy to make the connection between Israel’s time in exile and the likely influence of the cosmic dualism of Persian religion.¹ However, even within books written well after the return from foreign lands, the Accuser is still a self-righteous lawyer. Though if 1 Chronicles 21:1 is any indication,² they began to believe the Accuser wasn’t above getting his hands dirty.

It is perfectly clear, however, that by the first century C.E., Judaism developed a belief in the divine forces of darkness doing battle against the forces of light. This can be seen within the New Testament and other extra-Biblical writings such as those found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are likely several factors that inspired these developments, including the influence of Persian, as well as Hellenistic, religions.

If there was an army of evil spiritual forces making war on the righteous, they had to have a commander. It is at this time that the impersonal and lofty Accuser began to acquire the various names and titles that have filled the writings of western civilization for 2,000 years. The Greek word diabolos (from which “devil” is derived), meaning “slanderer,” comes from a verb that means “to hurl” (i.e., accusations).

Diabolos was typically used as the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew śāṭān (in the Septuagint version of Job, for example), though it was not uncommon to simply transliterate the word into the Greek satanas (1 Kings 11:14). Other names used for the leader of the forces of evil at this time include Maśṭēmāh, which means “hatred” (1QM 13:4, 11; Jubilees 10:8), and Belial, a popular name among the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which means “worthless” or “corrupt.” “Children of Belial” (Hebrew: bene-belial) was a typical phrase used to describe evil people in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Deuteronomy 13:13; 1 Samuel 1:16; 2 Chronicles 13:7, etc.). If someone were searching for a name that personified evil in the Hebrew Bible, it would be Belial, not Satan. Interesting enough, the name only occurs once in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 6:15), as Paul’s stark contrast to Christ.

It is also in this period that we begin to see the development of the tradition of equating the talking serpent in the Garden of Eden with Satan (Life of Adam and Eve xi–xvii).

Etruscan fresco of Typhon from the Tomba del Tifone in Tarquinia, Italy, c. third century B.C.E. According to Greek mythology, the montrous Titan Typhon battled the mighty Zeus, who bound his foe in the dark depths of Tartarus to bring about a new era of peace.

Satan’s role in the New Testament, though highly expanded, has much more in common with the Accuser of the Hebrew Bible than the commander of the armies of darkness that is typically portrayed in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Even though he is given such lofty titles as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), “father of lies” (John 8:44), “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), “ruler of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), and Beelzebul, “ruler of the demons” (Matthew 10:25; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15), Satan is essentially treated as nothing more than a glorified prison warden who has been corrupted by his own power. Throughout the Gospels, Satan’s “kingdom” is never considered to be a burning underworld full of the tormented dead, but, rather, is equated with the bondage of sin and the curses brought upon humanity for acts of unrighteousness. According to Jesus (Matthew 12:29; Mark 3:27; Luke 11:21–22), a “strong man” (Satan) must be bound in order to plunder his house for treasures (humans), and it is clear he viewed his ministry and that of his disciples within this context. All other references to Satan in the New Testament, including those in Revelation, reflect this struggle for spiritual freedom.

Over the course of several centuries of influence from many different cultures, the defeated Accuser of the Christians would go on to appropriate aspects of various divine enemies (Typhon, Hades, Ahriman, Hela, to name but a few) to become the complex mythological monster that was thrown out of heaven at the beginning of time to rule the fiery underworld and torment the souls of the damned. Such a character makes for great movies and Halloween costumes, but would have been virtually unknown to anyone in Biblical times.

Notes

1. Adherents to Zoroastrianism believed in the ongoing battle between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu (known in later periods as Ormazd and Ahriman), the good creator god of light and order and the evil god of chaos and darkness.

2. Compare the earlier version of the story in 2 Samuel 24 in which YHWH himself is the one who incites David to sin.

This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on November 10, 2016.

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Map of Ammon, Moab and Edom. Map by Biblical Archaeology Society.

When the kingdoms of Israel and Judah controlled the land of Canaan, the kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom ruled east of the Jordan. Although the Bible offers information about these three Iron Age kingdoms, recent archaeological discoveries are bringing to light a fuller picture of them. In his article “Ammon, Moab and Edom: Gods and Kingdoms East of the Jordan,” published in the November/December 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Joel S. Burnett examines the incredible archaeological discoveries from Ammon, Moab and Edom.

Who were the Ammonites?

Ammonite king. Standing more than 6.5 feet tall and dating to the Iron Age, this statue of an Ammonite king was uncovered in 2010 at Amman, Jordan. Who were the Ammonites? In the Bible and from archaeology, a full picture of the Ammonites is emerging. Photo: Joel S. Burnett

In the Bible, they are described as being descendants of Ben-ammi, who was the son of Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and Lot’s younger daughter (Genesis 19:38). The capital of the Iron Age kingdom of Ammon was Rabbah, which is located at modern-day Amman, Jordan. Burnett describes the boundaries of Ammon: “The Ammonite heartland comprised the north-central Transjordanian Plateau encircled by the upper Jabbok … within a 12.5-mile radius of its capital at the headwaters of the Jabbok.” The Ammonites’ primary deity was the god Milcom. Depictions of Milcom have been uncovered through archaeological excavations—as have representations of Ammonite kings, such as the monumental statue uncovered at Rabbah in 2010.

Who were the Moabites?

We learn about the Moabites in the Bible and in the famous Mesha Stele. Photo: “Stèle de Mésha” by Mbzt 2012 is licensed under CC-by-3.0

In the Bible, the Moabites are said to have descended from Moab, the son of Lot and his oldest daughter (Genesis 19:37). The kingdom of Moab stretched “north and south of the Arnon River” with its capital at Dibon. The Moabites worshiped the god Chemosh, who may be depicted in the Balua‘ Stele (dated to the end of Late Bronze Age). The most famous Moabite king—from the archaeological record at least—is Mesha. The large inscription he left behind is the longest Moabite text. Dating to the ninth century B.C.E., the Mesha Stele describes how King Mesha rescued the Moabites from Israelite rule.

Who were the Edomites?

Wearing a three-horned headdress, this Edomite goddess figurine was discovered at Horvat Qitmit. Photo: “Edomite Goddess, Qitmit” by Chamberi is licensed under CC-by-SA-3.0

In the Bible, the Edomites are the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin and Isaac’s oldest son (Genesis 36). The Edomites controlled an area east of the Arabah, from the Zered to the Gulf of Aqaba. Their capital was Bozrah, which sat in the northern part of their territory. Although no name of an Edomite deity is given in the Bible, archaeologists know from inscriptions that the Edomites’ principal deity was Qaus (or Qos). Several Edomite places of worship and cultic figurines have been uncovered. One of the most notable is the depiction of an Edomite goddess wearing a three-horned headdress from the site of Qitmit, Israel.

The kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom fought with the Israelites and the Judahites over territory. The Bible presents things from the Israelites’ and Judahites’ point of view, and archaeological discoveries help show us the other side. By looking at what these ancient peoples wrote and left behind, we are able to better understand their perspective. We now have a fuller picture of their kings, gods and daily life.

To learn more about the kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom, read Joel S. Burnett’s comprehensive article “Ammon, Moab and Edom: Gods and Kingdoms East of the Jordan,” in the November/December 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Subscribers: Read the full article “Ammon, Moab and Edom: Gods and Kingdoms East of the Jordan,” by Joel S. Burnett in the November/December 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on October 12, 2016.

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The Egyptian scarab. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, IAA.

While walking with her family at Tel Qana near Tel Aviv, a young girl made a fantastic find: a small stone in the shape of a dung beetle with a carving of two scorpions on the bottom. After the family brought it to an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), it was determined that the object was an Egyptian scarab dating to around 1500 BCE, during the New Kingdom period.

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Finding a Scarab

“I was looking down at the ground to find porcupine needles and smooth pebbles,” said 12-year-old Dafna Filshteiner. “I picked up an interesting stone. I showed it to my mother, and she said it was just an ordinary stone or a bead. But then I saw a decoration and stubbornly insisted it was more than that, so we searched on the internet. There, we identified more photos of stones similar to what we had found. We realized that it was something special and immediately called the [IAA].”

While scarabs—often carved in the shape of dung beetles and frequently used as seals—originated in Egypt, they also became popular in the southern Levant with the spread of Egyptian influence. Many scarabs have been found in Israel, some having been imported from Egypt while others were crafted locally to mimic Egyptian styles. “The scarab is indeed a distinct Egyptian characteristic,” said Yitzhak Paz, a Bronze Age expert at the IAA. “Their wide distribution also reached far beyond Egypt’s borders,” however. “It may have been dropped by an important and authoritative figure passing through the area, or it may have been deliberately buried. Since the find was discovered on the surface, it is difficult to know its exact context.”

The bottom of the scarab depicts two scorpions, positioned head to tail. “The scorpion symbol represented the Egyptian goddess Serket, who was considered responsible, among other things, for protecting pregnant mothers,” said Paz. “Another decoration on the amulet is the nefer symbol, which in Egyptian means ‘good’ or ‘chosen.’ There is also another symbol which looks like a royal staff.”

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Hershel Shanks

Amihai Mazar (better known as Ami) is one of Israel’s most highly regarded archaeologists. He recently retired from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I remember long ago when I featured him on the cover of BAR together with his famous uncle, Benjamin Mazar, a former president of the Hebrew University and a famous archaeologist; Ami was angry. He didn’t want to be pictured with his uncle. Ami wanted to make it on his own—not because of his relationship to his distinguished uncle. Well, Ami certainly has now made it on his own.

This is by way of introducing a seminal article that he recently published that includes a critical assessment of the historicity of the United Monarchy of Israel. It is a thoroughly balanced review of the matter, considering both the Biblical text and the archaeological evidence. It is too detailed to rehearse here in detail—and, as he says, it’s “highly specialized and complicated”—but it is worthwhile just to set forth the issues and Ami’s conclusions.¹

The Biblical narratives, he tells us, although written hundreds of years after the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, “retain memories of reality.” It’s these “cultural memories … embedded in the Biblical narratives” that are sometimes captured with the help of archaeology. And the “contribution of archaeology to the study of the past ever increases.”

His conclusion is quite nuanced: “I adhere to the moderate views which, in spite of considerable variations and degrees of confidence, agree that the [Biblical] authors worked with ancient sources, including oral and written narratives, transmitted poetry, archival documents, public inscriptions, etc.” Although not written in the tenth century B.C.E. (the time of the United Monarchy), the Biblical narratives “retain memories of realities rooted in that century.”

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Let’s begin by considering the famous passage in 1 Kings 9:15–19, which tells us that King Solomon fortified Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. The great Israeli archaeologist Yigal Yadin long ago attributed the three impressive six-chambered city gates at these three major sites to the time of Solomon. For a long time, this dating was considered secure. Then Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University came along with his “Low Chronology,” according to which he extends the time of the relevant archaeological period—Iron IIA—by 80–100 years or so, long after King Solomon’s time. Thus he dates these gates to a later time in the Iron IIA, initially about a hundred years later, probably to the time of King Ahab. Ami Mazar disagrees with Finkelstein and convincingly argues that, although some time adjustment should be made in the length of the archaeological period involved, these monumental gates “cannot be dated later than the tenth century [B.C.E.],” the time of King Solomon.

Gezer. Photo: Courtesy Steve Ortiz.

If Iron IIA extended into the ninth century B.C.E., Finkelstein could be right that the gates were later than Solomon’s time. But there is no doubt that it began in the tenth century B.C.E. Thus the gates could also be from the tenth century B.C.E. “The question of dating the monumental structures at Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer,” writes Ami Mazar, “remains in my view unresolved. The evidence is ambivalent, and a tenth century date for this architecture remains plausible. Thus 1 Kings 9:15–19 can still be taken as a source relating to tenth-century B.C.E. reality.” Perhaps there were two phases to Iron IIA, early and late, but “the date of the transition between these two sub-phases is not entirely clear.” (This tells you why the dating of potsherds is so important in archaeology; subtle changes in pottery could help us to distinguish early from late in the same period.)

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Next let’s go to Jerusalem. It was surely a small city in King David’s time, perhaps a bit more than 10 acres with about a thousand residents. Solomon’s annexation of the Temple Mount more than doubled the size of the city with a population of about 2,500 people. Although it was small, it was strong and not to be trifled with. The huge Stepped Stone Structure (SSS), rising to the height of a nine-story building, was there in the tenth century B.C.E., if not before. So was the Large Stone Structure (LSS) on top. Ami Mazar agrees with the following senior archaeologists who date this complex to the tenth century B.C.E. or slightly earlier: Kathleen Kenyon (who first came upon walls of the LSS), Yigal Shiloh, Eilat Mazar (who excavated the LSS), Jane Cahill, Margreet Steiner and Avraham Faust.

The Stepped Stone Structure. Photo: Zev Radovan.

“This immense complex [was] one of the largest structures in ancient Israel,” and the massive fortifications from the Late Bronze Age protecting the Gihon Spring and excavated by Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron, continued in use during the time of King David and King Solomon.

Eilat Mazar has also been excavating structures south of the Temple Mount that “must have been part of Jerusalem’s royal administrative complex” in the time of the United Monarchy. Enabling her to date this complex were large amounts of Iron IIA pottery. In his usual cautious way Ami Mazar concludes, “Although the excavator’s specific dating of these structures to the time of Solomon may be regarded as conjectural, the date cannot be far off, since the pottery in the fills is clearly Iron IIA, namely dated to the tenth to ninth centuries B.C.E.”

As to Solomon’s Temple as described in the Bible, its plan is known in temple architecture of the Levant since the second millennium B.C.E. and continues into the Iron Age. Although archaeology cannot determine whether Solomon was the builder of the Temple, “the Bible does not hint at any other king who may have founded such a temple.”

That there was a central government ruling the United Monarchy is shown by the recent excavation of Yosef Garfinkel at Khirbet Qeiyafa, a site in the Judahite Shephelah on the border with the Philistines.^a Although a small site, Qeiyafa was protected with a massive casemate wall surrounding the site and a large public building on the summit. It was occupied only briefly in the late 11th or early 10th century B.C.E., the time of kings Saul and David. As Ami Mazar observes, “There must have been a central authority that initiated this well-planned building operation. … While no Canaanite parallels are known for either the city plan or the fortifications,² these are a prototype for later Judean [Judahite] towns, such as Beth Shemesh, Tel en-Nasbeh (Biblical Mizpah), Tel Beit Mirsim and Beersheba.”

Finally, Solomon’s kingdom appears to have been backed up with an elaborate metallurgical industry. Initially the vast copper mining operation in the Wadi Feinan in Jordan^b was associated with the Edomites who inhabited the high plateau above the mines. But there is no evidence of these settlements in Edom earlier than the eighth century B.C.E. Instead, these copper mines at the base reflect an affinity with a similar copper mining and smelting operation in the Timnah Valley in the Negev of Israel.^c “It is now clear,” Ami Mazar tells us, “that large-scale copper mining and smelting industry flourished in the Arabah Valley throughout the late eleventh, tenth and ninth centuries [B.C.E. The structures in Feinan] indicate that the industry was administered and controlled by a central authority” and worked by a tribal-state of semi-nomads.

This should be enough to entice the more scholarly minded to explore the additional and often powerful details in Ami Mazar’s trenchant article, evidencing the existence and nature of Israel’s United Monarchy ruled by Saul, David and Solomon. Yes, they very likely were actual historical figures, and they had a kingdom—although not nearly so vast as the Bible describes. Much of the Biblical text is what Ami Mazar recognizes as being of a “literary-legendary nature.”

First Person: Did the Kingdoms of Saul, David and Solomon Actually Exist? by Hershel Shanks was originally published in Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 2017. This article was first published on BHD on September 11, 2017.

Notes

a. Yosef Garfinkel, Michael Hasel and Martin Klingbeil, An Ending and a Beginning, BAR, November/December 2013.

b. See Mohammad Najjar and Thomas E. Levy, Condemned to the Mines—Copper Production and Christian Persecution, BAR, November/December 2011; Thomas E. Levy and Mohammad Najjar, Edom and Copper: The Emergence of Ancient Israel’s Rival, BAR, July/August 2006.

c. Hershel Shanks, First Person: Life Was Not So Bad for Smelters, BAR, January/February 2015.

1. Amihai Mazar, “Archaeology and the Bible: Reflections on Historical Memory in the Deuteronomistic History,” in C.M. Maier, ed., Congress Volume Munich 2013, Vetus Testamentum Supplements (Leiden: Brill, 2014), pp. 347–369.

2. For this and other reasons, Ami Mazar rejects Nadav Na’man’s suggestion that Qeiyafa is a Canaanite town.

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Aerial view of the partially excavated monument at the top of Tel Shimron. The favissa is in the lower right of the complex. Courtesy Tel Shimron Excavations, Andrew Wright.

Archaeologists at Tel Shimron in Israel’s Jezreel Valley have uncovered a remarkable megastructure, so far unique within the southern Levant. Rising nearly 20 feet above the ancient mound, the cone-shaped structure is thought to have been some sort of Bronze Age monument. But what kind of monument was it and what function did it serve?

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Forging a Bronze Age Wonder

Dating to around 1800 BCE and still only partly excavated, the megastructure takes up a large section of Shimron’s already imposing tell, and therein may lie part of its purpose. While the glacis surrounding most of the site is covered with black basalt, the megastructure is covered by white chalk, which has the effect of making the already imposing feature stand out in the landscape, even from a great distance.

“We are dealing with something that’s very much an intentional, monumental thing that was designed to be seen from very far away,” Daniel Master, co-director of the Tel Shimron Excavation, told Haaretz. “We are still trying to figure out the political implications and why it was originally built.”

In addition to the monument’s potential political or symbolic significance, it also appears to have been a site of significant cultic activity. While excavating the structure, archaeologists stumbled across a large room that served as a favissa, a storage space for cultic and votive objects that had gone out of use. The over 700-square-foot favissa was originally unroofed, with thick mudbrick walls and two staircases, one leading into the room and another leading into the megastructure. Not long after it was built, the doors and staircases were blocked, making the favissa an open-air pit. Around that time, the pit became a dumping ground for religious ceremonies.

Excavating the favissa, the team at Tel Shimron discovered 40,000 animal bones, primarily from cattle, sheep, and goat. The bones showed signs of having been burned at extremely high temperatures, suggesting that they had been used for sacrificial rituals rather than meals. The team also found around 57,000 pottery fragments, including rare miniature jugs and bowls. Many of the fragments came from vessels that were typically used in temples instead of domestic contexts. Two bronze bull figurines—possibly representing the chief Canaanite deity El or the storm god Baal—were also discovered.

Ceramics and a bronze bull (or calf) found in the favissa of Tel Shimron. Courtesy Tel Shimron Excavations, Sasha Flit.

The favissa’s lack of stratification shows that it was not used for an extended period and that nearly all of the finds resulted from several events that took place quite close together, or even as part of a single ceremony. “In terms of religion, we don’t have anything like this; there are elements we find elsewhere but this is on a scale that we don’t have anywhere else in this region,” Master said.

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This article was first published in Bible History Daily on November 25, 2024

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Who were the Hittites? At one time the Hittites were one of three superpowers in the ancient world. Tudhaliya IV (1237–1209 B.C.E.) ruled over the Hittite Kingdom during its heyday and is depicted here on a rock carving from the Hittites’ sacred open-air shrine at Yazilikaya, less than a mile from the Hittite capital of Hattusa in present-day Turkey. Photo: Sonia Halliday.

Who were the Hittites? This question is not as simple as it appears. There is plenty of evidence from archaeology and the Biblical texts, but the two sources of information are not compatible, which adds an element of mystery to this ancient kingdom. The article “The Hittites—Between Tradition and History” in the March/April 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review examines what archaeology and the Bible say about the Hittites.

Who were the Hittites according to archaeology? As early as 1900 B.C.E., an Indo-European people began to settle in what is now Turkey. By the 16th century B.C.E., they were powerful enough to invade Babylon. Their might continued to expand until they were a superpower on the level with Egypt and Assyria. Relations with Egypt were particularly volatile and included the famous Battle of Kadesh and the eventual signing of the world’s oldest peace treaty. The Hittite capital, Hattusa, has been excavated, revealing a formidable and religious empire.

Excavation evidence shows that Hattusa was invaded and burned in the early 12th century B.C.E., but this was after the city had largely been abandoned. In the 14th century B.C.E., Carchemish in northern Syria was made a vice-regal seat. As the Hittites began abandoning the land of Hatti during the region-wide decline at the end of the 12th century B.C.E., they may have fled to this location.

Who were the Hittites according to the Bible? The Hittites play a prominent role at key places in the Hebrew Bible: Ephron the Hittite sells Abraham the family burial ground (Genesis 23); Esau married Hittite women, and Rebecca despised them (Genesis 26:34); frequently they are listed as one of the inhabitants of Canaan (e.g., Exodus 13:5; Numbers 13:29; Joshua 11:3); King David had Uriah the Hittite killed in order to acquire Uriah’s wife (2 Samuel 11); King Solomon had Hittites among his many wives (1 Kings 10:29–11:2; 2 Chronicles 1:17); and the prophet Ezekiel degrades Israel with the metaphor of a Hittite mother (Ezekiel 16:3, 45).

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“The impression is that many Hittites are living in the land of Canaan during the time of the Founding Families … And this impression is reinforced by Biblical references to Hittites during the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah,” notes the BAR article “The Hittites—Between Tradition and History”.

The wall around Hattusa was more than 6 miles long and had several decorated gates. Visitors to the city would enter through the Lion Gate—named for the stone lions on either side of the entrance. The lion was a symbol of protection, defiance and royalty in Hittite culture. Photo: Sonia Halliday Photographs/Photo by Jane Taylor.

According to the BAR article, “[T]his still leaves us with an open question regarding the references to the Hittites during the time of the patriarchs. To a certain extent, the composition history of the Pentateuch may be relevant to this discussion. If one were to assume that these narratives depict historical realities that were written down close to the time of occurrence, then one might conclude that the references are to the original Hittites rather than the Neo-Hittites. However, the majority of scholars believe that these narratives were composed hundreds of years after the events that they describe and often contain anachronisms for the time of composition superimposed on the narrative time. This would suggest that the references reflect the Neo-Hittites.”

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For more on the Hittites as told through archaeology and the Bible, read the full article “The Hittites—Between Tradition and History” in the March/April 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

BAS Library Members: Read the full article “The Hittites—Between Tradition and History” in the March/April 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on February 16, 2016.

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Today many of us live in cities of millions. Very few of us live in towns of only thousands, but hardly any of us live in a village as small as King David’s capital.

Hillel Geva

In 2016, a study of Jerusalem’s population in various periods has been published by one of Israel’s leading Jerusalem archaeologists, Hillel Geva of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Israel Exploration Society. Geva bases his estimates on “archaeological findings, rather than vague textual sources.” The result is what he calls a “minimalist view.”¹ But whether you accept Geva’s population estimates or those of various other scholars he cites, to the modern observer the ancient city of Jerusalem can only be described as “tiny”—with population estimates at thousands and tens of thousands during many periods of the city’s history. (In comparison, Rome in the century before Jesus lived is estimated to have had a population of 400,000 tax-paying males—so the entire population must have been about a million.)

The first period that Geva considers in his study is from the 18th–11th centuries B.C.E. (Middle Bronze Age II to Iron Age I, in archaeological terms), the period before the arrival of the Israelites. Jerusalem was then confined to the small spur south of the Temple Mount known today as the City of David. As Geva reminds us, even then Jerusalem “was the center of an important territorial entity.” From this period, the area includes a massive fortification system that has recently been excavated. Overall, however, the area comprises only about 11–12 acres. Geva estimates the population of the city during this period at between 500 and 700 “at most.” (Previously other prominent scholars had estimated Jerusalem’s population in this period as 880–1,100, 1,000, 2,500, 3,000; still this is hardly what we would consider a metropolis.)

The shaded area reflects the current walled Old City of Jerusalem. in article Ancient Jerusalem

The next period Geva considers is the period of the United Monarchy, the time of King David and King Solomon and a couple centuries thereafter (1000 B.C.E. down to about the eighth century B.C.E.). In David’s time, the borders of the city did not change from the previous period. However, King Solomon expanded the confines of the city northward to include the Temple Mount. This increased the size of the city to about 40 acres, but the increase in population was not proportionate since much of this expansion was taken up with the Temple and royal buildings. “It is likely that Jerusalem attracted new inhabitants of different social classes,” Geva tells us. “Some of these people came to reside in the city as a consequence of their official and religious capacities, while others came to seek a livelihood in its developing economy.” Geva estimates the population of the city at this time at about 2,000. (Previously, other scholars had estimated the number of people living in the city at this time as 2,000, 2,500 or 4,500–5,000.)

In the mid-eighth century B.C.E., the area usually referred to as the Western Hill was added to the city of Jerusalem. This area is well documented archaeologically. With this addition, more than a hundred acres were added to the city, and the population of the city increased proportionately. According to some scholars, this increase may have been at least in part due to the influx of refugees from the north after the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C.E.

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By the end of the First Temple period (the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.), the walled city of Ancient Jerusalem covered 160 acres. By that time, settlement also extended northward outside the city walls, all of which expanded the city further. At its height, the population of Jerusalem at the end of the eighth century B.C.E., according to Geva, was 8,000.

As a result of the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian monarch Sennacherib in 701 B.C.E., Ancient Jerusalem’s population declined to about 6,000, and so it remained until the Babylonians destroyed the city in 586 B.C.E. and forced much of its population into exile in Babylon.

Other population estimates of Jerusalem during the nearly 200 years before the Babylonian destruction vary widely—partially because they focus on different time periods. Geva’s estimate is carefully grounded in archaeological data.

After the Babylonian destruction, the few inhabitants who remained in the city (or who returned) lived primarily in the old area of the City of David. After the Persians wrested control of Jerusalem from the Babylonians and even after Ancient Jerusalem became the capital of the Persian province of Yehud, Jerusalem continued to be confined to the spur known as the City of David with an estimated population of about a thousand people on 40 acres. (Geva calls it “minute.” Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University puts the number even lower: 400 to 500.)

It was not until the late Hellenistic (Hasmonean) period (150–50 B.C.E.) that Jerusalem flourished again, just as it had at the time before the Babylonian destruction. Geva’s population estimate: 8,000.

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In the Byzantine period (fourth–seventh centuries C.E.), Jerusalem was a Christian city.^a Estimates of the city’s population are as high as 100,000 and then go down gradually to 70,000 to 60,000 to 50,000 to 25,000. Geva’s estimate: 15,000.

In 637 C.E. the Muslims besieged Jerusalem; the period of Islamic Jerusalem commenced. The change in the population’s religious commitment was gradual but constant. And since the city of Jerusalem was not as central to Islam as to Christianity, the number of people living there gradually declined. By the 10th–11th centuries C.E., the city was confined to the area of the present Old City. Geva estimates the population at only 7,000.

However you cut it, Jerusalem was a tiny place in ancient times. Yet it played a major role in the march of history.

Sidebar: Jerusalem over the Ages

Jerusalem from the Middle Bronze Age through to the Early Islamic Period.²

Image by Ravit Nenner-Soriano; timeline by Noa Evron

Image by Ravit Nenner-Soriano; timeline by Noa Evron

“Ancient Jerusalem: The Village, the Town, the City” by Hershel Shanks originally appeared in Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 2016. It was first republished in Bible History Daily on May 9, 2016.

Notes

a. See Hershel Shanks, “After Hadrian’s Banishment: Jews in Christian Jerusalem,” BAR, September/October 2014; Eilat Mazar, “Temple Mount Excavations Unearth the Monastery of the Virgins,” BAR, May/June 2004; Jodi Magness, “Illuminating Byzantine Jerusalem,” BAR, March/April 1998.

1. Hillel Geva, “Jerusalem’s Population in Antiquity: A Minimalist View,” Tel Aviv 41 (2014), pp. 131–160.

2. We thank Hillel Geva and Tel Aviv (Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University) for the images.

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