One of the main ways archaeologists can place a people group at a particular site is through the use of pottery shards. When looking at sites to try and discover evidence of the patriarchs this type of evidence is used to discover if they might have lived in a certain location or area. It is important to remember that “ non-occupation of a site cannot be proved conclusively by a lack of finds.”1 Just because there isn't evidence there now doesn't mean they did not live there. Also, “traces of scanty or short-lived occupation may have been removed in subsequent periods, either by erosion or by building activities; or they may simply have been missed by the excavators, since only a small proportion of any site can be explored in detail.”2 Just because evidence has not been found today doesn't mean that either the evidence is not there, or that it wasn't there are some point in time.
Another reason why there may be a lack of evidence could be related to the climate of the area in which the Patriarchs lived. Today, “the modern climate of the Near East is much drier and arid than it was in earlier periods of history.”3 Because of this, the ancient people groups may have moved much more frequently, and the drier climate could have destroyed much of the evidence of their existence during this time period. During the time of the Patriarchs, their regions “would have been much wetter...which would have made the Jordan Valley a fertile region.”4 The change from a wet, fertile region to one of a more arid climate would certainly have affected the evidences left behind. Also, the evidence could have been destroyed due to natural causes other than the climate, as it has been found that “the region south of the Dead Sea is very unstable, being bordered by fault lines on the east and west.”5 The elements in the ground could also have played a factor in the destruction of evidence, as “natural gas and sulfur, which normally accompany bitumen and petroleum, are also present.”6
The patriarchs lived a nomadic lifestyle, living from place to place in search of fertile regions for their cattle to feed, and an ample water supply for their families and their livestock. The “demands of living in the Sinai desert required that nothing be discarded, that every item be used to its fullest capacity-and then recycled. Even the bones of a finished meal would be completely reused in various industrial applications.”7 Because of this constant reusing of resources, it would have meant that very little would have gone to waste, and these resources would have only been discarded after they were completely used up or broken. This could explain the lack of archaeological evidence for this time period, as the items searched for now would have been either taken with when they moved, or used beyond recognition.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bimson, John J., Archaeological Data and the Dating of the Patriarchs, Millard, A R., and D J. Wiseman, eds. Essays On the Patriarchal Narratives. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1980.
Price, Randall, The Stones Cry Out, Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, 1997.
Wood, Bryant G. “The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” Bible and Spade 12, no. 3,1999 http://biblearchaelogy.org
1 John J. Bimson, Archaeological Data and the Dating of the Patriarchs, A R. Millard and D J. Wiseman, eds., Essays On the Patriarchal Narratives (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1980), 79.
2 Ibid., 79.
3 Randall Price, The Stones Cry Out. Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, (1997) 99.
4 Ibid., 99.
5 Bryant G. Wood, “The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” Bible and Spade 12, no. 3, (1999) http://biblearchaelogy.org
6 Ibid.
7 Randall Price, The Stones Cry Out. Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, (1997) 132.
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