In article <1993Jan1.202206.5662@news.ysu.edu> ah287@yfn.ysu.edu (Murray Kahl) writes:
>I have seen the dig and witnessed first hand the strata indicating the destruction at a period that appears to match the biblical account. How do you account for this?
I can't account for it, particularly since it appears from the way you
phrase this that you would prefer to be confrontational rather than
informative. You might, for example, cite a published excavation
report or present the details of your experience in a framework
that would allow better scrutiny.
As those who have followed my occasional forrays in this group know,
I don't claim to have the most current data on any archaeological
topic. It was my honor to be Ph.D. candidate in the Group for
Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology at UC-Berkeley. But
I left the program in 1978 and pursued a different career. Therefore
I follow newsgroups and contribute when I can, but claim no special
expertise.
As for the issue at hand, the citations I can provide are old, and I
don't have the time to research the current material. Kathleen Kenyan
and her assistant HJ Franken are among the recognized authorities on
Jericho from the decade of the 60s and into the early 70s. Kenyon's
well known final dictum on Jericho is "It is impossible to associate the
destruction of Jericho with such a date (from the exodus to the 13th
century BCE). The town may have been destroyed by one of the other
Hebrew groups, the history of whose infiltration is, as generally
recognized, complex. Alternatively, the placing at Jericho of a
dramatic siege and capture may be an aetiological explanation of a
ruined city. Archaeology cannot provide the answer." [Kenyon in
Archaeology and Old Testament Study, ed. D. Winton Thomas, Oxford,
1967, p. 273.]
I should hasten to add that I believe that Kenyon's work on Jerusalem
has been justifiably criticized on a number of important points, so I
am by no means a blanket defender of her work. But she is one of the
primary authorities of old, and if you have new evidence, I think it
should be respectfully presented to this newsgroup. That is precisely
