Digging Up the Monarchy

The primary argument against an Israelite Kingdom existing in the 10th Century BC is that there is very little definitive evidence of the existence of the monarchy. Because there is not the kind of evidence found in other areas of the world for the existence of similar monarchies, many archaeologists and scholars have decided that the whole thing was nothing more than a literary insertion into the religious writings of the period, which served as a “theological basis for the concept of a divine government.”1 And, although “over 120 excavations have been conducted in some part of Jerusalem between 1853 and 1992, archaeologists have uncovered relatively few artifacts that clearly relate to Iron Age I (1200–1000 BC) or Iron Age IIA (1000–900 BC).”2

One major reason for the lack of evidence may “simply be that so little has actually been excavated in the areas related to their reigns.”3 Other reasons for the scarcity of remains: 1) In terms of architecture, later buildings often have eclipsed earlier structures leaving little of the original to be found. 2) In terms of finding monumental reliefs and sculptures, other cultures of this time period left such evidence, but the biblical command against the making of graven images generally eliminated this possibility in Israel.4 Another reason is that “Israelites, in comparison to their neighbors, wrote most of their court documents and other records on scrolls of perishable papyrus.”5

One starling piece of evidence for the existence of the monarchy came from a discovery by Professor Avraham Biran, director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology of the Hebrew Union College, knows as the House of David Stele. This “3,000-year-old monumental inscription (stele) written on black basalt by one of Israel's foreign enemies...includes the words 'House of David'.” 6 This stele is dated to the reign of Hazael, whose “entire reign was characterized by war with Israel, and he went down in biblical history as one of the Israelites most brutal enemies.”7 The inscription that contains “reference to the House of David is in the context of the slaying of the Israelite and Judean kings.”8

Another piece of evidence comes from the possible location of King David's palace. During her excavations of the City of David, Kathleen Kenyon “discovered a section of a massive public structure that she considered to be part of a new casemate wall built by King Solomon.”9 Recently, Eilat Mazar has postulated that “David’s palace was constructed north of this citadel and outside the northern fortifications of the city.”10 The “dimensions of the structure demonstrate significant public or royal construction during the time of David and/or Solomon,”11 making the discovery by Kenyon of possible greater significance than originally thought. There is also evidence that the border city of Khirbet Qeiyafa was a “Judean city that was built and occupied in the early Iron Age, during the time of David and Solomon.”12


BIBLIOGRAPHY


Mazar, Eilat, “Did I Find King David’s Palace?” Biblical Archaeology Review 32, no. 1, 2006. www.biblicalarchaeology.org

Grisanti, Michael A., “Recent Archaeological Discoveries That Lend Credence to the Historicity Of The Scriptures.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 56 no. 3, 2013.

Price, Randall. The Stones Cry Out. Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, 1997.


1 Randall Price, The Stones Cry Out , Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers , (1997), 162.


2 Michael A. Grisanti, “Recent Archaeological Discoveries That Lend Credence to the Historicity Of The Scriptures.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 56 no. 3, (2013) 482.


3 Randall Price, The Stones Cry Out , Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers , (1997), 163.


4 Ibid., 163.


5 Ibid., 163.


6 Ibid., 167.


7 Ibid., 169.


8 Ibid., 169.


9 Eilat Mazar, “Did I Find King David’s Palace?” Biblical Archaeology Review 32, no. 1, (2006) www.biblicalarchaeology.org


10 Ibid.


11 Michael A. Grisanti, “Recent Archaeological Discoveries That Lend Credence to the Historicity Of The Scriptures.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 56 no. 3, (2013) 490.




12 Ibid., 492.