More than 20 experts from different countries and scientific disciplines accurately dated 21 layers of 17 archaeological sites
Finds indicate, for example, that Azail's army,King of Aram-Damascus, was responsible for the destruction of several cities - Tel Rehov, Tel Zayt and Horvat Tevet, in addition to the Gath of the Philistines, the destruction of which is recorded in the Hebrew Bible.
Photo: Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority
It is noteworthy that at the same time, the study refutes the prevailing theory that Hazael was the conqueror who destroyed Tel Bet Shean.
Other geomagnetic data show that cities in the Negev were destroyed by the Edomites, who took advantage of the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah by the Babylonians.
Pioneering interdisciplinary researchpublished in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and based on Yoav Vaknin's doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Professors Erez Ben-Yosef and Oded Lipchitz of the Institute of Archeology, Tel Aviv University and Professor Ron Schaar of the Institute of Geosciences of the Hebrew University.
Map of the studied layers of destruction and various military campaigns.
Photo: Itamar Ben-Ezra
Usually trying to understand the mechanism of actionEarth's magnetic field, geophysicists track its changes throughout the history of the planet. To do this, they use archaeological finds that contain magnetic minerals. Their peculiarity is that when heated or burned, they register a magnetic field.
This is how, in 2020, researchers reconstructed the magnetic field as it was in 586 BC, on the day of the destruction of the First Temple and the city of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army.
Fired clay stones.
Credit: Tel Aviv University
Now, using archaeological finds,discovered over several decades in 17 locations across Israel, as well as historical information from ancient inscriptions and biblical stories, archaeologists have reconstructed the magnetic fields recorded in 21 destroyed layers. They used the data to develop a reliable new scientific tool for archaeological dating, which helped them confirm some biblical stories.
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