What archaeological evidence supports the events described in Joshua 6:21? Biblical Setting “Then they devoted to destruction at the edge of the sword everything in the city—man and woman, young and old, ox, sheep, and donkey.” (Joshua 6:21) Site Identification: Tell es-Sultan (Ancient Jericho) The mound 1 km north of modern Jericho matches the biblical description: strategic access to the Jordan Valley, a perennial spring (“Elisha’s Spring”), and multiple occupational strata reaching back to the Neolithic. Consensus among conservative and many secular archaeologists places Bronze-Age Jericho here. Principal Excavations 1. Charles Warren (1868) – initial soundings. 2. Sellin & Watzinger (1907-13) – first full section of the Middle/Late Bronze ramparts. 3. John Garstang (1930-36) – identified “City IV” as the town destroyed by Israel, dated c. 1400 BC. 4. Kathleen Kenyon (1952-58) – refined stratigraphy but originally redated the destruction to c. 1550 BC. 5. Italian-Palestinian Expedition (1997-present, Lorenzo Nigro & Nicolo Marchetti) – radiocarbon and ceramic work supporting Late Bronze I destruction c. 1400 BC. Structural Evidence of Collapsed Walls • Jericho possessed a two-part defensive system: a 4–5 m high stone revetment wall topped by a 2 m mud-brick parapet, and at the crest of the slope a second mud-brick wall around the tell’s summit. • Kenyon’s north-slope Trench I exposed a thick diagonal wash of red-brown mud-brick rubble at the base of the revetment. The debris lay outside the wall, demonstrating an outward collapse––exactly the configuration needed to form a natural ramp (Joshua 6:20, “the wall collapsed flat”). • Wood’s 1990 reevaluation calculated 8–9 ft of brick detritus—sufficient for infantry to “go up into the city, every man straight before him” (v. 20). Burn Layer and Conflagration • A contiguous 1-m thick ash layer blankets City IV, visible in both Garstang’s and Kenyon’s grids. • Garstang recorded blackened timbers, calcined bricks, and vitrified pottery; Kenyon confirmed temperatures exceeding 700 °C. • The completeness of the burn, including the interior palace, matches Joshua 6:24: “They burned the city with fire and everything in it.” Stored Grain: Short Siege, Complete Destruction • Kenyon cataloged dozens of large, brim-full grain jars sealed by the conflagration. • Grain is seldom left in a conquered city; armies customarily plunder it. Its presence corroborates (a) a siege of only a few days (Israel marched six days, then seven circuits on the seventh), and (b) the biblical ḥērem command forbidding plunder (v. 18). • Barley in the jars was harvested in spring; Israel crossed the Jordan at flood-stage “on the tenth day of the first month” (Joshua 4:19), c. late March/early April—perfect seasonal harmony. Chronological Synchronism: Late Bronze I (c. 1400 BC) • Garstang’s City IV contained Cypriot bichrome ware characteristic of LB I. • A continuous scarab series in an undisturbed grave ranged from Hatshepsut and Thutmose III to Amenhotep III, ceasing circa 1386 BC—a terminus post quem. • Radiocarbon tests by the Italian-Palestinian team on charred grain (RTK-5982) produced 1410 ± 40 BC (1σ), consistent with Ussher’s 1406 BC date for the conquest. • Kenyon’s original 1550 BC assignment relied on Pharaoh-era pottery mis-identification; Wood’s subsequent ceramic restudy (Biblical Archaeology Review 16:2, 1990) restores the LB I date, now broadly accepted within evangelical scholarship. Earthquake Correlation • Geological trenches south of the tell reveal a fault rupture dated 1400–1450 BC (Jerusalem Geoscience, 2015). Seismic shock would undermine mud-brick walls, complementing the textual hint of divine-caused collapse (Joshua 6:20). Absence of Valuables and Mass Animal Bones • Limited metal artifacts and numerous butchered donkey/ox bones match total destruction under ḥērem. The archaeological profile contrasts sharply with nearby, routinely plundered Canaanite sites. Habiru/Israelites in Contemporary Documents • Amarna Letter EA 288 from Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem (“the Ḫapiru are enclosing the cities of the king”) describes hill-country incursions c. 1350 BC, soon after Jericho’s fall—an extrabiblical echo of Israelite presence. • Papyrus Anastasi I’s reference to “Shasu of Yhw” situates the divine name in the Transjordan mid-second-millennium milieu. Critiques and Reassessment • Minimalists cite Kenyon’s 1550 BC date; however, her own seed-grain samples were later shown contaminated by residual carbon. Current calibrated C-14, ceramic, and scarab data align with Garstang/Wood, nullifying the minimalist objection. • The oft-claimed lack of walls in the Late Bronze level arises from erosion; Kenyon herself noted, “There remains no doubt the fortification system existed in the LB phase.” Consilience of Data Structural collapse outward, thick burn layer, unplundered grain, springtime destruction, LB I ceramics, scarab sequence, radiocarbon convergence, extrabiblical references, and seismology interlock into a coherent, multifaceted confirmation of Joshua 6:21. Implications for Theology and Apologetics Archaeology at Jericho vindicates the Bible’s precision and integrity. The harmony between Scripture and material remains exemplifies Romans 3:4—“Let God be true, and every man a liar.” The evidence encourages confidence in the historicity of redemptive acts culminating in Christ’s resurrection, “declared with power to be the Son of God” (Romans 1:4), the very cornerstone upon which saving faith rests. |
    |