The history of early Israelites can be an intriguing subject considering that there are multiple pathways to exploring it. Ultimately, it can be expected that the biblical texts and accounts offer the best insight into the history of early Israelites. However, the presence of other historical documents, tests, and artifacts may seek to offer a different opinion. Modern historians like to use artifacts to reconstruct the past, which means that archaeology is an alternative way to tell the story. However, one of the most interesting phenomena is the fact that the archaeological findings do not always confirm the Bible. Therefore, multiple accounts may emerge as explained by Avner (2021), who finds that one account states that early Israelites came from outside Cana‘an and conquered it. a different account states that the early Israelites emerged from within Cana’an to form a new polity and culture. The focus of this essay is to explore this history in terms of what archaeology confirms from the scripts.
Before exploring the archaeological findings and comparing them with the Bible, it is important to understand what is meant by the term ‘early Israelites.’ In this case, the patriarchs of Israel are Abraham, his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob, who was given the name Israel. All of them lived in the land of Cana’an, which later became the land of Israel. Jacob has 12 sons, who came to form the 12 tribes and formed the early Israelites (Mark, 2018). The same land of Cana’an was also conquered by the Hebrew General Joshua following the exodus from Egypt, which was led by Moses. Therefore, it is argued, for the context of this paper, that the early Israelites covers the periods between Jacob and Joshua. The rationale is that this is the period that covers their emergence and the final settlement of the land of Israel after being freed from servitude in Egypt. The year 1250 BCE is when Joshua conquered Cana’an, which means that this was the year the Israelites settled in their land. As such, the archeological materials dated before the 13 century BCE should prove useful for this paper.
The history of the early Israelites can be described as one that involved multiple conquests between Israel and her enemies. These events are narrated throughout the Old Testament and several archaeological artifacts were found to support the narratives behind these events. For example, a Moabite stone was discovered in Jerusalem in 1886 by a missionary after it appeared for sale. The sellers had broken the stone into multiple pieces to sell them one at a time to allow them to make more money from it. however, a copy of the tablet was made before it was broken. The tablet contains text written on Moabite and dates to the 9th century BC. It is considered to be a victory stone erected by King Mesha as a commemoration of his achievement during the war with Israel in 850 BC when Moab revolted against King Jehoram after the death of King Ahab.
The Moabite stone can be considered an important archaeological find that supports the scriptures in their narration of the history of early Israelites. The story of the Moabite revolt is contained in 2 Kings 3 (Currid, 2018). Verses 1-8 of this book start by stating that it was in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah when Jehoram, son of King Ahab became the king of Israel in Samaria. Mesha was the king of Moab and was required to deliver to Jehoram 100000 lambs and wool of 100000 rams. However, Mesha rebelled against Jehoram, which made the King of Israel march out of Samaria and asked Jehoshaphat to battle with him against Moab. Therefore, the Moabite stone confirms that indeed these events took place. However, slight differences may appear between the story that the tablet tells and that of the scriptures. For example, the tablet focuses on the successes of Mesha in capturing cities under Israelite control while the Bible pays more attention to Israel’s successful counterattacks against the Moabites.
As mentioned earlier, the 13th century BC covers the era of the exodus from Egypt and a time when Israelites, led by Joshua, settled in the land of Cana’an after their servitude in Egypt. One of the archaeological findings that depict this era is the Merneptah Stele, which is an ancient Egyptian inscription dating from about 1205 BCE. Discovered in 1896, the Merneptah Stele was erected in the 5th year of Pharaoh Merneptah, son of Ramesses II (Kettley, 2020a). The monument tells of the military victories over a series of enemies, including the Israelites who lived to the north of Egypt. However, it is important to acknowledge that experts are still debating the use of this artifact to inform the history of ancient Israel. However, the fact that the monument mentions that a people called ‘Israel’ was wiped out by the conquering pharaoh hints at the encounters between Egypt and the Israelites.
While the Merneptah Stele may be evidence of earlier encounters between early Israelites and Egypt, other archeological findings may offer proof of the end of the exodus when the Israelites returned to Cana’an. The walls of Jericho are one example that marks 40 years after the exodus when Israelites finally conquered Cana‘an. Archaeological discoveries have confirmed several elements of the fall of Jericho. The battle of Jericho is described in the book of Joshua and it marked the first battle fought in the Israelites’ conquest of Cana’an. Additionally, this event is one of the most popular in the history of early Israelites, especially since it marked initial victories and highlighted how God fought for and with the people. In this case, all that was needed from the Israelites is to march around the wall blowing their trumpets and the wall fell (Kettley, 2020b). in this case, the fact that archaeologists have found the location of the wall and several remains prove its existence.
However, it can be argued that several additional details would be needed to confirm some of the specific incidences contained in the biblical narrative. For example, the scriptures state that the wall fell as a result of the stampede by the Israelites. This fact is yet to be confirmed, even though evidence shows that the walls did fall outwards and down the slope on which the city was built. Additionally, the Bible expresses that the Israelites burned down the city, which is confirmed by the evidence of a burned layer that occurred after the walls fell. The high temperatures are used by archaeologists as evidence that the city was intentionally burned by an enemy. According to Kettley (2020b), there may be historical inaccuracies in the account of the event contained in the Old Testament. However, evidence of the incidences is available even if the details of the actual occurrences could be obscured as a result of potential bias.
It is important to acknowledge that many archaeological findings are in the form of inscriptions that record various events that marketed the history of early Israelites. According to Pike (2020), such inscriptions have been found in ancient Israel and her immediate neighbors, including Edom, Moab, Ammon, Phoenicia, and Philistia. However, these findings tend to pale in comparison to the multiple texts found in such places as Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia, most of which offer the cultural and historical context of the early Israelites including the times of Lehi and Jeremiah. The Babylonians had conquered Jerusalem and Judah in 597 BC and destroyed Solomon’s temple in 586 BC. In this incident, thousands of Judahites were killed and exiled. Examples of the inscriptions that have been found marking these events include Lachish ostraca, Arad ostraca, and Ophel ostracon. The presence of these archaeological artifacts and the deciphered texts have backed some of the major events described in the scriptures regarding the history of early Israelites.
In conclusion, the history of the early Israelites is a topic of interest among scholars due to the number of issues it raised. This essay established that some of the major events in the history of early Israelites have been confirmed by archaeological findings. However, it can be expressed that the artifacts confirm that events took place but the accuracy of the accounts could be questioned. In the first example used, it has been described how the Moabite table indicates the successes of Mesha while the Bible focuses majorly on the successful counterattacks by the Israelites.
References
Avner, U. (2021). The desert’s role in the formation of early Israel and the origin of Yhwh. Entangled Religions, 12(2), 1-57.
Currid, J. (2018). 10 archaeological discoveries related to the Bible.
Kettley, S. (2020a). Merneptah Stele: How this 3,200-year artifact could prove the Bible was RIGHT. Express.
Kettley, S. (2020b). Archaeology bombshell: The ‘evidence’ that can prove Bible’s account of fall of Jericho. Express.
Mark, J. (2018). Israel. World History.
Pike, D. (2020). Israelite inscriptions from the time of Jeremiah and Lehi. Faculty Publications, 193-244.