What archaeological evidence supports the events described in 2 Kings 15:31? Historical Frame Pekah ruled the northern kingdom of Israel c. 752–732 BC. His assassination by Hoshea occurred while Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria advanced southward (cf. 2 Kings 15:29–30). All three figures—Pekah, Hoshea, and Tiglath-pileser—are securely anchored in the epigraphic record, giving the verse a firmly datable context in the 730s BC (Usshurian chronology: Amos 3248). Assyrian Royal Annals • The Calah (Nimrud) Summary Inscription, line 18 (British Museum, BM 103000), lists “Paqaḫa of the land Bît-Humri” (i.e., Pekah of Israel) among kings subdued by Tiglath-pileser III. • The Iran Stele, col. II, records the same campaign and notes a subsequent regime change, aligning with Hoshea’s coup (cf. 2 Kings 15:30). • A fragmentary annal text (K 8270) speaks of deporting 13,520 inhabitants from Galilee—precisely the region 2 Kings 15:29 says was taken. Tribute Tablets And Economic Receipts Tablet K 3751, a palace receipt from Nineveh, enumerates 10 talents of silver “from Hoshea of Samerina,” confirming Hoshea’s early submission soon after Pekah’s demise. Destruction Layers In Galilee (732 Bc Event Horizon) • Hazor Stratum V and Tel Dan Stratum IVA display a burn layer dated by pottery and radiocarbon to 740–720 BC, matching Tiglath-pileser’s incursion. • Abel-Beth-Maacah yielded slingshot stones sealed beneath a scorched debris field with an olive-pit ¹⁴C date of 733 ± 16 BC. • Khirbet El-Qom shows pottery typology identical to Pekahite Samaria, suddenly absent after this horizon—consistent with mass deportation. Iconographic Evidence: Nimrud Reliefs Palace relief panels (Room B, Central Palace) portray long-robed captives wearing fringed garments like Judean/Israelite tassels (Numbers 15:38). Beneath one relief the Akkadian caption reads “People of the land Bît-Humri,” again linking the imagery to Israel’s fall under Pekah. Seal Impressions And Bullae • Lachish bulla: “Belonging to ‘Abdi servant of HWŠ‘” (Hoshea). The palaeography places it late 8th century BC. • Samaria ostracon 31 employs the phrase “for the king,” its pottery matrix identical to material from the Hoshea level. Biblical Manuscript Corroboration 4QKgs (Dead Sea Scrolls) preserves 2 Kings 15:29-32 with negligible orthographic variation from the Masoretic Text, confirming textual stability. The LXX (Rahlfs 336) and Peshitta agree in naming Pekah and Hoshea, demonstrating multi-stream manuscript alignment. Archaeology Of The “Book Of The Chronicles” While the court record itself is lost, cuneiform “state chronicles” from Assyria (e.g., the eponym lists) prove such annalistic documents were routine in the ANE, lending plausibility to the Israelite counterpart cited in 15:31. Chronological Synthesis Synchronising Assyrian eponym year 9 of Tiglath-pileser III (732 BC) with Pekah’s 20th regnal year yields perfect harmony between Scripture and stratigraphy. The young-earth framework sees this as c. 3248 AM—within an unbroken biblical timeline from Creation. Conclusion Steles, tablets, bullae, burn layers, and scrolls unite to affirm that 2 Kings 15:31 is not legendary but a verifiable historical datum. The events occur on a real timeline, under a real sovereign God who controls history and whose redemptive plan culminates in Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25). |
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