King David in Israel's History: Myth or Reality?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

King David is the second leader of the Kingdom of Israel, who made Jerusalem a center of spiritual pilgrimage. David was a God-fearing and wise ruler who, like all mortals, was prone to make mistakes: the monarch committed a crime for which he had to pay a long time.

“Who would have known about this if it were not for the Bible? Where is at least one mention of him outside the great book? Nowhere! And this gives reason to believe that the existence of King David is an invention of the ancient chroniclers. Especially funny to me is the image of little David defeating the mighty Goliath. We do not drag fairies or trolls into history books. We just let them stay where they belong, in a fairy-tale world. Why are we dragging into history a person whose existence has been proven no more than the existence of dragons?"

These words were spoken by the Danish historian Hans Holberg in 1978. And Holberg was not alone in having such thoughts. After all, if from the point of view of blind faith it is impossible to doubt the "testimony" of the Bible, then from the point of view of science everything must be proven.

Offender stone

This happened in 1993. Topographer Gila Kuk, who took part in the excavations in the very ancient city of Dan, was returning to the camp. Lost in thought, she stumbled over a stone. A sharp pain pierced her leg, and Gila, rubbing the sore spot, decided to carefully examine the stone “offender”. The woman squatted down, looked closely and found that Hebrew letters from the Aramaic alphabet were carved on the stone! However, only two letters were familiar to her. Gila immediately realized that this is a very valuable find, if only because of its antiquity. But what a sensation this most ordinary-looking stone would cause, Cook had no idea. Scientists, to whom the woman handed the stone, discovered that it is a fragment of a once majestic monument.

When the inscription was read, it turned out that the text reported about the battle, which was led by a descendant of King David. Thus, for the first time, a mention of David was found (albeit only in connection with his descendant) not in the Bible, but on a fragment of an ancient monument. This became a serious scientific proof of the existence of the legendary king. Thus, another mystery of the Bible was discovered, which said that this unique book is not only a spiritual, but also a historical monument for mankind.

Royal squire

Yes, the existence of David is proven, but the description of his duel with Goliath was still perceived by most scientists as fiction. Moreover, at the time described, David was not even a warrior yet, but was just a royal squire. And so scientists set out to resolve this issue both from the point of view of logic and from the point of view of historical reality.

To begin with, it was necessary to find out whether a duel between representatives of two enemy armies could have taken place before a big battle? Scientists answered this question quickly. Yes, in various documents of that time, evidence was found that such fights were not a rarity. The victory of a comrade in arms gave his comrades-in-arms confidence in their strength. And in this case, with the victory of David over Goliath, the offensive of the Israeli troops began, which expelled the Philistines from their land.

But the Bible says that young David, in the past - a shepherd, was only the king's squire! How could he cope with an adult warrior then?

“It's very simple,” Australian historian Patrick Tricket dispelled doubts."The honorary position of the Tsar's squire could then be awarded only to those who heroically showed themselves in battles."

Then another question arose: how did David, who refused the armor, with only a sling in his hands, manage to cope with the huge Goliath, who, as the Bible says, was well armed?

David and Goliath

Israeli scientists who worked on the excavations and had a good study of the weapons and armor of the Philistines, stated that before the battle they pulled on leather clothes, on which many metal scales were sewn.

Goliath, judging by the text of the Bible, was very high, at least two meters. His weapons and armor, according to experts, were about 40 kilograms. Refusing armor, David was in such a situation much more mobile than his enemy and could maneuver. But, on the other hand, what could David do against a hero dressed in heavy armor with a sword and spear in his hands? In general, could the royal squire of the Israeli army fight only with a sling in his hands? It turns out he could. It was a very common weapon in the Middle Eastern armies.

The Italian scientist Cesare Comicelli sneered: “The attempts of those who do not understand are ridiculous to me - perhaps the huge Goliath could not do anything with the easy David, he was simply unable to catch up with him. But it is clear that David, who threw a pebble with a sling, could not do much harm to Goliath either. So this whole story is a fairy tale."

Swift stones

In response to this statement, Israeli experts began to study stones that could be used for slinging. In several countries, curious experiments have been carried out to measure the speed and force of impact of the very stones launched from the sling. Alan Uigbart and Ron Compson, ballistics experts from Glasgow, used a high-speed video camera and were amazed to find that the stones released from the sling reached a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour. Experiments in other countries have confirmed that these stones could easily penetrate the soft tissues of a person and break his bones.

It has now been proven that the seemingly incredible episode from the Bible does not cause the slightest doubt.

At the bottom of the source

Another biblical story associated with David has also long caused doubts among scholars. This is a story about how David and his army did not besiege Jerusalem and even refused to storm the city, but captured it, penetrating the canal into the water supply system. Until the 19th century, no one could prove that such a system existed not only in the imagination of the authors of the Bible. It was only in 1867 that a deep mine was finally discovered near Jerusalem, in which traces of an ancient water supply system were indeed found.

The English explorer Charles Warren believed that the discovery of the tunnel alone did not prove the truth of the biblical text. He decided to determine if people could really get through it to Jerusalem. Together with his assistant, Warren made this path along the bottom of the Gion spring. Almost all the way, the scientists had to crawl on their knees, and yet they reached their intended goal, which fully corresponded to the biblical description. The American Historical Journal published an article in which Warren stated: “Yes, the Jewish soldiers had a very hard time. But I did not have the slightest doubt that the city was taken exactly as the Bible told about it."

It would seem that the question is closed. Nothing like this! In the pages of the same American Historical Journal, researcher John Kowski wrote: “I do not agree that the Jews could have entered Jerusalem in this way, because, like many other specialists, I doubt that under King David existed."

So was it at the time of David, that is, in the X century BC? Alas, fragments of ceramics, which can be used to determine the age of the tunnel, have been lost.

The Israeli scientist Roni Wright was able to solve this riddle. In 1966, while excavating an ancient nine-meter city dump, he discovered huge stones, each of which weighed from two to three tons. Comparing the shape and location of the boulders, it was possible to establish that they are parts of a giant fortification that preceded the entrance to the water supply system. There were also scattered pieces of pottery, which, as it turned out, was also part of this structure. From these fragments, it was determined that the age of the tunnel is about 4000 years. Soon, scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem discovered plant remains in the plaster, which were dated using radiocarbon analysis. The antiquity of the tunnel was confirmed in this case as well.

Scientists from nine countries have asked the Israeli government to allow them to conduct independent research. This permission was obtained. As a result, the Israelites' discovery was confirmed - yes, the Jerusalem water supply system existed long before the birth of David.

In this way, another major mystery of biblical history was solved. The existence of the legendary David and the authenticity of his actions described in the Bible are no longer in doubt by anyone.