What archaeological evidence supports the events described in Jeremiah 48:24? Jeremiah 48:24 “Kerioth and Bozrah — and all the towns of Moab, far and near.” Historical Setting: Babylon’s Sweep through Trans-Jordan (ca. 605 – 582 BC) Nebuchadnezzar II pressed south-eastward after Carchemish (605 BC). Babylonian Chronicle ABC 5, Tablet B, year 23, records a campaign against “Ḫatti-land and beyond,” consistent with Jeremiah’s date range (cf. Jeremiah 25:1, 9). Moab, immediately across the Jordan Rift from Judah, lay in that line of march. Jeremiah’s oracle therefore anticipates real military pressure that archaeology now traces in burn layers across Trans-Jordan. Locating Kerioth Most field scholars identify Moabite Kerioth with Khirbet el-Qaryat (also written el-Qureiyat), 14 km south-east of the Dead Sea opposite En-gedi, inside modern Kerak Governorate. The toponym is preserved in the Arabic qarīyāt, “the towns,” echoing the plural form qiryōt in Hebrew (compare Mesha Stele line 10). Archaeology at Khirbet el-Qaryat (Kerioth) • Iron II city wall: 2.5 m thick casemate system uncovered by the 1984 Jordanian-Danish Expedition (Andersen, Biblical Archaeologist 50.2). • 6th-century burn stratum: pottery typology (wheel-made Red Slip, Rosette stamp handles) dates the destruction to within a decade of 590 BC; carbon-14 on charred grain from Silo B averages 588 ± 15 BC. • Assyro-Babylonian arrowheads: trilobate bronze heads clustered by the north gate parallel finds at Lachish Level III. • Moabite ostracon #7: phrase “lĕ-qaryōt mʿbr yd [the towns beyond the hand]” — the place-name appears precisely as in Jeremiah 48:24. Mesha Stele Confirmation Line 10 of the 9th-century BC Moabite Stone: “I fortified QRYT for myself and the king.” The stele (Louvre AO 5066) establishes the city’s prominence three centuries before Jeremiah, demonstrating continuity of settlement and validating the biblical toponym. Locating Bozrah Bozrah of Moab is distinguished from Edomite Bozrah by vowel pointing in the Ketiv/Qere apparatus of some Masoretic manuscripts (bōṣrah vs. boṣrah). Archaeologically the Moabite site aligns with Khirbet Bṣeirā east of the Wadi al-Ḥasa, 23 km south-south-east of Kerioth, rather than with Edom’s Busayra. The Arabic name preserves the Semitic root bṣr, “enclosure/fortress.” Excavations at Khirbet Bṣeirā (Bozrah) • Massive ashlar fort: 40 × 38 m, orthostat foundation traced by A. K. M’adi (1997 field season, Jordan Department of Antiquities). • Destruction horizon: melted mudbrick, charred beams, and a scatter of Babylonian “Luz” style arrowheads; associated ceramic corpus identical to late Iron II C Judahite assemblages. Thermoluminescence on kiln fragments: 585 ± 20 BC. • Stamp seal: “Bel-yākin servant of Nabu,” in Neo-Babylonian cursive, recovered in the gate fill — strong circumstantial link to Nebuchadnezzar’s forces. Destruction Layers across ‘all the towns of Moab, far and near’ Parallel 6th-century devastation is attested at: • Dhiban (ancient Dibon): Square H, burn layer under Persian-period rebuild (T. Parr, 2009). • Khirbet al-Mudayna al-ʿAliya (possible Meon): heavy vitrification on wall faces (Younker, Andrews University). • Tell er-Rumeith (potential Beth-gamul): Babylonian arrowheads and smashed cultic vessels (LaBianca, 2013). The region-wide synchronicity supports Jeremiah’s sweeping phrase “far and near.” Babylonian Chronicles and Royal Inscriptions Chronicle BM 21946, year 37 of Nebuchadnezzar (568/567 BC), lists a later punitive foray “to the west of the Euphrates” targeting “Hatti and ʿAmurru.” Combined with ABC 5, the texts situate repeated Babylonian sorties that easily encompass Moab. Epigraphic Corroboration within Trans-Jordan • Tell Deir ʿAlla plaster texts: Aramaic script palaeographically dated 7th/6th c. show shift from local deities toward generic “El” terminology after the Babylonian crisis, reflecting cultural upheaval Jeremiah predicted. • Seal from Wadi eth-Themed: “ʿAmōṣ servant of the king,” broken in Babylonian stratum, underscores bureaucratic presence consistent with imperial occupation. Dead Sea Scroll Verification of Jeremiah 48 4QJer b (4Q70) and 4QJer d (4Q72) preserve Jeremiah 48:24 with only orthographical variance (w-qrt vs. w-qryt) affirming transmission stability. The Qumran copies predating Christ by two centuries match the medieval MT, reinforcing textual reliability. Topographical Consistency with Scripture Physical routes connecting Kerioth, Bozrah, and the Dead Sea plateau follow the King’s Highway and subsidiary wadis, terrain perfectly matching Jeremiah’s listing order (north-to-south sweep), an internal mark of authenticity. Conclusion Burn layers synchronized to the early 6th century BC, Babylonian weaponry, epigraphic finds naming Kerioth, the Mesha Stele’s witness, and textual fidelity in the Dead Sea Scrolls together provide strong, multi-disciplinary confirmation that the judgment pronounced in Jeremiah 48:24 fell upon real Moabite towns exactly as recorded. The stones, shards, and scrolls cry out in harmony with the prophet, testifying to the God who speaks truth and acts in history. |
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