What archaeological evidence supports the historical accuracy of events in Joshua 6:6? Text of Joshua 6:6 “So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, ‘Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.’ ” Geographic and Stratigraphic Identification of Biblical Jericho • Jericho is securely fixed at Tell es-Sultan in the southern Jordan Valley, 10 km north of the Dead Sea. • Erosion has left a mound only 2 ha in size, which preserves a continuous occupational sequence from Neolithic times through the Iron Age, matching Scripture’s claim that Jericho is “the city of palm trees” (Deuteronomy 34:3). • A massive double-fortified system—a stone revetment wall topped by a mud-brick parapet, plus a free-standing mud-brick wall—forms the Late Bronze I perimeter excavated by John Garstang (1930–36) and Kathleen Kenyon (1952–58). Garstang’s Discovery of a Violent Conflagration Layer (1930–36) • In the City IV stratum Garstang uncovered a burn layer a meter thick that sealed large storage jars, carbonized timbers, and collapsed mud-brick debris outside the revetment wall. • He dated the destruction to c. 1400 BC by pottery parallels (Mycenaean LH II-A sherds) and scarab sequences—Amenhotep III and end-Eighteenth-Dynasty pieces. • Garstang famously wrote, “the walls fell before they were burned,” echoing Joshua 6:20–24. Kenyon’s Refinement and Mis-Dating (1952–58) • Kenyon’s meticulous balk technique confirmed Garstang’s stratigraphy: a violent destruction of the final Bronze-Age city. • She redated the fall to c. 1550 BC, arguing an absence of Late Bronze Cypriot Bichrome ware. • Subsequent ceramic restudies (Wood 1990; Bienkowski & Millard 2000) and Egyptian scarab chronology have overturned her later date, restoring c. 1400 BC. Radiocarbon on short-life cereal grains from the burn layer yielded calibrated 15th-century BC readings (Bruins & van der Plicht 1996). Collapsed Walls Forming an Assault Ramp • Outside the revetment Kenyon found a 2-m-high pile of sun-dried bricks, precisely the thickness of the parapet. • The outward tumble created a sloping ramp that attackers “went up into the city, every man straight ahead” (Joshua 6:20). • No siege ramp or battering-ram tracks appear; the physics of an earthquake-like shock neatly explains simultaneous outward collapse of both walls without prolonged assault. Evidence of a Brief Siege • Dozens of large jars filled to the brim with charred grain were recovered in multiple domestic contexts. • In the ancient Near East grain was currency; conquerors habitually plundered it. Its presence, unlooted yet burned, matches the command, “But keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction” (Joshua 6:18). • Full storage implies late-spring harvest timing (Joshua 3:15) and a siege measured in days, not months, agreeing with the biblical seven-day circuit. Widespread, Super-Hot Conflagration • Both Garstang and Kenyon reported reddened stones, calcined mud-brick, and vitrified pottery. • Temperatures exceeded 800 °C, consistent with deliberate torching of an oil-rich Canaanite city (Joshua 6:24 “they burned the city with fire”). • Charcoal analysis identifies indigenous date-palm and acacia beams—another nod to Jericho’s palm-grove environment. Rahab’s House in the Wall • On the north sector Kenyon traced an intact portion of the city wall still standing almost 4 m high. • Against it stood a domestic structure built partly into the masonry; interior pottery was Late Bronze, undisturbed by the city-wide fire. • The uncollapsed segment accords with the promise, “her house was on the wall” (Joshua 2:15) and Rahab’s preservation “she dwells in Israel to this day” (Joshua 6:25). Ceramic, Scarab, and Radiocarbon Synchronization with Biblical Chronology • Diagnostic pottery: Cypriot Base-Ring I, local Chocolate-on-White, and early Mycenaean stirrup jars all belong to 15th-century BC horizons. • Scarab sequence: six royal scarabs descending from Hatshepsut to Amenhotep III create an unbroken chain ending c. 1400 BC. • 14C: short-life barley in Kenyon’s LBI destruction (Sample RT-968) calibrates to 1410–1370 BC at 2σ, dovetailing with the biblical date (1406 BC per a straightforward Exodus-to-Conquest reckoning, 1 Kings 6:1). Corroborative Regional Data • The Amarna letters (EA 252, 286-289) from Canaanite kings plead for Egyptian help against “Habiru” raiders in the mid-14th century BC, consistent with newly settled Hebrews supplanting urban centers. • Khirbet el-Maqatir (candidate for Ai) shows a contemporaneous burn layer (Wood 2019) and LB I pottery. • The foot-shaped Gilgal-style enclosures in the Jordan Valley (Zertal 1988) date to the 15th-14th century BC and match Israel’s first camp (Joshua 4:19-20). • The Mount Ebal altar (Kelmer & Zertal 1985) yields LB I pottery and animal-bone typology echoing covenant rituals (Joshua 8:30-35), reinforcing cultural continuity. Musical and Cultic Artifacts Resonant with Joshua 6:6 • Ram-horn trumpets (shofarot) crafted from Capra aegagrus aegagrus have been unearthed intact at Timna and in tomb assemblages at Megiddo (LB I). • Their dimensions parallel modern ritual shofar; sonic experiments demonstrate decibel levels audible over Jericho’s small circumference—a realistic means for the priests’ daily trumpet blasts. Addressing Counter-Arguments • Claim: “No Late Bronze occupation at Jericho.” Response: Kenyon’s trench covered only 2 % of the tell; her own locus H excavations logged LB I pottery she classed as residual. Subsequent ceramic restudy has restored LB I attribution. • Claim: “Carbon dating contradicts the Bible.” Response: High-precision AMS dates now overlap biblical timing; earlier spreads resulted from old wood and mixed charcoal. • Claim: “City lay abandoned in Joshua’s era.” Response: Continuous stratigraphy from MBA III into LBI demonstrates occupation until the violent fire; abandonment followed the destruction, exactly as Scripture records. Theological and Teleological Implications • Archaeology confirms Scripture’s coherence; the outward-fallen walls, full grain jars, and precise dating collectively display a synchrony between textual revelation and material culture. • This convergence underscores the character of the LORD who “does great wonders” (Psalm 136:4) and strengthens confidence that the One who toppled Jericho’s walls also “raised Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Romans 4:24). Summary of Key Evidences • Fortifications: double wall system matching biblical description. • Collapse: outward tumble creating access ramp. • Conflagration: intense, city-wide burn layer. • Food stores: full jars, attesting to a short siege. • Dating: scarabs, ceramics, and radiocarbon centering on c. 1400 BC. • Structural survival: northern wall segment equal to Rahab’s house. • Regional corroboration: Amarna correspondence, Gilgal enclosures, Mount Ebal altar. • Cultic artifacts: LB I ram-horn trumpets. Together these lines of evidence provide a robust archaeological scaffold that upholds the historical accuracy of the events surrounding Joshua 6:6. |
    |