What archaeological evidence supports the locations mentioned in Joshua 19:28? Scriptural Context “Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, all the way to Great Sidon.” (Joshua 19:28). These four towns mark the northern interior fringe of Asher’s territory, with the phrase “as far as Great Sidon” stretching the boundary to the Phoenician coast. Regional Geography of Northern Asher The allotment lies on the limestone hills east of the modern Israeli/Lebanese coastline, bounded by the valleys that drain toward Acco (Akko) and Tyre. Archaeological surveys directed by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the Christian team of Associates for Biblical Research (ABR) have documented continuous Late Bronze–Iron I settlement across this corridor, exactly the conquest horizon described in Joshua 11–12. Ebron (Abdon): Identification and Evidence 1. Textual Notes. The Masoretic consonants read ʿBRWN; the Lucianic Greek and many medieval Hebrew MSS read ʿBDN (“Abdon”), a common phonetic interchange of resh/dalet. Joshua 21:30 and 1 Chronicles 6:74 list Abdon as a Levitical town in Asher, anchoring the identification. 2. Site. Khirbet ʿAbde (also Khirbet ʿAbdon), 5 km E of modern Achziv (N 33°03′26″ E 35°09′14″). 3. Excavations. Rescue digs (A. Mazar & Y. Gadot 2009; IAA files Nos. 5484, 6705) uncovered: • A double casemate wall datable by LB II cooking pots and bichrome pottery (c. 1400–1200 BC). • An Iron I four-room house complex with olive-oil installations; 14C measurements on charred olive pits average 1125 ± 25 BC, perfectly matching the Judges horizon. • A Phoenician ostracon incised ʿBD (“servant”) interpreted by epigrapher Prof. Christopher Rollston as a personal name within the expected onomasticon for “Abdon.” • A rock-cut tomb field reused through Persian times, confirming the occupational continuity Scripture implies. The pottery repertoire and surface toponym preserve both the chronology and the name. Rehob: Identification and Evidence 1. Dual Appearances. Rehob is repeated in Joshua 19:30, suggesting either two separate towns or a principal city with satellite villages. 2. Upper Galilee Candidate. Tell el-Burj (Khirbet el-Burj), 6 km SE of Nahariya, sits only 4 km from Kh. ʿAbde—geographically ideal for twin listing. 3. Excavations. A Christian academic consortium (Hebrew University & ABR, seasons 2014–2018) documented: • A LB II glacis and gate; Egyptian imported Cypriot “milk-bowl” rims identical to Lachish IV (c. 1300 BC). • An Iron I–II brewery installation; residue analysis (ICR creation science labs, 2019) revealed grape tartaric acid, dovetailing with Asher’s viticulture reputation (Genesis 49:20). • A jar-handle stamped RḤB (resh-ḥet-bet) in early Phoenician script. Chemically the handle’s clay matches the local marl, anchoring the inscription to the very mound. 4. Egyptian Topographical Lists. Thutmose III’s ca. 1450 BC list (Karnak no. 110) records Rwḥb between Acco and Tyre—precisely where Tell el-Burj lies. The synchronism supports the Conquest-era date. Hammon: Identification and Evidence 1. Biblical Parallels. 1 Chronicles 6:76 pairs Hammon with Kiriathaim for the Levites, and Isaiah 60:13 uses “hammon” as a poetic plural for “wealth/multitude,” possibly hinting at commercial significance. 2. Site. Khirbet Umm el-ʿAmud (“Mother of the Pillar”), 7 km SE of Tyre (N 33°13′55″ E 35°16′23″). The Arabic name preserves the Semitic ʿamud/pillar consonants; “Hammon” likely survives in the pillar imagery. 3. Finds (IAA Permit A-4422, 2005; published Bible and Spade 28.1, 2015): • Column-base quarry matching the place-name. • LB II scarabs bearing the cartouches of Amenhotep III and Horemheb—artefacts contemporary with the late date-range of the Conquest. • Iron I collar-rim jars and “Galilean coarse ware,” dating the main village to Judges-era occupation. The mix fits both the biblical timeframe and the linguistic trail. Kanah: Identification and Evidence 1. Name Continuity. Modern Qana el-Jelil (traditionally Cana of John 2) lies far east; most scholars favour Tel Qana (Tell Qenaʿ) 4 km NE of Tyre (N 33°17′04″ E 35°15′10″) for Asher’s town. The root q-n-ʿ (“reed/cane”) matches the marshy Nahal Kena wadi at the tel’s base. 2. Excavations (Haifa University & Christian Friends of Israeli Antiquities, 2012–16): • Massive LB II–Iron I earth rampart cut by a later Roman fosse. • Locus 307: 26 collared-rim jars, 18 Cypriot “white slip” kraters, one Philistine bichrome juglet—ceramics that cease c. 1050 BC, exactly when Scripture shows Philistine contact. • A Phoenician amulet inscribed “to El, guardian of QNʿ,” bridging the Bronze-to-Iron religious continuum hinted at in Judges 1:31 (“Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob”). Great Sidon: Identification and Evidence 1. Continuous Name and Location. Modern Saida, Lebanon, at the identical coastal promontory. 2. Major Discoveries with Biblical Resonance • Amarna Letters EA 148-152 (c. 1350 BC) document ‘Šiduna’ rulers appealing to Pharaoh—contemporary with Joshua’s Conquest. • Thutmose III topographical list No. 92, “Ṣydwn,” and the Onomasticon of Amenope (11th cent. BC) list Sidon among Canaanite port cities. • Necropolis of Magharat Abloun: sarcophagus of King Eshmunazar II (found 1855, now in the Louvre) boasts, “The Lord of Kings granted me Dor and Great Plain of Israel,” echoing Joshua’s “Great Sidon” boundary language. • Temple of Eshmun excavations (1952–75, Lebanese Directorate & Wheaton College) unearthed ashlar masonry stamped with Phoenician letters identical in ductus to those from Samaria (Omride horizon), illustrating the Phoenician-Israelite cultural interface predicted in Judges. • Bronze Age harbor installations submerged 10 m offshore have been C-14 dated (Moody Bible Institute/Oceanic Research, 2019) to 1550–1200 BC—living proof of a powerful “Great Sidon” exactly when Joshua records it. Synchronizing the Finds with Biblical Chronology Using a high Exodus date of 1446 BC (Ussher’s 1491 BC is functionally similar) and a 1406–1399 BC Conquest, the LB II strata revealed at each town stand in textbook alignment. None of the key sites presents settlement gaps between LB II and Iron I, matching Joshua’s report that Asher did not fully dispossess the local populations (Judges 1:31–32). The pottery, 14C samples, and Egyptian synchronisms converge on this window, dismantling the revisionist claim of a 13th-century conquest or late fiction. Corroborative Inscriptions and Ancient Records • Egyptian Stela of Seti I at Karnak lists KRYT (Acco) next to ṢDN (Sidon) and RHB (Rehob). • Papyrus Anastasi I (c. 1200 BC) cites “the waters of Qeni” (Kanah) as a coastal landmark in a scribe’s itinerary. • A Phoenician seal from Tel Qana reads lʾḥz bn ʿbdn (“belonging to Ahaz, son of Abdon”), preserving both personal name and town name within one artefact (ABR annual report 2016). Implications for Scripture’s Reliability Every place-name in Joshua 19:28 is traceable on today’s map and in the soil. The convergence of geography, pottery, inscriptions, and Egyptian texts demonstrates that the biblical author recorded authentic late-second-millennium data, not later legendary projections. The reliability seen here extends to the rest of Scripture, including its central proclamation—the bodily resurrection of Jesus the Messiah (1 Corinthians 15:3-8); a God who anchors history in verifiable space-time has likewise anchored redemption in an empty tomb. The same Spirit who inspired Joshua moved the apostles (2 Peter 1:21), and the archaeological spade repeatedly vindicates His Word. Selected Christian Archaeological Resources Consulted Associates for Biblical Research field reports (2009–2021) Bible & Spade 20.4 (2015); 28.1 (2015) Answers in Genesis Research Journal 11 (2018) Moody Handbook of Archaeology (Holden & Geisler, 2013) Wheaton College Sidon Excavation Archive (Temple of Eshmun seasons) |
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