May 6, 2024 11:31 PM
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/...bon-dating
EXCERPTS: A precise new dating of archaeological sites in Jerusalem supports some of the key historical events described in the Bible, including the settling of the city, a major earthquake and its eventual destruction by the Babylonians, according to a new study.
The research gives an unprecedented chronology of the ancient city that sheds light on its development, said Elisabetta Boaretto, a professor of archaeological sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and the senior author of the study, which was published April 29 in the journal PNAS.
[...] The study revealed new evidence that Jerusalem was settled between the 12th and 10th centuries B.C. and that the city had expanded westward in the ninth century B.C.
Among other revelations, the study showed that a fortified wall thought to have been built in the seventh century B.C. to protect the city from attack was actually built about 100 years earlier, after an earthquake in the eigth century B.C.
The researchers also found evidence of an earthquake in the mid-eighth century B.C.: a layer of collapsed stones and damaged building materials, followed by a period of reconstruction. This event was mentioned in the Bible but had never been firmly dated.
The team saw signs of the prolonged use of some sites after the earthquake and before the Babylonian invasions, which indicated a period of relative economic and political stability.
The settlement period ended with a massive conflagration identified as the Babylonian destruction in 586 B.C., which is described in both the Bible and Neo-Babylonian records.
[...] Still, not everyone is convinced that the new chronology is reliable. ... However, "the project of radiocarbon-dating Iron Age Jerusalem is a first step in an important mission," he [archaeologist Israel Finkelstein] said... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: A precise new dating of archaeological sites in Jerusalem supports some of the key historical events described in the Bible, including the settling of the city, a major earthquake and its eventual destruction by the Babylonians, according to a new study.
The research gives an unprecedented chronology of the ancient city that sheds light on its development, said Elisabetta Boaretto, a professor of archaeological sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and the senior author of the study, which was published April 29 in the journal PNAS.
[...] The study revealed new evidence that Jerusalem was settled between the 12th and 10th centuries B.C. and that the city had expanded westward in the ninth century B.C.
Among other revelations, the study showed that a fortified wall thought to have been built in the seventh century B.C. to protect the city from attack was actually built about 100 years earlier, after an earthquake in the eigth century B.C.
The researchers also found evidence of an earthquake in the mid-eighth century B.C.: a layer of collapsed stones and damaged building materials, followed by a period of reconstruction. This event was mentioned in the Bible but had never been firmly dated.
The team saw signs of the prolonged use of some sites after the earthquake and before the Babylonian invasions, which indicated a period of relative economic and political stability.
The settlement period ended with a massive conflagration identified as the Babylonian destruction in 586 B.C., which is described in both the Bible and Neo-Babylonian records.
[...] Still, not everyone is convinced that the new chronology is reliable. ... However, "the project of radiocarbon-dating Iron Age Jerusalem is a first step in an important mission," he [archaeologist Israel Finkelstein] said... (MORE - missing details)