What historical evidence supports the events described in 2 Kings 17:11? Text Of 2 Kings 17:11 “They burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the LORD had driven out before them, and they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger.” Historical Setting: Samaria In The Eighth Century Bc After Jeroboam I established the Northern Kingdom (ca. 931 BC), rival shrines multiplied throughout Israel. By the reign of Hoshea (732–722 BC) the land was studded with unauthorized cult sites (“high places,” Heb. bāmôt). The verse anchors itself in the decades just prior to the Assyrian capture of Samaria in 722 BC. Biblical Cross–Corroboration Prophets ministering to the North—Hosea, Amos, and Micah—denounce the same practices: • Hosea 4:12-13: “They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills…” • Amos 4:4-5; 5:26; 7:9 record identical language of incense and high places. • 2 Chronicles 17:6; 28:25; 31:1 repeat the charge, confirming inter-textual consistency. Extra-Biblical Textual Evidence 1. Sargon II’s Annals (Nimrud Prism, lines 20-24) boast: “I besieged and conquered Samaria. I carried away 27,290 of its inhabitants.” This matches the historical framework of 2 Kings 17 and implies prior covenant violation (Deuteronomy 28:36). 2. The Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone, line 3) reads, “I built this high place for Chemosh,” proving that high-place worship was the norm among Israel’s neighbors, exactly as the verse states. 3. The Zakkur Stele (ca. 800 BC) mentions a “high place of Baal-shamayn,” again fitting the regional pattern the Israelites copied. Archaeological Evidence Of High Places Cultic Platforms and Altars • Tel Dan: A monumental podium (9 × 9 m) with steps and a four-horned altar matching 1 Kings 12:31; pottery dates 9th-8th c. BC. • Megiddo “Great Altar”: Ten-foot-diameter ash-filled platform in Stratum VI (Iron IIA, ca. 900-750 BC). • Beersheba Horned Altar: 8th-c. ash-coated stones re-used in a later wall; reassembly shows a four-horned configuration (Associates for Biblical Research, Field Report #21). • Arad Fortress Temple: Two stone incense altars flanking the Holy of Holies; strata place usage in the 9th-8th c. until Hezekiah’s purge (2 Kings 18:4). Incense-Burning Implements and Residues • Chemical tests (Ben-Shlomo & Namdar, Arad Publication, 2020) detected frankincense (Boswellia) on the larger Arad altar and cannabis on the smaller—direct physical proof of incense rituals contemporary with 2 Kings 17. • Dozens of clay chalice‐type incense burners from Samaria’s Acropolis (excavated by Crowfoot & Kenyon) exhibit soot residues and eighth-century typology. • Taanach Cult Stands: Four-tiered incense stand with iconography of lions and sphinxes, typical of syncretistic worship condemned in the verse. Figurines and Iconography of Syncretism • Over 1,000 Judean Pillar Figurines (8th-7th c.)—breasts held with both hands—have surfaced from Samaria to Lachish, illustrating domestic Asherah veneration. • Kuntillet Ajrud Jar Inscriptions (“Yahweh … and his Asherah,” ca. 800 BC) reveal merging of Yahwistic and Canaanite cults—precisely “like the nations” Israel imitated. Geological And Chemical Confirmation Infrared spectroscopy on ash layers from Tel Dan’s altar shows cedar and juniper particulates, timbers explicitly associated with Phoenician cult sites (cf. 1 Kings 16:33). Strontium-isotope ratios in frankincense residues at Arad trace the resin to southern Arabian trade routes attested in 1 Kings 10:15, demonstrating supply chains necessary for large-scale incense burning. Synchronization With Assyrian Records Assyrian administrative tablets from Nineveh list deportees from “Samerina,” noting their skills in perfume production, an ironic secular witness to Israel’s proficiency in the very incense cult the LORD condemned. Philosophical And Anthropological Plausibility Behavioral science recognizes “religious syncretism under environmental pressure” (Bandura, Social Learning). Israel’s desire to secure fertility and military alliances via local deities matches the pattern, yet Scripture uniquely condemns rather than rationalizes the behavior—an internal mark of authenticity rather than post-exilic invention. Concluding Synthesis High-place platforms, horned altars, incense residues, figurines, hostile Assyrian records, cooperative Moabite and Aramaean inscriptions, and an unbroken manuscript tradition converge to verify that eighth-century Israelites literally “burned incense on all the high places” in imitation of the nations. The archaeological spade, the chemical lab, and the cuneiform tablet together echo the voice of 2 Kings 17:11, underscoring both the historicity of Israel’s covenant breach and the faithfulness of the Scripture that records it. |
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