What archaeological evidence supports the events described in Joshua 2:9? Joshua 2:9 “‘I know that the LORD has given you this land,’ she said to them, ‘and that dread of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land are melting in fear of you.’” Jericho’s Location and Strategic Significance Tell es-Sultan, the mound identified as biblical Jericho, lies at the northwest edge of the Dead Sea Valley. Its vantage over the main ford of the Jordan and the north–south trade route made it the indispensable first obstacle for anyone entering Canaan from the east—exactly the route Joshua 1–6 describes. Excavations at Jericho and the Collapsed City-Wall • 1907–1909 and 1930–1936: John Garstang exposed a massive double-wall system. He dated its violent destruction to c. 1400 BC and concluded, “The walls fell while the city was under full military alert.” • 1952–1958: Kathleen Kenyon, using a more limited trench, redated the destruction to c. 1550 BC. Her conclusion rested primarily on an absence of imported Cypriot Bichrome pottery—which later proved to be present in her own dumps (reexamined by later scholars). • 1990: Bryant G. Wood re-evaluated Kenyon’s architecture, stratigraphy, and ceramic evidence. His analysis restored Garstang’s date to Late Bronze I (c. 1406 ± 40 BC), matching the early Exodus–Conquest chronology. Key field data now acknowledged by multiple researchers: – A mud-brick collapse forming a ramp up against the stone revetment—precisely what Joshua 6:20 implies; – A citywide burn layer over one meter thick; – Carbonized grain jars everywhere (≈ 6,000 lbs. recovered), indicating (1) a springtime assault (Joshua 3:15), (2) a short siege, and (3) a ban that forbade plunder (Joshua 6:17-18). Together these finds validate Rahab’s claim that Jericho’s inhabitants were already terrified and prepared for attack. Wider Canaanite Panic in Contemporary Texts • The Amarna Letters (EA 252, 286, 299; c. 1350 BC) include nearly the same idiom as Rahab’s report: “All the land is lost… all the governors are in terror before the Ḫabiru.” These clay tablets, written by Canaanite rulers to Pharaoh, repeatedly complain of a relentless eastern nomadic force causing populations to “melt.” • Papyrus Anastasi I (c. 1250 BC) depicts a scribe rehearsing a journey through Canaan and witnessing “devastated towns, ruined and desolate,” mirroring the after-effects of Israelite campaigns. • The Merneptah Stele (c. 1207 BC) identifies “Israel” as a distinct entity already in the highlands, implying an earlier incursion compatible with an early Conquest and the lingering reputation that fostered dread among city-states. Synchronizing Hazor and Other Burn Layers Joshua 11 reports that Hazor was “burned with fire.” Yigael Yadin exposed a massive conflagration stratum (Stratum XIII-XIV) with ash deposits up to three feet thick, guard statues deliberately beheaded, and cuneiform tablets fractured by extreme heat. Ceramics and stratigraphic sequencing place this event in the same Late Bronze I window as Jericho’s fall. Similar destruction horizons appear at Lachish, Debir (Khirbet Rabud), and Arad, together mapping the southern and northern thrusts of Joshua’s campaigns and reinforcing the climate of fear Rahab describes. Integrated Chronology Early Exodus at 1446 BC (1 Kings 6:1 + 480 years) positions the Conquest at 1406–1400 BC. Radiocarbon dates from Jericho’s charred grain (± 1410 BC, University of Groningen), pottery series from Hazor, and dendrochronology from Jordan Valley plaster floors converge on this window. Conclusion The destruction layer at Jericho, the Amarna correspondence, Egyptian travelogues, and synchronous burn layers at other Canaanite sites collectively corroborate Joshua 2:9. Archaeology affirms a historically grounded episode in which Canaanite populations, confronted by unmistakable acts of divine intervention, “melted in fear” exactly as Rahab testified. |
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