The Tel Dan Stele has
"7. riots and thousands of horsemen (or: horses). [I killed Jeho]ram son of [Ahab]
8. king of Israel, and [I] killed [Ahaz]iahu son of [Jehoram kin-]
9. g of the House of David. And I set [their towns into ruins and turned]"
So Ahab etc are given existence whereas it is argued that House of David does not mean there was real David. I think House of David is pretty clear evidence that these kings saw themselves descended from King David and we are talking some 150 years so that sounds like they would know what they were talking about.
Click for an excellent article on the Tel Dan, Mesha and Shoshenq inscriptions and the relationship to King David:
Of course without Ahab etc being mentioned then they would still be considered fictional characters.
So I will be following the Eilat Mazar work with interest on what she says is King David's palace http://www.bib-arch.org/Mazar.pdf
As of Oct 2007 no sign of any updates as above is from end 2005
Eilat Mazar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2012 Did I Find King David’s Palace? – Biblical Archaeology Society
see also David Rohl - books and websites on his NEW Chronology
and some stuff on the Temple Mount as of October 2007
'Western Wall was never part of temple' The very extreme Muslim claim by Mufti and also said to have been held by Arafat| Jerusalem Post
And then actual traces of First Temple found
WorldNetDaily: Claim: Israel covering up Temple Mount destruction
Finds on Temple Mount from First Temple - Jewish World - Israel News - Arutz Sheva
including a contrary to the Mufti's claim
Moslem claims to the Temple Mount, on the other hand, have been debunked even by other Moslems. A commentator for the official Egyptian government weekly, of all places, has written that the entire Moslem claim on Jerusalem and the El-Aksa mosque is based on a mistaken reading of one chapter of the Quran. Ahmed Mahmad Oufa wrote that the verse that mentions a night journey by Muhammed to a mosque has nothing to do with Jerusalem, as is generally claimed, but with a mosque near the holy Moslem city of Medina.
November 2007 The Thinkers: The Bible and history of Israel shape a life
They have a Hebrew stone wall back to Solomon time.
October 2008
Find of Ancient City Could Alter Notions of Biblical David - NYTimes.com
KHIRBET QEIYAFA, Israel — Overlooking the verdant Valley of Elah, where the Bible says David toppled Goliath, archaeologists are unearthing a 3,000-year-old fortified city that could reshape views of the period when David ruled over the Israelites. Five lines on pottery uncovered here appear to be the oldest Hebrew text ever found and are likely to have a major impact on knowledge about the history of literacy and alphabet development.
..............But the archaeological record of that kingdom (David and Solomon) is exceedingly sparse — in fact almost nonexistent — and a number of scholars today argue that the kingdom was largely a myth created some centuries later. A great power, they note, would have left traces of cities and activity, and been mentioned by those around it. Yet in this area nothing like that has turned up — at least until now.
A good article on the site Bloomberg.com: Middle East
Did David and Solomon Exist? - very good analysis of current knowledge and comments of recent archaeology
A review of previous link
ReplyDeleteEvidence for kings David and Solomon - Times Online
A good article on Eliat
ReplyDeleteArchaeology's Rebel: Bible in One Hand, Spade in the Other | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction
Eilat points out the Bible is a historical document and it is ridiculous to ignore what it says about events