For a century and a half, scientists have been collecting individual facts that make up a mosaic of true events hidden behind the magnificent scenery of biblical legends. Even S. N. Bulgakov wrote that the Bible is not only an "eternal Symbol", revealed to faith, but also "just a book accessible to scientific study." For specialists, it is an important source of information about the political history and culture of the peoples of the Middle East in the II-I millennia BC.
"Biblical texts are a historical document" - this is the general opinion of archaeologists excavating in Jerusalem and Jericho, Hazor and Megiddo, Samaria, Gezer, Shechem and many other cities. A number of questions are of interest to researchers studying the antiquities of the Holy Land: the beginning of the "Neolithic revolution"; life in Palestine during the Copper and Early Bronze Ages; the migration of nomadic peoples at the beginning of the second millennium and the subsequent flourishing of the Canaanite cities; events of 1200-1000 BC, coinciding with the movement of the "Sea Peoples"; finally, the era of the united kingdom of Israel. This is the most mythologized part of the Bible; the more interesting it is to know its historical background.
At the beginning of the III millennium BC, cities appeared in Palestine and Syria: Megiddo, Bef Shan, Ras Shamra, Tirza … A “city revolution” began, which, according to A. V. Me, "the boundary of the historical and prehistoric worlds." There is certainly a temple in every city. In Palestine, as in Sumer, the temple was also an economic and power center. Along with large cities, numerous rural settlements also appear. However, the advantageous position of Palestine - at the crossroads of trade routes - has long attracted invaders. This determined the course of its history: brief periods of peace were interspersed with new upheavals.
In 2300-2000 BC, Western Palestine is experiencing a "crisis of cities." They are all abandoned and devastated. Various reasons were named: the campaigns of the pharaohs, the invasion of the Amorites, as well as a sharp climate change - it undermined the foundations of the economy. Perhaps, the Russian historian N. Ya. Merpert, biblical tradition will give the answer. The Book of Genesis (14, 1-12) tells about the war of “four kings against five”. The kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Elama fought in it … Perhaps the ruins of the cities of Numeirah and Bab ed-Dhra, recently discovered on the coast of the Dead Sea, remained from that era?
Only a new invasion - now the Semitic-speaking Canaanites - revived urban culture. They settled on fertile lands, and in their neighborhood for many centuries lived nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes of Amorite cattle-breeders: “The Amorites live on the mountain, while the Canaanites live by the sea and on the banks of the Jordan” (Num. 13, 30). The cities are well planned, surrounded by powerful walls and decorated with huge palaces. They resemble the Syrian Ebla, the Mesopotamian Mari, the Egyptian Avaris.
The biblical stories about Abraham, Jacob, Joseph belong to this era. They have long been associated with the gradual resettlement to Egypt of the inhabitants of the Middle East, who were called Hyksos in the land of the pharaohs. After 1650 BC, they began to rule Egypt, which by that time was weakened by unrest. Perhaps this event was reflected in the legend about Joseph, who began to "rule over all the land of Egypt" (Gen. 45, 26), as well as in the story of the resettlement of his father, Jacob, and his brothers "with all that they have" (Gen. 47, 1) to the land of Goshen - a fertile land in the Nile delta near the city of Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos.
After 1530 BC, Ahmose, ruler of Thebes, expelled the Hyksos from Egypt and founded the New Kingdom. The power of the pharaohs extended to Palestine. In all cities, from Gaza to Beth Shan, there were Egyptian governors, overseeing the local kings. The land of the Canaanites turned into a country "where milk and honey flow" (Ex. 3, 8). Palestine was rich, and the lavish decoration of local palaces was the guarantee. Its inhabitants traded with distant countries: Mycenae, Crete and Cyprus, bringing beautiful ceramics from there.
About 1200 the coasts of the Middle East, Asia Minor and Egypt were attacked by the "Sea Peoples." Anarchy ensued in Palestine. From the sea, the Philistines invade here, from the north and east - the Israeli tribes. The resettlement of the Jews was a long-term event and did not resemble the military campaign described in the Book of Joshua. At first, the aliens settled in the desert highlands. They led a semi-nomadic lifestyle, descending at the end of summer into fertile valleys, where they grazed their livestock in harvested fields. They also appeared in cities, came to the marketplaces, gradually assimilating the language and culture of the Canaanites, adopting the skills of construction, metallurgy and the manufacture of ceramics. In recent decades, hundreds of small villages have been discovered in the Galilee, Negev, Trans-Jordan region, near the Dead Sea, dating back to that era.
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At first, there were hardly any clashes between local residents and displaced persons. The nomads could not fight the chariots of the Canaanites. They peacefully occupied the land, not at all trying to "beat all breathing" (Josh. 11, 11). Only over time, having firmly established themselves in certain areas of Palestine, the Israelis began to attack the nearby cities. The conquest of Palestine lasted over two centuries. Jerusalem fell around 1000 BC. The Book of Joshua also recognized that the Israelites could not expel the “Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem,” “and therefore the Jebusites live … in Jerusalem even to this day” (Joshua 15, 63). This is “the city of foreigners” (Judges 19, 12).
The history of the 10th century BC is the history of a united kingdom of Israel. It is described in detail in the Bible, although, as the Israeli archaeologist E. Mazar notes, "it is for the era of the three kings - Saul, David and Solomon - that archaeological evidence is very scarce." Without the Bible, we would know nothing about these kings. From the era of Saul, only one monument is known: the corner of the fortress 7 kilometers north of Jerusalem. Presumably this is Gibeah Saulova (1 Kings 11: 4). David's conquests are confirmed only by a few finds in Jerusalem, as well as modest settlements that arose on the ruins of destroyed cities.
The main buildings of Solomon are known only from biblical texts. The famous Temple in Jerusalem, judging by its descriptions, resembled the temples of the Bronze Age in Ebla, Megiddo, Shechem. It is even built from the same material - the Lebanese cedar, from which the Canaanites and Philistines built their sanctuaries. Such a detail of the temple as “cherubim, spreading their wings over the place of the ark” (1 Kings 8: 7), recalls the motif common in the art of the Canaanites, Phoenicians and Syrians. There were two columns in front of the temple, as in front of the Canaanite sanctuary at Hazor. The temple itself has not been excavated and is not even accessible for research, since a Muslim shrine now stands in its place.
The palace of Solomon was not found (1 Kings 7, 1-12). However, according to the description, it is similar to the monuments of Tire, Sidon, Gezer, Megiddo, Hazor.
But in February 2010, it was announced that a 70-meter fragment of the ancient wall - it was discovered earlier during excavations in Jerusalem, carried out near the Temple Mount - was erected in the era of Solomon and was part of the then city fortifications.
… Such a journey can last for a long time. We never had time to visit Palestine of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the Maccabean brothers and Jesus Christ. Well, the Promised Land is truly a memorial country, and the Bible is truly the holy book of archaeologists.