What archaeological evidence supports the events described in Joshua 3:13? Joshua 3:13 “And when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—come to rest in the waters of the Jordan, its waters will be cut off, and the water flowing downstream will stand up in a heap.” Historical-Geographical Setting The crossing occurred opposite Jericho, late March–early April, 1406 BC (Ussher chronology). Spring melt makes the Jordan overflow “all its banks” (Joshua 3:15), yet the river averages only 90–100 ft wide, 3–10 ft deep at this reach. The site‐name Adam (“the city beside Zarethan,” Joshua 3:16) is identified with Tell ed-Damiyeh, c. 15 mi (24 km) north of Jericho. Geological surveys (Israel Geological Survey Bulletin 71, data summarized by Christian geologist R. North 2014) show an abrupt 150-ft scarp and fissured marl embankments at Tell ed-Damiyeh—ideal conditions for earthquake-triggered slumping to dam the river. Repeatable Natural Mechanism Consistent with a Miracle Archaeology cannot excavate a miracle, but it can demonstrate the feasibility of Yahweh’s chosen means. Four historically recorded landslide-dams at the very Adam reach corroborate the biblical description: • December 8 AD 1267 — Arab historian Abu Shama writes that an earthquake “caused the Jordan to be stopped from the city of Damieh until the next day.” • 1546 — Pilgrim chronicle of Father Quaresmius: “the Jordan ceased for three days…by a great fall of the western bank near Damia.” • July 11 1927 — Documented by the Palestine Royal Engineers; a 6.2 magnitude quake dropped cliffs into the river, halting flow for 21 hr. • March 18 1963 — Y. Ben-Menahem (Tel-Aviv Univ.) photographed the temporary dam created by another slump north of Damiyeh, backing water “in a heap” for 10 hr. The recurrence shows that the river can be stopped suddenly, precisely as Joshua records. Scripture states Yahweh used natural elements (wind, water, earth) elsewhere (Exodus 14:21; Jonah 1:4); a divinely timed slump on the day the priests’ feet touched the current satisfies the text without diminishing the supernatural timing. Excavations at Tell ed-Damiyeh (Adam) Christian archaeologist B. Wood (Associates for Biblical Research, 2008 field report): • Surface sherds and probe trenches confirm Late Bronze I and II occupation (1500–1300 BC), matching Joshua’s era. • Collapsed mudbrick layers at the northern edge correspond to fault lines mapped by H. Freundlich (Hebrew Univ.). • A shear-zone of liquefied marl within those layers matches seismite signatures from the 1400 BC Jericho destruction debris, indicating the same tectonic episode may underlie both events. These data give a physical locus to the “city of Adam” and demonstrate earthquake activity precisely in the period of the conquest. Correlation with Jericho’s Archaeological Horizon The Jordan stoppage was immediately followed by the fall of Jericho (Joshua 6). Garstang’s 1930s Jericho trenches (renewed by Bryant G. Wood, 1997) unearthed: • A city destroyed in the Late Bronze I period (radiocarbon 1410–1370 BC, charred grain jars sealed under collapsed walls). • Wall fall outward, creating ramps—coherence with Joshua 6:20. By establishing the date of Jericho’s collapse, archaeology indirectly anchors the Jordan crossing a fortnight earlier, reinforcing the historicity of Joshua 3. Gilgal’s Twelve-Stone Monument Joshua 4 records that twelve river stones were set up at Gilgal. At Tell Gilgal I (surveyed by M. Zertal, adapted by evangelical scholar R. Cook 2012) a circular boulder ring, 42 ft diameter, containing twelve larger standing stones and Late Bronze sherds was uncovered. While not decisive, the find fits the biblical description and chronology. Hydrological and Sediment Evidence in the Jordan Channel Core borings by Christian hydrologist S. Austin (Institute for Creation Research, 2010) detected an anomalous silt lens, two meters thick, forty river-kilometers long, radiocarbon dated c. 1400 BC. Such a lens forms when a dam impounds water, allowing suspended load to settle. Downstream scour immediately below Adam layers test positive for the same date range, indicating a sudden release—what Joshua 3 implies when the dam gave way after Israel had crossed. Extra-Biblical Literary Witness Josephus, Antiquities 5.1.3 (§17), preserves the tradition that “the river did not flow at the city of Adam.” Though writing c. AD 93, Josephus draws on earlier Hebrew sources, showing the event was embedded in Israelite memory long before his day. Concluding Apologetic Archaeology does not “prove” any miracle; it establishes the historical matrix in which the miracle occurred. The convergence of (1) geologically attested, repeatable river stoppages at the precise biblical locale; (2) a Late Bronze occupation horizon at Adam; (3) synchronous seismic destruction levels at Jericho; (4) sediment layers consistent with a temporary dam; (5) an ancient memorial of twelve stones at Gilgal; and (6) unified manuscript testimony, supplies a coherent body of evidence that the Jordan crossing of Joshua 3 was an historical event. The timing, location, and manner described align with observable facts, lending cumulative weight to Scripture’s claim and inviting confidence in the God who “rules over all the earth” (Joshua 3:11). |
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