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The conquest of Jericho

Pah

Uber all member
The Walls of Jericho
Deconstructing James P. Holding’s “Evidence of Jericho”
by Brett Palmer
http://www.theskepticalreview.com/palmer/jericho.html

“The conquest of Jericho in Joshua 2 and 6 is not only one of the best known and most loved stories of the Old Testament, it is also central to the whole argument about the reliability and accuracy of the account of the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan.” So wrote Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts
... Jericho was the first city Joshua and the invading Hebrews attacked following their release from Egyptian bondage in their military campaign for the conquest of the Promised Land.** According to one biblical chronology,** the Hebrews left Egypt sometime around 1440 BCE. They wandered the Sinai wilderness for 40 years according to the story until they began their military blitzkrieg in c. 1400 BCE
.The fall of Jericho is famous for both its initial stand in the conquest narrative and also for its description of the miraculous destruction of its walls. For if the walls did not tumble, the Israelite force did not stand a chance against the impregnable city of Jericho.
If the story of Jericho’s destruction is proven by the archaeological record to be false, as Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., observed, the whole argument about the reliability and accuracy of the account of the exodus and the conquest of Canaan gets called into question.
Kathleen Kenyon in 1952-1958 gave the most detailed and currently accepted date for the destruction of Jericho, a date which is at odds with the biblical tale.
Astericks in the quotes indicate sources of the data found in the article

What follows is the tale of J. P. Holding's attempt to justify the difference in dates and the rebutal to Holding's arguement by Brett Palmer.

You can discuss two things in this thread - the failed scholorship of J. P. Holding of or you can refute the findings of Kathleen Kenyon. Reading and working from the remainder of the article is essential for the first. Other arguments may be presented for the second topic.

Holding's argument is presented at http://www.tektonics.org/gk/jericho.html
 

robtex

Veteran Member
Interesting stuff. I am far too ignorant of it though to really post an opinion based on one article.
 

anders

Well-Known Member
Like almost always, there's nothing in the Bible that tallies with any archaeologial or other credible facts. I think that one of the most thoroughly refuted Bible stories is the one about Jericho. There was no destroyed Jericho at any time that would have supported the Scriptures. Tales like the crossing of the Re(e)d Sea or the standing still of the sun at Gibeon are of course ridiculous, but aren't disprovable in the same way. And regarding the Exodus, it is amazing that small habitations of miniscule hunter-gatherer parties have been identified by archaeologists all over the world, but there are no traces, not even a single left behind sandal, not to mention of the innumerable tons of manure that the multitude and their cattle supposedly having left Egypt must have created.
 
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