(ORDO NEWS) — How reliable are the events described in the Bible? Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita began with a discussion of this issue, and Berlioz, who called not to “refer to the gospels as a historical source,” was punished by Woland indicatively and cruelly.
However, among scientists, the question of the historicity of the information contained in the Bible is still debatable. Recently, another of the biblical stories was confirmed with the help of a new archaeological approach – the reconstruction of the Earth‘s geomagnetic field.
We are talking about the military invasion of Israel by the Egyptian pharaoh Sheshenq. This campaign is mentioned in the Old Testament, and the inscription on the wall of the temple of Amun in Karnak also reports on the victories of ancient Egyptian weapons.
But the material traces of this military company – destroyed and burned cities – were not found by archaeologists. Therefore, many scholars believed that the rumors about the great victory of Egypt were greatly exaggerated.
Pharaoh Sheshonk was the father-in-law of King Solomon of the Kingdom of Israel. As a dowry for his daughter, Sheshenq gave Solomon the captured Canaanite city-state of Gezer. The city was a tidbit because it occupied an advantageous position on the trade route from Egypt to Mesopotamia.
The marriage alliance with Solomon was an important political project for the Egyptian leader. This is understandable, if only because it was the first time that a pharaoh’s daughter was given in marriage to a foreigner.
True, according to the Bible, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. But the Egyptian was not lost in this crowd.
The Old Testament emphasizes that the Egyptian princess occupied an exceptional position at the court of Solomon. For her alone, a separate palace was built – the envy of all the other numerous wives of Solomon.
But, wanting the support of a strong Israeli state, Sheshonk at the same time was preparing to stab Solomon in the back on occasion. The pharaoh supported and hosted his son-in-law’s political opponents, in particular, a certain Jeroboam found refuge in Egypt.
After the death of Solomon, Jeroboam led 10 northern Israelite tribes to revolt. Taking advantage of political instability, Sheshenq moved Egyptian troops to Jerusalem.
But for some reason they did not leave any trace on the ground, and after all, the army of many thousands, sweeping away everything in its path, must have “inherited” somewhere.
This circumstance called into question the historicity of the biblical text. A group of scientists from Tel Aviv University decided to study in detail the archaeological sites of that era.
“To shed light on events 3,000 years ago, we decided to use another chronological tool,” explains Professor Yoav Vaknin, lead author of the study.
The fact is that the method of radiocarbon dating is not very accurate. We have applied the archeomagnetic dating method, which is able to restore the chronology with high resolution – up to a year.
The method of archeomagnetism is based on an amazing physical phenomenon. The fact is that many archaeological materials contain so-called ferromagnetic minerals, such as magnetite.
When heated to a temperature of 500-700 degrees, such rocks forever “remember” the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field at the moment.
And since the location of the poles and the intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field is constantly changing (scientists know exactly how), then calculating the exact date is just a matter of technology.
What artifacts do experts in the field of archeomagnetism use? This is ceramics, burnt bricks, or clay from hearth pits. For accurate dating, Israeli scientists selected raw bricks that had acquired thermostatic magnetization.
Raw bricks are not fired during production. In countries with a dry and hot climate, there is not enough fuel, it is used sparingly, so the bricks were simply dried in the sun. Consequently, the brick “remembered” the direction of the magnetic field at the time of the big fire.
Happen of course in cities and local household fires. But when many artifacts in different parts of the city give the same magnetic trace, then this is a reason to assume that we are dealing with the destruction of the city by the enemy army.
Israeli archaeologists studied 20 burnt layers of destruction unearthed at 17 archaeological sites. And they came to the conclusion that the dating time of the two cities – Beit Shean and Rehov – had previously been determined incorrectly.
Archeomagnetic analysis clearly proved that these two cities were plundered and destroyed during the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshenq against the Kingdom of Israel around 925 BC. e.
Thus, the veracity and historicity of the biblical text received quite tangible archaeological evidence.
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