Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

August 17, 2021

Archaeologists Discover New Evidence of the Biblical Siege of Gath

When the Arameans destroyed the hometown of Goliath.

In the first book of Kings, God tells Elijah to go to Aram—a territory roughly contiguous with modern-day Syria—and anoint Hazael its king. Second Kings describes Hazael’s invasion of the Land of Israel, where his army fought against Judea, Israel, and the Philistines—destroying the Philistine city of Gath. While archaeologists have long had other evidence about Hazael, who reigned in the latter half of the 9th century BCE, they recently made another discovery about his military exploits. Nathan Steinmeyer writes:

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