It s Not There

Archaeology Proves a Negative

-By Margreet Steiner

Introduction

Most people have heard of the City of David, a thriving metropolis. But did this city really exist. Many scholars are still not sure. Little evidence has been found to prove that a developed city Gihon Spring. This would have to be the locating of the city of Jerusalem because Gihon was the only source of water in this region.

Outline

A. Time Periods

1. Late Bronze Age

a. 1550-1200 B.C.E.

b. Period before Israel

2. Iron Age 1

a. 1200-1000 B.C.E.

b. Period of Judges ( Biblical terms )

c. Era just before 12 Israelites tribes supposedly united.

3. Beginning of Iron Age II

a. Encompasses the United monarchy

B. Problems with proving the idea that the history of Jerusalem is accurate.

1. All of the people that have done any large-scale excavation have died before their last reports could be finished.

2. The use of Biblical text to prove the idea of a city

3. Materials found at the four sites excavated

a. There was almost nothing found on any of the four digs in the means of pot sherds.

b. No encircling wall

c. No gates

d. No houses

e. Not even a single piece of architecture

4. The Amarna Letters

a. these were 400 cuneiform letters

b. found at Tell el-Amarna in Egypt

c. In the content of these letters, Jerusalem is describes as a large city surrounded by a sturdy wall.

d. These are also very hard to interpret

5. Building and rebuilding

a. No evidence because of these processes

- Not possible because there isn t ample evidence of fills or building fragments

C. The main issues supporting the city of Jerusalem and reasons why they can be discredited

1. No enough has been excavated.

a. Four major trenches have been excavated.

- in the slopes of the city of David

b. several other deep trenches have been dug

- all of these have had similar outcomes -nothing-

2. All remains have eroded away or were dug away in antiquity

a. Even if this were possible there would still be plenty of pot sherds would have been found

b. Even if for some reason the remains would have been dug away and removed their would still be some Late Bronze Age sherds recovered

3. There were no remains to begin with

a. how could you have a city without any known remains

Conclusion

It is time that history gets rewritten. The city that we know of as Jerusalem did not exist, as we know it. There is no major evidence to prove that it did. All of the facts that have been about to prove its existence are easily proven false. Without some major finds I will not be able to view the city of Jerusalem the same way again.