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Bible 101

Lesson 5: Archaeological Proof: Are the Stories we read about in the OT true?

The Walls of Jericho

The story of the fall of Jericho is another Bible favorite that many do not choose to believe. Yet, there have been extensive excavations in this area, most notably by John Garstang (8) in the 1940's and Kathleen Kenyon (9) in the 1950's, that point conclusively to a massive layer of destruction around the time of 1400 BC, which was followed by an extended period during which the city was abandoned. This timeline is in direct harmony with the Bible story. Their discoveries were:

Jericho was strongly fortified in the late bronze period, the time of the conquest according to the biblical chronology (Joshua 2:5,7,15).

Jericho suffered total destruction by fire (Joshua 6:24).

The strong walls collapsed at the time the city was destroyed, possibly by earthquake activity. (Joshua 6:20).

Jericho fell at harvest time, in the spring, as indicated by the large quantities of grain stored in the city (Joshua 2:6, 3:15, 5:10)

The siege of Jericho was short, as the grain stored in the city was not consumed (Joshua 6:15,20).

Opposed to custom, the grain was not plundered, in accordance to the command given to Joshua (Joshua 6:17,18).