Why the Bible? Historical battles confirmed (Religion)

by David Turell , Thursday, December 08, 2022, 20:00 (504 days ago) @ dhw

Careful magnetic studies:

https://bigthink.com/the-past/earth-magnetic-field-biblical-stories-ancient-cities-dest...

"According to the Bible, Gath was one of the main Philistine cities and the home of Goliath the Giant. Its destruction is glossed over, described in less than one verse of the Bible, in the book of 2 Kings.

"Archaeologists have long worked to figure out what happened to the ancient city of Gath, and just as important, when it happened. But dating sites like this is no straightforward task. Recently, a team of scientists led by Yoav Vaknin of Tel Aviv University tried a new method to date archaeological digs like Gath: They used the Earth’s magnetic field.

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"The history of changes in the magnetic field is recorded in rock. Perhaps the most well-known record is etched in stone at the mid-Atlantic ridge. Here, new seafloor is constantly being created as the tectonic plates spread along fault lines as long as the ocean. As these molten rocks orient themselves, cool, and solidify, they record the direction and intensity of the magnetic field. A search of the seafloor allows us to read the history of the Earth’s magnetic field itself.

"Surprisingly, this method can also be used for archaeological sites like the one at Gath. If rocks at these sites become hot enough, they too can align to show the intensity and direction of the magnetic field. Such heat can be generated during military actions, when widespread destruction is common.

"According to the Bible, Gath was one of the main Philistine cities and the home of Goliath the Giant. Its destruction is glossed over, described in less than one verse of the Bible, in the book of 2 Kings.

"Archaeologists have long worked to figure out what happened to the ancient city of Gath, and just as important, when it happened. But dating sites like this is no straightforward task. Recently, a team of scientists led by Yoav Vaknin of Tel Aviv University tried a new method to date archaeological digs like Gath: They used the Earth’s magnetic field. Their results recently appeared in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Many archaeological sites illustrate the brutality of Hazael’s campaigns. They tell the stories of how entire cities were destroyed, and Gath was one of these. Massive destruction is evident at the site, showing a long siege trench, fallen buildings, and human remains.

"Different approaches to date these sites lead to different conclusions. But one element in the destruction of these cities could help researchers. The battles were extensive and terrible, with widespread fires blazing at over 600° C. This heat baked the mud bricks in the cities, and aligned them with the Earth’s magnetic field.

"Vaknin and his team realized this, and they knew something else about the Earth during this time. While the magnetic field is continually changing, there are periods during which it fluctuates more quickly. This period was one of them, with fluctuations measuring twice as strong as their current propensity. “The dating resolution depends on the rapid fluctuations, so I am lucky to work on this period,” Vaknin told Big Think.

"In short, the scattered fragments of ruins held the information researchers needed to determine exactly when these cities were destroyed.

"To use this data, the team gathered the information the mud bricks held about the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field, and they combined it with knowledge of other events whose timing is precisely known. These events are known as chronological anchors, and unfortunately, Vaknin says, they are rare.

“'The 701 [BCE] Assyrian campaign is my favorite example,” Vaknin says. “When the historical sources and the archaeological record match (more than 1000 arrowheads found in the destruction of Lachish, for example) — Bingo! We have an anchor.

“'We then compare the magnetic results from these anchors to those from other finds whose dates that are not as well known but are roughly dated to the same periods, according to other dating methods.”

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"Piece by piece, the destruction of other sites has come into focus — some were leveled by the Babylonians, others by the Assyrians. Their method has allowed the team to trace the contours of the region’s chronology, suggesting the timeline of the falls of various parts of Judah and Jerusalem.

"Especially in this part of the world and for this period of ancient history, geomagnetic dating is more precise than radiocarbon dating. This is thanks to the number of archaeological sites paired with the swiftness and strength shifts in the magnetic field. But the method can be used anywhere rocks were heated enough to align with the Earth’s magnetic field."

Comment: this tells us the history of material events in the Bible are true. The stories about individuals are problematic.