Walls of Jericho
The walls of Jericho
For Christians, the Bible is the infallible word of God. For others, the Bible is a document written by men with many basic truths. For some, it is just a book of fairy tales to explain away unsolved mysteries. This paper will briefly describe the Bibles account of the battle of Jericho. It will then discuss four major pieces of archeological evidence found at the site of Jericho that accurately corroborates the Bible’s account of the Israelite siege that destroyed the city. Many archeological discoveries have brought increased recognition to the events described in the Bible. The evidence found at the site of Jericho supports the Bible as a credible source of History.
In the Bible’s account of the fall of Jericho, Joshua, who had been chosen to succeed Moses, sent two spies into Jericho. These spies were helped by a prostitute named Rahab whose house was built against one of the outer walls. Before the spies left Jericho they promised Rahab that her family would be spared when the city was destroyed. When the spies returned to camp they informed Joshua of the fear the people inside the city walls were expressing and explained of the promise they made to Rahab for her aid.
The Israelites are then commanded to march around Jericho once each day for six days and seven times on the seventh day. On the last day after the seventh march they were to shout at the walls and then the walls would just fall. God instructed them not to take anything from the city other than precious metals to be kept in the treasury for the lord. The Israelites obeyed their commandments and conquered Jericho Joshua 6:1-27 (New Living Translation). According to the Bible “The harvest had just been taken” Joshua 3:15 (New living translation).
The site at Jericho has had three major excavations. Carl Watzinger and Ernest Sellin led the first excavation from 1907 to 1911. The second excavation was led by John Garstang from 1930 to1936 and the third by Kathleen Kenyan
For Christians, the Bible is the infallible word of God. For others, the Bible is a document written by men with many basic truths. For some, it is just a book of fairy tales to explain away unsolved mysteries. This paper will briefly describe the Bibles account of the battle of Jericho. It will then discuss four major pieces of archeological evidence found at the site of Jericho that accurately corroborates the Bible’s account of the Israelite siege that destroyed the city. Many archeological discoveries have brought increased recognition to the events described in the Bible. The evidence found at the site of Jericho supports the Bible as a credible source of History.
In the Bible’s account of the fall of Jericho, Joshua, who had been chosen to succeed Moses, sent two spies into Jericho. These spies were helped by a prostitute named Rahab whose house was built against one of the outer walls. Before the spies left Jericho they promised Rahab that her family would be spared when the city was destroyed. When the spies returned to camp they informed Joshua of the fear the people inside the city walls were expressing and explained of the promise they made to Rahab for her aid.
The Israelites are then commanded to march around Jericho once each day for six days and seven times on the seventh day. On the last day after the seventh march they were to shout at the walls and then the walls would just fall. God instructed them not to take anything from the city other than precious metals to be kept in the treasury for the lord. The Israelites obeyed their commandments and conquered Jericho Joshua 6:1-27 (New Living Translation). According to the Bible “The harvest had just been taken” Joshua 3:15 (New living translation).
The site at Jericho has had three major excavations. Carl Watzinger and Ernest Sellin led the first excavation from 1907 to 1911. The second excavation was led by John Garstang from 1930 to1936 and the third by Kathleen Kenyan
References: Wilford, J. N. (1990, February22,). Believers score in Battle over the Battle of Jericho. The New York Times. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/1990/02/22/world/believers-score-in-battle-over-the-battle-of-jericho Wood, B., & Byer, G. (2002). Is the Bible accurate concerning the destruction of walls of Jericho []. Retrieved from www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr011