Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Link) - IAA Spokesperson (May 2, 2024)
A new scientific study of unprecedented scope has managed to accurately date findings from the First Temple period that were discovered in the city of David, shedding light on events mentioned in the Bible.
Among the conclusions of the research conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science is that already in the 10th century BCE – the days of King David – extensive activity was carried out in Jerusalem; by the 9th century BCE – the days of King Jehoash ad possibly even earlier, the city expanded to the west towards Mount Zion; the city wall unearthed in the City of David was not built during the days of Hezekiah as part of the preparations for the Assyrian siege, but rather earlier, during the days of King Uzziah, subsequent to the earthquake that occurred in Jerusalem
The new and comprehensive scientific research conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science has, for the first time, succeeded in using exact science to link events mentioned in the Bible to archaeological findings unearthed in the city of David. The research, published this week in the prestigious journal PNAS, challenges some of the perceptions that have been accepted until now regarding the construction activities of Jerusalem during the reigns of the kings of Judah.
As part of the new and comprehensive research, the researchers managed to accurately date the structures and walls built in Jerusalem during the First Temple period and to identify areas where there was extensive activity during the reigns of the kings of Judah. In doing so, it became possible to correlate between the biblical description of the royal construction activities in Jerusalem and the actual building activities uncovered in excavations over the past few decades in the City of David.
The research, which lasted almost a decade in the excavations of the City of David National Park, funded by the City of David Foundation (Elad), was spearheaded by researchers from Tel Aviv University, the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the Weizmann Institute of Science, and was funded by the Israel Science Foundation.