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August 5, 2005
King David's Palace Uncovered?
Eilat Mazar, an Israeli archaeologist, has uncovered the remnants of a 10th-9th century BCE monumental building that she claims to be the remains of King David's palace. The dating is based on pottery finds. The site is apparently the same one that yielded the seal that I mentioned the other day.
The building can be reasonably dated by the pottery found above and below it. Ms. Mazar found on the bedrock a large floor of crushed limestone, indicating a large public space. The floor and fill above it contain pottery from Iron Age I of the 12th to 11th centuries B.C., just before David conquered Jerusalem.Above that, Ms. Mazar found the foundations for this monumental building, with large boulders for walls that are about 2 yards thick and extend at least 30 yards. In one corner was pottery of Iron Age II, the 10th to 9th centuries, roughly the time of the united kingdom.
Unfortunately, Ms. Mazar said, she found no floor. It is clear the building was constructed after the pottery underneath it, but less clear exactly how much later. [New York Times]
And there is the rub, while the original building is older than the time of David, and the more recent occupation can be as late as the 9th century, there is no way, as yet, of knowing exactly when it was built. Also is the seal associated with this occupation layer, what, as Jim West asks, "is a 6th century seal doing in a 10th century layer?" Is there something wrong with the reports? For now, Mazar's interpretation seems to me to be a considerable over interpretation of the currently available evidence.
The discovery, whatever its exact date, the find will add fuel to both the minimalist/maximalist debate.
As the International Herald Tribune said,
There is a debate among archaeologists "to what extent Jerusalem was an important city or even a city in the time of David and Samuel," he [Amihai Mazar, Eilat Mazar's second cousin] said. "Some believe it was tiny and the kingdom unimportant.
It will also fuel the fire of the current political struggle in the Near East. Many Palestinians see Mazar's work, and the work of many archaeologists as efforts to provide support for Zionist beliefs in the occupation of land that is currently in Palestinian hands. To continue her work, Mazar wants to excavate where three Palestinian families currently live.
One of the biggest problems is that we are dealing with news reports rather than published excavation reports.
This discovery will be hotly debated for a very long time. I will keep you posted.
Others who have commented on the discovery:
Tyler Williams at Codex
Jim West at Biblical Theology
Jim Davila on PaleoJudaica
Posted by Duane Smith at August 5, 2005 11:43 AM | Read more on Archaeology |
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