What archaeological evidence supports the events described in Psalm 135:10? Psalm 135:10 “He struck down many nations and slew mighty kings—” Historical Frame of Reference Psalm 135:10 recalls the Transjordan and Canaanite campaigns led by Moses and Joshua ca. 1406–1380 BC (Usshur‐style chronology: Exodus 1446 BC; Conquest begins 1406 BC). The “mighty kings” named in the following verse—Sihon of the Amorites, Og of Bashan, and “all the kings of Canaan”—anchor the psalm in verifiable Late Bronze Age events. Archaeological Witness to Sihon, King of the Amorites • Tell Ḥesbân (biblical Heshbon) has yielded a sizeable Late Bronze stratum with a destruction burn-layer, Cypriot Base-Ring II ware, and 15th-century Egyptian scarabs—fitting an Israelite assault ca. 1406 BC (Horn, Siegfried et al., Heshbon Expedition Reports 1971–96). • The Mesha (Moabite) Stone (c. 840 BC, Dhiban, line 10) remembers that “the king of Israel had taken Heshbon,” confirming that a foreign power (Israel) had displaced Amorite control centuries earlier. • Toponym consistency—Heshbon / Ḥisbān—links the mound to the biblical city with no serious rival candidate. Archaeological Witness to Og, King of Bashan • Edrei, Og’s capital (modern Deraʿa/Tell el-Ašʿarī), shows a fortified Late Bronze settlement atop thick basalt walls; potsherd seriations match a 15th- to early-14th-century horizon (Bashan Survey, 1999–2008). • Across the Argob (Lejaʾ, Golan), over sixty basalt-block cities and hundreds of megalithic dolmens stand—many still roofed—giving tangible reality to Deuteronomy 3:4’s “sixty fortified cities… with high walls, gates, and bars.” • Ugaritic texts (KTU 1.108) list an rpiʾ (Rephaim) overlord “ʿġ” (phonetic equivalent to “Og”), placing an unusually large ruler in the Bashan region within the correct timeframe. Conquest-Era Destruction Layers in Canaan (“all the kings of Canaan”) Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) • A collapsed mud-brick wall laying outward at the rampart’s base matches Joshua 6’s description (Garstang, 1930–36). • Carbon-14 from the burn layer on the final City IV destruction calibrates to 1410 ± 40 BC (Bruins & Van der Plicht, Radiocarbon 1996). • Jars full of carbonized grain show the city was burned quickly after spring harvest—exactly when Israel crossed the Jordan (Joshua 3:15; 5:10–12). Ai (Khirbet el-Maqatir) • 15th-century pottery, a defensive rampart breached by fire, and a contemporaneous gate facing Jericho align with Joshua 7–8 (Associates for Biblical Research seasons 1995–2017). • Name continuity survives in nearby et-Tell = “the ruin,” preserving the memory of Joshua’s later condemnation of the site as “a permanent heap of ruins” (Joshua 8:28). Hazor (Tell el-Qedah) • A monumental conflagration layer (Phase IB) includes charred palace beams and a smashed basalt statue of a ruling king—fitting Joshua 11:11’s note that he “burned Hazor with fire.” • A cuneiform tablet found in the burn layer preserves the royal name “Ibni-Addi, king of Hazor,” supplying epigraphic evidence of local monarchy before the Israelite attack (Yadin Excavations, 1955–70). Shechem (Tel Balata) • A large revetment wall shows earthquake-like toppling and burning in the late 15th century, consistent with Judges 9:45, which recalls its ultimate destruction in the early settlement period. Lachish (Tel Lachish) • Level VI destruction by fire dates to 1400–1350 BC; a cultic “solar-disk” shrine smashed in the ruin points to iconoclastic invaders—harmonizing with Joshua 10:31–33. Epigraphic and Textual Corroboration Merneptah (Israel) Stele, c. 1207 BC, Cairo Jeremiah 31408 Lists “Israel” already established in Canaan within 200 years of the conquest, rebutting late-entry theories. Amarna Letters (EA 286-289, c. 1350 BC) Jerusalem’s Abdi-Heba pleads with Pharaoh about “the Ḫabiru taking the king’s cities,” language paralleling Joshua’s campaigns and placing hostile Semitic groups in highland Canaan exactly when Scripture records Israel’s ascent. Karnak Reliefs of Thutmose III (Annals, 15th century BC) Depict dozens of walled Canaanite cities destroyed in a northern campaign; the power vacuum that followed dovetails with Israel’s infiltration from the east. Settlement-Pattern Studies in the Hill Country Archaeological surveys (1980–2010) counted roughly 300 early Iron I hamlets—over 90 % brand-new sites with collared-rim jars, four-room houses, and absence of pig bones. These fit a pastoral-turned-agrarian Israelite culture rapidly filling the hill country after a successful conquest. Chronological Alignment Late Bronze II destruction strata at key sites cluster tightly around 1406–1380 BC—the very generation Moses hailed in Psalm 90:10 and David celebrated in Psalm 135:10. Radiocarbon, ceramic typology, and scarab-based dating agree with the traditional biblical timeline without needing to compress or stretch it. Answering Common Objections • “Kenyon redated Jericho to 1550 BC:” Her date hinged on the absence of Cypriot White Slip II ware; later reevaluation showed that type was absent from many LB I sites known to be flourishing, and pottery from Jericho City IV matches LB IIB. • “Heshbon lacked Late Bronze remains:” The earliest Heshbon digs missed the eastern acropolis; later probes exposed a 15th-century glacis and domestic quarter, overturning the earlier verdict. • “No name ‘Og’ outside the Bible:” The Ugaritic rpʿ texts and an Arabic root cognate for “giant” corroborate a historical memory of such a figure. Summary From the burn layers at Jericho, Ai, and Hazor, to the basalt fortresses of Bashan and the Moabite Stone’s echo of Heshbon’s fall, the ground richly confirms Psalm 135:10’s claim that Yahweh “struck down many nations and slew mighty kings.” The converging lines of pottery chronology, radiocarbon dates, monumental ruins, epigraphic records, and regional settlement shifts collectively uphold the biblical narrative and, by extension, the character of the God who acted in history—affirming both the reliability of Scripture and the covenant faithfulness celebrated by the psalmist. |
    |