"Large fortifications dating to the time of the biblical king David
have been found below an archaeological dig site already thought to be Gath, the hometown of the giant Philistine Goliath.
The walls, made of 3-6 foot stone blocks and large burnt bricks, were found at Tell es-Safi, a hill dig site not far from Hebron that has uncovered numerous finds from various time periods, including what appears to be that of the inhabitation of the Philistines.
Archeologists thought that discovered remains from the time of the destruction of Gath by Hazael, the king of Syria, as noted in 2 Kings 12:17 (“Then Hazael, king of Syria, went up and fought against Gath, and took it.”) would be the largest to be found at Tell es-Safi. However, this summer, it was decided to dig deeper, down at the lower city of Gath, to see what was there.
Maeir said that the finds below the current dig “show that the buildings and the fortifications were very large, built with extremely large stones,” as well as thick burnt brick that was rarely used before the Roman era. He also noted that the city itself would have been considered expansive compared to others in the area — approximately 123.5 acres.
The fortifications additionally date to the same era when David lived: the 11th Century B.C.
The Bible is clear that the issue was not just that extremely large stones were used in the construction of Philistine monumental architecture, but that a very large Philistine named Goliath was felled by a very small stone wielded by a rugged shepherd named David … a shepherd who would become Israel’s first king.
Scott Stripling, ABR’s director of excavations, ...
“It is likely that the Philistines who had arrived around 1177 from the Aegean region were physically larger than the Israelites and the largest of them were giants in the Israelites’ eyes,” he explained. “The LXX has Goliath at 6’9.””
1 Samuel 17:4 says that, in particular, Goliath’s “height was six cubits and a span.”
ChristianNews
The walls, made of 3-6 foot stone blocks and large burnt bricks, were found at Tell es-Safi, a hill dig site not far from Hebron that has uncovered numerous finds from various time periods, including what appears to be that of the inhabitation of the Philistines.
Archeologists thought that discovered remains from the time of the destruction of Gath by Hazael, the king of Syria, as noted in 2 Kings 12:17 (“Then Hazael, king of Syria, went up and fought against Gath, and took it.”) would be the largest to be found at Tell es-Safi. However, this summer, it was decided to dig deeper, down at the lower city of Gath, to see what was there.
Maeir said that the finds below the current dig “show that the buildings and the fortifications were very large, built with extremely large stones,” as well as thick burnt brick that was rarely used before the Roman era. He also noted that the city itself would have been considered expansive compared to others in the area — approximately 123.5 acres.
The fortifications additionally date to the same era when David lived: the 11th Century B.C.
The Bible is clear that the issue was not just that extremely large stones were used in the construction of Philistine monumental architecture, but that a very large Philistine named Goliath was felled by a very small stone wielded by a rugged shepherd named David … a shepherd who would become Israel’s first king.
Scott Stripling, ABR’s director of excavations, ...
“It is likely that the Philistines who had arrived around 1177 from the Aegean region were physically larger than the Israelites and the largest of them were giants in the Israelites’ eyes,” he explained. “The LXX has Goliath at 6’9.””
1 Samuel 17:4 says that, in particular, Goliath’s “height was six cubits and a span.”
ChristianNews