According to many Jewish texts, King David was born as a shepherd and later became a mighty ruler in Israel. Historical facts outline that after slaying Goliath, the Philistine giant, came up with an army that went ahead to rule over Israel after the death of King Saul. When he rose to power, one of his first actions involved capturing the City of David in Jerusalem, where he built one of the most magnificent palaces of those days. New archeologists led by the Hebrew Universitys Yossi discovered a big complex in the west of Jerusalem. The site is known as Khirbet Qeiyafa which is well known as the King David’s palace.
The Israeli Antiquities Authority announced the recent discovery, and the feature revived a discussion over one of the central biblical stories that marked the origin of the Jewish state. The argument focused on an historical site about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem. For the last seven years, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologists have been excavating the site aiming to find sufficient data of a fortified city that dates around 1000 B.C. This is believed to be the era when David ruled over all the tribes in Israel. The excavation of a 10,000- square-foot and 100-foot-long protective wall is some of the aspects that prove that this is the pillared building that David used for his administrative roles. The archeologists discovered some historical tools that indicate that this acted as the storeroom of the administration that ruled in the Kings David period.
Objectives of the Current Excavation
The recent announcement of the discovery of King Davids palace is among several announcements made in the recent past. However, most of these discoveries lacked enough evidence to prove the existence of King Davids palace. Therefore, the recent excavation was done by the Hebrew Universitys Yosef, aimed at uncovering ample evidence to prove the existence of this palace. The two-building discovered in the recent excavation provide unequivocal evidence of the existence of the kingdom led by Kind David. Additionally, around the perimeter wall that fortified the palace, the archeologist discovered the presence of rooms where different installations were found. This acted as a major evidence of the metal business, alabaster vessels, let alone the pottery vessels that were regarded as special during the reign of King David.
Progress at the Site
The first sign that led to the excavation was huge structures believed to have existed during the reign of King David. At first, the discoveries made did not provide enough evidence of the palace’s existence. However, the recent discoveries of pottery that dates around 1000 B.C were critical in proofing the existence of King Davids palace. In the ancient days, Kings were highly regarded, and they used to build kingdoms to establish their reign. Most of its cities of palaces were fortified with perimeter walls that acted as major means of protection. Therefore, the recent discoveries of a fortified city are major progress in proofing the existence of David and his established Kingdom.
Significance of the Discoveries to Biblical Study
King David is one of the figures in the Hebrews Bible that is celebrated in a big way. His name is mentioned more than the name of Moses, even though Moses led the children of Israel from Egypt to Canaan several years before David was born. However, some across the globe have been questioning the existence of David and his kingdom. For this reason, some Israeli Archeologists, led by Eilat Mazar made, first proposed the idea of looking for the remains of Davids palace to act as proof that his kingdom once existed in Jerusalem. Later, support from Shalem Center started the process of excavating the remains of this precious palace.
The discoveries were also critical as there are some clues in the Bible that Davids palace existed in Jerusalem. For instance, the Bible explains that when King David heard that the Philistines were coming to attack him, he went down to his city to hide. He believes that he went to this palace to hide from his enemies. This aspect means that the recent excavation is paramount as it has eliminated all the doubts archeologists have had over the existence of King Davids palace and his kingdom.
Several passages in the Bible bases their establishment on Davids story. For instance, the New Testament involves one of the major characters in the history of the Bible, Jesus Christ. He is often referred to as Jesus, the Son of David. The blind beggar in the New Testament referred to Jesus as the son of David when he was pleading for mercy. This aspect means this is how the Jews referred to Jesus, one of the major characters in shaping the plot and development of the entire biblical story.
If archaeologists could not prove the existence of David and his kingdom, it would mean that even Jesus never existed. This means that the discoveries and the excavation of Davids palace were critical in adding evidence to the truth of the biblical characters’ existence. Additionally, in the book of Mathew, the author starts by outlining the genealogy of Jesus that is traced back from the time of Abraham. Although David existed years later after Abraham, he is referred to as the father of the main character of the Bible, Jesus. This means that if David failed to exist, it would be difficult for biblical scholars to believe and prove all the prophecies and characters who existed after David.
Additionally, major books such as Proverbs and Psalms would be difficult to study for scholars. The aspects related to the fact that David and his son Solomon contributed to the existence of these two books in the Bible. Several biblical studies across the globe end up zeroing their arguments on what David and his son did. Therefore, failure to prove their existence, as well as their kingdom, would be a loss to major studies in the Bible as they act as major characters in the bible.
Conclusion
Over the years, archeologists and other bible scholars have doubted the existence of David and his kingdom, let alone his palace. However, Israeli archeologists led by people such as Eilat Mazar started working on various sites to prove David’s palace’s existence. The recent excavation by the Hebrew Universitys Yosef is a critical step towards proofing the existence of David, his kingdom, and his palace. Such discoveries have eased various biblical studies as a good section of the bible, such as the book of Psalm, proverbs, and the entire New Testament is based on the existence of David and his major achievements.
Biography
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