Have Archaeologists Found King David's Palace?

Photo by Sky View courtesy of Hebrew University

In recent news coming out of Israel, a team of archaeologists led by Professor Yossi Garfinkel of the Hebrew University has uncovered the ruins of “two royal public buildings” at a site called Khirbet Qeiyafa, about 20 miles outside of Jerusalem in the foothills of Judah.  Professor Garfinkel believes the two buildings to be King David’s palace and a royal storeroom.  These discoveries, according to Garfinkel, are proof of the existence of an Israelite kingdom during the reign of King David (which, you may not realize, some people doubt).

From the Israel Antiquities Authority press release:

The palace and storerooms are evidence of state sponsored construction and an administrative organization during King David’s reign. “This is unequivocal evidence of a kingdom’s existence, which knew to establish administrative centers at strategic points”, the archaeologists say. “To date no palaces have been found that can clearly be ascribed to the early tenth century BCE as we can do now. Khirbet Qeiyafa was probably destroyed in one of the battles that were fought against the Philistines circa 980 BCE. The palace that is now being revealed and the fortified city that was uncovered in recent years are another tier in understanding the beginning of the Kingdom of Judah”.

If this find has been identified correctly, this is, of course, a big deal. We have very little archaeological evidence of the Kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon as it is described in the Bible.

The announcement of this find has been met, as would be expected, by both excitement and also skepticism. The following are some of the news pieces and blog posts that have been written in response.

• The Jerusalem Post had a positive story yesterday announcing the find and noting that area and its surroundings had now been declared a national park.
• Israel National News (Arutz 7) likewise has a completely positive report.
• The Times of Israel has a positive and more extensive piece that looks at some inscriptions that have been found at the site and other finds
• HaAretz has a somewhat more skeptical story: “Some archaeologists claim that three rows of stones found in Khirbet Qeiyafa prove the existence of a kingdom shared by two biblical kings – David and Solomon; other scholars beg to differ” (you must be a subscriber to read the full story).
• Jim West at Zwinglius Redivivus posts an evaluation of the finds by Israel Finkelstein, who points out “the methodological shortcomings in both field work and interpretation of the finds.”
• On the Foundation Stone website, David Willner, who appears to be very familiar with Garfinkel and his work, sharply criticizes Garfinkel’s interpretation of the find, points out his tendency towards sensationalism, and accuses him of making this announcement for the purpose of gaining media attention and fundraising.

With Willner’s accusation of Garfinkel’s repeated use of hyperbole to grab headlines for his finds, it is hard to know what to think of this announcement. I don’t have the expertise in this field to judge for myself, for sure.  There is definitely something, however, to these findings that does deserve attention.  Scholars agree that the site dates to the 10th century B.C. and there are a number of buildings, inscriptions, and artifacts that have been found. Whether these finds are directly related to David or not, they provide invaluable insights into how people lived in Israel/Judah during that time period.

What Did the Authors of Isaiah 40-55 Really Know About Babylon: Dr Lena Sophia Tiemeyer

Yesterday I had the privilege of hearing from Dr Lena Sophia Tiemeyer, Lecturer in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at the University of Aberdeen, as she presented a paper at our weekly Biblical Studies seminar.  Her study was entitled “What Did the Authors of Isaiah 40-55 Really Know About Babylon?” The timing of this presentation, for the purposes of this blog, is impeccable — if you happened to read it, I just briefly discussed, in my last post, some of the scholarly debates regarding the authorship of these chapters of the Book of Isaiah.  One of the major assumptions of this theory of “Deutero-Isaiah” is that the author(s) of this section were in Babylon. The references to Cyrus, Babylonian gods and religious practices, Akkadian loan words, etc., that are found in these chapters have lead scholars to conclude that this section must have been written during the Babylonian Exile by the Jewish community that was in Babylon. Dr. Tiemeyer’s purpose with this presentation was to show that the “evidence” for this assumption is not strong — leading her to conclude that these chapters of Isaiah were more likely written in Palestine, and not Babylon.  The implications of this study are important and suggest, as Tiemeyer herself noted, a possibility that there is more unity to the Book of Isaiah than scholars have assumed.

The Glory of Zion Will Be a Defense (OT Lesson 36)

Isaiah 1-6

As the Savior emphasized to the Nephite people, “great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Ne. 23:1).  It is with this reminder and caveat that I approach writing a post on the first chapters of the book of Isaiah.  Attempting to give any type of summary, nevermind an in-depth analysis, of these chapters is a daunting task.  Please don’t expect to get out of this post a verse-by-verse commentary or an explanation of most of the complex images found in these chapters. Unfortunately, the time I have available to me this week for writing this post will only allow me to touch on some of the more important or interesting aspects found, of my choosing.  It is probably not wise to try to use this post to prepare a Sunday School lesson (you will likely be disappointed), but I do hope that I can provide something of interest that will help you to fulfill Christ’s instruction to “search” the words of Isaiah (3 Ne. 23:1; 20:11).

A Word on the Study of Isaiah

We all know that Isaiah is notoriously difficult to get through at times.  He seems to be speaking a different language (and I don’t mean Hebrew) with all of his fantastic imagery and historical/geographical references.  Although Isaiah is arguably the most complex book in the Bible, it is also likely the most often quoted. Although he makes use of his words extensively, the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi recognized that his people had a hard time understanding Isaiah — principally because they were so far removed from the life situation that provided the background to Isaiah’s thoughts and style.  Nephi explained:

Now I, Nephi, do speak somewhat concerning the words…which have been spoken by the mouth of Isaiah. For behold, Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people to understand; for they know not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews. For I, Nephi, have not taught them many things concerning the manner of the Jews…

[T]he words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy…

Yea, and my soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah, for I came out from Jerusalem, and mine eyes hath beheld the things of the Jews, and I know that the Jews do understand the things of the prophets, and there is none other people that understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things of the Jews.

But behold, I, Nephi, have not taught my children after the manner of the Jews; but behold, I, of myself, have dwelt at Jerusalem, wherefore I know concerning the regions round about; and I have made mention unto my children concerning the judgments of God, which hath come to pass among the Jews, unto my children, according to all that which Isaiah hath spoken, and I do not write them (2 Ne. 25:1-6).

Nephi summarizes here why his people didn’t understand Isaiah and why he did.  Basically, they didn’t understand because they were not from Jerusalem and weren’t familiar with the way that the Judahites expressed things in prophecy.  Nephi was from Jerusalem and was familiar with the “regions round about”, the “manner of the things of the Jews” and also the socio-political events that had happened to them in the fairly recent past (judgments of God) — plus Nephi had the benefit of having the “spirit of prophecy” or personal revelation from God that helped him to see the meaning of these things plainly.

When we read through Isaiah, we see references to people, places, and events that may be unfamiliar to us (it doesn’t help a whole lot that many of us are reading an antiquated King James’ English either).  For example, consider the following verses from Isaiah 3:

16Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. 18In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 19The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, 20The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, 21The rings, and nose jewels, 22The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, 23The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. 24And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

Here Isaiah provides a very detailed description of how the proud and rich women of Jerusalem dressed and comported themselves.  While we can get some idea of what he’s talking about and try to imagine these haughty women, there are some aspects that really stretch our capacity to visualize well what he is referring to.  We can (and most often do) just skip the details and move on, eager to just reach the end of the chapter!  If we did desire (and there are better examples than the one cited above) to really understand a passage, we could apply ourselves a bit more to learning what life, geography, and events were like in the region and time that Isaiah lived in.