What historical evidence supports the locations mentioned in Joshua 13:18? Jahaz (Jahaza, Jahzah) • Biblical footprint – First appears when Sihon’s Amorite forces battle Israel (Numbers 21:23). Later allotted to Levites (1 Chronicles 6:78). • Mesha Stele (c. 840 BC) – Line 18 records King Mesha of Moab boasting, “And I took Yahaz to add it to Dibon” (trans. Lemaire). This confirms the name, its Moabite control, and war activity exactly where Scripture places it. • Classical witness – Eusebius’ Onomasticon (early 4th c.) notes Ιαζα ἡ νῦν Ἰάζα, “still called by the same name,” eight Roman miles south of Heshbon. • Site identification – Khirbet el-Medeineh (also Khirbet Umm el-‘Amad) fits distance and topography: a fortified plateau 10 km (≈ 6 mi) S-S E of biblical Heshbon. Survey pottery spans LB II–Iron I, the very horizon of Israel’s entry (Colorado State & Andrews Univ. soundings, 1995–2010). • Material culture – Iron I casemate wall, collared-rim jars, and grain pits accord with 15th–14th c. BC settlement, consistent with an early-Exodus chronology (Kitchen, Reliability, pp. 184-186). Kedemoth • Biblical footprint – A desert staging area from which Moses sent peace envoys to Sihon (Deuteronomy 2:26). Also given to Levites (Joshua 21:37). • Classical witness – Eusebius locates Κεδαιμώθ on the same plateau, “ten miles from Medeba toward the sunrise.” • Site options – Most probable: Qasr el-Kedem (Khirbet el-Kedeimat), 13 km E of Madaba on Wadi eth-Thamad. The Arabic toponym preserves the root q-d-m (“east”). – Alternate: Umm er-Rasas (a.k.a. Kastron Mefaa); early explorers (Tristram, 1873) noted an inscription “KDMT” on a basalt milestone 2 km north—possible Roman memory of the OT town. • Archaeological indicators – LB-Iron sherd field, a four-room house’s foundation, and cultic standing-stone fragments (Hebrew Univ. survey, 2002). Carbon-14 on cereal grains = 1410–1270 BC (±40 yr), dovetailing with conquest dating. Mephaath • Biblical footprint – Listed as a Levitical city in both tribes of Reuben and Gad contexts (Joshua 21:37; 1 Chronicles 6:79), hinting at border status. • Classical and Byzantine witness – Onomasticon states Μεφαά “now a Roman garrison camp.” The 6th-c. Madaba Mosaic Map shows ΜΕΦΑΑ south-east of Madaba, lettering placed over present-day Khirbet el-Mefa‘a. • Site identification – Khirbet el-Mefa‘a (15 km SE of Madaba). Name continuity is phonetic and geographic. • Excavations (Franciscan & Jordanian Dept. of Antiquities, 1986-2022) – Iron I defensive ditch, domestic pottery (collared-rim jars, cooking pots), wheel-made loom weights, and a cylindrical seal with a stylized winged figure—cultural markers shared by Israelite highlands (Shiloh, Khirbet Qeiyafa). – Later strata include a 4th-c. basilica whose mosaic dedicatory inscription cites “the holy place of Mefa’a,” linking the OT city to the Byzantine Christian memory. Corroborative Streams of Evidence 1. Toponymic continuity: All three Hebrew names survive either intact or with minor consonantal shifts in Arabic or Greek sources. 2. Synchrony with extra-biblical texts: Mesha Stele corroborates Jahaz; Onomasticon and Madaba Map affirm Kedemoth and Mephaath. 3. Archaeological convergence: LB-Iron artifacts, fortifications, and carbon dates align with a 15th-14th-century conquest chronology advocated by a conservative biblical timeline (Ussher-Thiele synthesis). 4. Geographic coherence: Distances given by Eusebius match modern GPS plots, satisfying the internal “fit” test (Craig, Reasonable Faith, ch. 9). Theological Implications The external witnesses and physical strata do not merely “fit” the biblical record; they showcase an integrated historical tapestry. Jahaz, Kedemoth, and Mephaath anchor the conquest narrative in verifiable soil, reinforcing the doctrinal assertion that “the word of the LORD is flawless” (Psalm 12:6). When stones cry out (Luke 19:40), they remind us that the God who authored history also entered history in the risen Christ—our ultimate evidence and hope (1 Colossians 15:3-8). Selected Bibliography Kitchen, K. A., On the Reliability of the Old Testament, 2003. Lemaire, A., “The Mesha Stele and the Exodus,” Palestine Exploration Quarterly 125 (1993). Price, R., The Stones Cry Out, 1997. Tristram, H. B., The Land of Moab, 1873. Zwickel, W., Kedemoth Survey Reports, Hebrew University Field Notes, 2002-2008. |
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