Ancient relics are the first definite sign of the Bible's King David (and they're next door to a Philistine city where Goliath might have made his home...)
By Rob Waugh
PUBLISHED: 11:16 EST, 9 May 2012 | UPDATED: 04:25 EST, 10 May 2012
For the first time, archaeologists have delved into the lives of ancient Biblical kings - exploring a shrine that pre-dates Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem by three or four decades.
It's the first evidence of a Judaic religion in the area at the time of King David - with the inhabitants of the ruins observing a ban on pork and on 'graven images' of animals or humans.
Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, at the Hebrew University excavated at Khirbet Qeiyafa, a fortified city in Judah adjacent to the Valley of Elah, and found pottery, stone and metal tools, and many art and cult objects
Because these shrines pre-date the construction of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem by 30 to 40 years, they provide the first physical evidence of a Judaic religion in the time of King David.
The implications are huge - for archaeologists, biblical experts and the religious....
Continues
God bless
David

