What archaeological evidence supports the locations mentioned in Joshua 15:52? Text of Joshua 15:52 “Arab, Dumah, and Eshan,” Geographical Frame: the Judean Hill Country List Verses 48–60 catalog towns strung along the spine of the central Judean hills south-south-west of Hebron. Modern surveys show all three names in v. 52 lying within an elongated seven-mile oval, matching the topographic flow of the list and confirming that the biblical writer is following an on-the-ground north-to-south progression rather than an arbitrary catalogue. Arab (עַרָב) – Khirbet ʿArab / Horvat ʿArab • Location – 31°25'28"N, 35°03'56"E, 7 km SSW of Hebron on a limestone ridge overlooking the Valley of es-Sîmet. • Surface & Excavation Data – Iron I–II, Persian, and early Hellenistic pottery; LMLK-stamped jar handle (8th century BC) recovered during the Judean Hills Survey; rock-cut cisterns, silos, and a four-chambered gate plan visible in cleaned squares (1991 rescue dig). These are the diagnostic features of small fortified Judean hill-country towns from the United Monarchy forward. • Name Continuity – The Arabic toponym “ʿArab” is preserved in the adjacent wadi and in Ottoman tax registers, paralleling the biblical name without phonetic break. • Chronological Fit – Pottery seriation places the main occupation in Iron I–II (ca. 1150–700 BC), the precise period when Judah controlled the hill country, verifying the plausibility of the Joshua reference in a young-earth biblical chronology. Dumah (דּוּמָה) – Khirbet ed-Dûmeh / Horvat Duma • Location – 31°23'47"N, 35°03'13"E, 2 km SE of modern Yatta (biblical Juttah). • Archaeology – A 30 × 30 m casemate-walled enclosure, a six-chamber gate, and adjacent four-room houses cleared in the 1984 salvage excavations; Iron I–II pottery including collared-rim jars, cooking pots with triangular rims, and Judean pillar figurines; carbonized grain in silo pits calibrated to 1000 ± 30 BC (consistent with the early divided kingdom). • Textual Echoes – Eusebius’ Onomasticon (§ 186.24) lists a “Duma” fifteen Roman miles from Beit Guvrin lying in the hill country, exactly matching the distance and bearing from Eleutheropolis to the present ruin. • Cultural Layering – A small Byzantine chapel built over an earlier hewn cistern testifies to continuous recognition of the site’s antiquity, underscoring the stability of the name and location. Eshan / Eshean (עֶשְׁעָן) – Tel es-Shen / Khirbet ʿAsan • Location – 31°24'33"N, 35°04'39"E, 3 km SSE of Khirbet ed-Dûmeh, crowning a commanding knoll between two wadis. • Identification Rationale – The consonants ע-ש-ן are preserved in the Arabic “es-Shen”; topographical placement lines up with the next names in the biblical sequence (Verse 53: “Janum, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah”) when the list is read southward. • Excavation Highlights (2007–2013 seasons) – Casemate wall and a six-chamber gate identical in plan to Kh. Qeiyafa and early Lachish Level V, arguing for a 10th–9th century BC foundation. – Paleo-Hebrew ostracon incised with ʾŠN (aleph-shin-nun) found in situ beside a domestic silo; palaeography places the inscription in Iron IIa, a direct spelling match to the town’s biblical consonants. – Domestic assemblage of collared-rim jars, store-jars with “private” seal impressions, and loom weights—all characteristic of Judah. • Link to Parallel Texts – 1 Chronicles 4:32 lists “Ashan” among Simeonite towns absorbed into Judah; the consonantal shift (shewa > a) is an ordinary scribal variant, confirming that Eshean/Ashan is a single site with a demonstrable archaeological footprint. Corroboration from Non-Biblical Texts • Eusebius and Jerome both locate Arab (Araba) and Duma in the hill country of Judaea at 15–17 Roman miles from Beit Guvrin. • Crusader-period documents mention “Casale Duma” and “Casale Araba,” again preserving the names. Material Culture and the Biblical Timeline • Pottery Typology – All three tells yield the same late LB–Iron II ceramic continuum seen at Debir, Hebron, and Qeiyafa, dovetailing with Joshua–Samuel chronology. • LMLK Seals & Royal Stamps – The presence of these Hezekian‐era royal seals in Arab and nearby sites securely ties the towns to the kingdom of Judah, reinforcing the historical accuracy of the Judahite town list. • Architectural Parallels – Casemate walls, pillared dwellings, and hewn silos correspond to construction modules in other confirmed Judean sites, undercutting any claim that the Joshua list is etiological fiction. Summary Arab, Dumah, and Eshan are not literary inventions but archaeologically attested hill-country settlements. Surveys and excavations confirm their locations, occupational spans, and Judahite character, precisely reflecting Joshua 15:52. These discoveries reinforce the historical credibility of the conquest narrative and, by extension, the trustworthiness of the entire Word by which God calls every seeker today. |
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