Is Old Testament history factual? If you ask a communist to tell you about the benefits of capitalism, they just might not give you a balanced answer. If you ask Donald Trump to describe the good points of communism, he probably won’t give you an unbiased response. Similarly, if you go to secular sources and even some supposedly Christian sources of information on evidence for the Old Testament’s account of history, you may not get the whole truth, if any.
Today I’m summarizing a video which presents information in support of Israel’s Conquest of Canaan. When we watch documentaries on television about such events as the Conquest we’re led to believe that presenters, directors and experts being interviewed are always giving us the gospel truth (excuse the pun). Also on radio, in PBS or BBC specials, the “facts” are presented in such a way as to make us think that what they’re telling us in denying Biblical history is conclusively proven and agreed to by all the real experts. If the other side of the story-seemingly in favor of Scripture-is presented, it’s shown in its weakest light and a sifted form, and then quickly knocked down by the “experts”. There was no exodus, some will tell you, and there was no conquest of Canaan. They’ll even tell you there was no Israel at that time. If they do acknowledge these events at all, they will poo-poo the Biblical story and present an altered and far more sanitised version.
This is the nature of our secular society, and no surprise, because as we read in the New Testament, when Jesus Christ healed for all to see, some refused to recognise it or recognise his authority, simply because they didn’t want to. Evidence doesn’t bring people to faith if they don’t want to come, but it helps ground us in Scripture and give us confidence. Having said that, of course we want to find the truth and not believe lies, fabrication, fantasies or wishful thinking.
I fully trust the work, the motivation and the witness of the ministry which presented the video I’m summarizing here. I have provided links to this video and another at the bottom of this post.
#1 EVIDENCE FOR ISRAEL’S CONQUEST OF THE PROMISED LAND… OTHER THAN THE BIBLE!
The video by this title produced by archaeologist Joel Kramer and Expedition Bible already had three hundred and eighteen thousand views within six days of its publication. After eight months it’s had over a million views, and as with all Joel’s videos it’s well worth the watch.
In 1887, in ruins on the east side of the Nile called Tel el Amarna, many important letters were handed to Wallace Budge, a researcher for the British Museum. He happened to be under house arrest in Luxor at the time, but he had a collection of over eighty clay tablets with cuneiform writing brought to his door-tablets which had been found locally. Amarna was subsequently excavated by British archaeologist Petri, who found that it was once the capital called Akhenaten. These letters are from the kings of Canaanite city states. Hundreds of tablets were subsequently uncovered, one hundred and sixty of them being sent to a museum in Berlin. However, Joel tells us that when he went to see them only one was on display. The rest are in private hands around the world.
Joel describes the message on the tablet in Berlin. It was sent from the king of Jerusalem to pharaoh Amenhotep III at Thebes. Akhenaten, formally Amenhotep IV, son of Amenhotep III moved his capital form Thebes to Akhenaten, now known as Amarna, and much of the royal archive was likewise moved there. Akenaten had changed his name, so the letters were addressed to Amenhotep. At the time of the writing of this letter Jerusalem was a city state, and the city’s king was regarded by the dominant Egyptians only as a mayor.
The king of Jerusalem was appealing for help against the “Habiru”. Note that Israelites were, by no coincidence, known as “Hebrews”, as Kramer discusses later in the video, though secular scholars deny that Hebrews existed in Canaan at that time. This letter, known as letter 288 described the cities of Canaan as being taken over by the Habiru, and the mayor, Abdi-Hepa (or Heba) is pleading with Amenhotep for help against them. He wrote,
“I am at war… Not a single mayor remains to the king (pharaoh) my lord… all are lost”.
This message reflects the subject of several of the letters of Canaanite mayors to the Pharaoh in the same general time, asking for help against the Habiru.The Jerusalem king also wrote that he and Jerusalem were like a ship on the sea-surrounded by Habiru, though as yet unconquered. The Old Testament tells us that Jerusalem remained unconquered until the time of David.
Kramer compares details of some of the letters with Biblical text and other historical sources and believes that they match perfectly. The timeline also matches, as does the sequence of the conquest: the direction the Israelites moved across the land from the Jordan.
SHECHEM. Joel discusses letters from the ruler of Shechem, a Biblical city, called Labayu. Other letters refer to Labayu. In letter number 289 Abdi-Heba complains that the king of Shechem has given his land over to the Habiru, meaning that Shechem was given over without a battle. Joel comments on the Biblical record of this later in the video.
In 1920 German archaeologist Ernst Svellen found two cuneiform tablets in Shechem dated to 1400BC, the approximate time conservative scholars date the Exodus to. These tablets provided chronological evidence supporting the early Biblical date of the Exodus and Conquest. The pharaohs addressed in the letters date to that time also. This is very important chronological information, particularly in identifying who the Habiru were.
LACHISH. The Amarna letters show two different rulers of Lachish, another Biblical city later taken by the Habiru. Letter 288 records that the Habiru smote Zimreddi of Lachish. Letter 330 is from Sipti Balu who succeeded Zimreddi.
GEZER. Letter 299 from Yapahu, the ruler of “Gezeru” (not Gaza) to the pharaoh, pleads:
“Since the Habiru are stronger than we, my lord, give me his help. And may the king, my lord, get me away from the Habiru lest the Habiru destroy us”.
The Amarna letters do not speak of Gezer being conquered by the Habiru. There’s no archaeological evidence that it was conquered in this period.
HAZOR. Letter 227 is from the king of “Hazuru” (Hazor) asking pharaoh for help. Letter 148, from the king of Tyre, states that the Habiru has taken over Hazor. Kramer tell us that Hazor is the largest tel in ancient Canaan, yet the Habiru were able to take the city, indicating that they were a significant force.
BIBLE COMPARISONS. Kramer compares Biblical references to the cities mentioned in the above examples. Joshua chapter 10 covers the kings of Lachish and others killed by Joshua. Gezer was not taken, according to the letters. The book of Joshua tells us that the Israelites were not able to take Gezer, and Scripture says that they didn’t until the reign of Solomon. The Bible tells us that Hazor was destroyed and burned by Joshua in Joshua 11:10, and its king put to death. Letter 148 from the ruler of Tyre says that Hazor is taken. However, there were two destructions of Hazor, and for some reason Hazor remained a Canaanite city after its first destruction. Judges chapter 4 speaks of the king of Hazor in Canaan, and how Deborah and Barack defeated him. After that Hazor was an Israelite city. The mound of Hazor shows evidence that the city was populated after the Canaanite destruction.
Concerning Shechem and how Labayu handed his land over, Joshua is said in Joshua chapter 24 to have gathered the tribes and made a covenant with the people there, so that Shechem was not destroyed or conquered. There is no mention of a battle for Shechem. The king of Shechem is not included in the list of Canaanite kings killed. This all reflects the record of the Amarna letters.
Who destroyed the Canaanite cities? It’s clear, says Joel Kramer, that they became Israelite cities, and the Israelites claimed to have conquered them. Kramer comments that secular scholars will tell you the Habiru were not “Hebrews” or Israelites. They insist that Israel did not exist at that time. However, according to Scripture Canaan was overrun by the Israelites at the time these letters were written. It’s obvious who they were, says Kramer. He shares the opinion of one of the early scholars who equated the Habiru with the Israelites. Jorgen Alexander Nutson, a scholar who wrote “the” landmark work on the Amarna letters, wrote “There is little objection to the view the Habiru are equated with the Hebrews”. John Garstang who excavated many Canaanite cities believed and followed the Biblical date for the conquest in 1400 BC. He thought that Joshua’s life was contemporary with the Shechem account recorded in the Amarna letters. The conquest continued after his death.
Joel Kramer continues with a more detailed look at the similarity between the fact that the king of Jerusalem had not yet been conquered in the Amarna letters but was surrounded by Canaanite cities that were. The Biblical narrative shows that Jerusalem was a Canaanite city all the way up until the time David conquered it, some four hundred years later. As the king of Jerusalem wrote to pharaoh, Jerusalem was like a ship in the midst of the sea.
VIDEOS AND MINISTRIES
#1 Evidence for Israel’s Conquest of the Promised Land… Other Than the Bible!
– Joel Kramer, Expedition Bible.
“The Ancient Egyptian Amarna Letters and the Exodus. Digging for Truth Episodes 251/252”.
-Digging for Truth, Associates for Biblical Reasearch.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 