A team of archaeologists in the Holy Land has uncovered a large perimeter wall dating to the 10th Century BC, which some experts believe is linked to a biblical battle referred to the in the Second Book of Samuel.
The team, working in Israel’s southern Arava desert – within the ancient borders of the Kingdom of Edom, excavated a wall that, when fully complete, is estimated to have stood 5 metres high and which ran for many hundreds of metres. Dating of the wall places it in the era of King David.
Of equal significance to researchers, the dig also turned up a multitude of sling stones, offering evidence of a great battle in the area about the wall. This, experts believe, is a battle referred to in 2 Samuel 8:13, which states: “And David became famous after he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.”
The head of the excavating team, Erez Ben-Yosef of Tel Aviv University said of the site: “We are discovering more and more evidence of a concentrated, hierarchical society that interacted extensively with its neighbours, which matches up with texts from the Bible and other sources.”
Rivals to the Kingdom of Israel, the Edomites were previously defeated in battle by King Saul, and according to historical sources, were later part of the invading forces of Persia’s Nebuchadnezzar II, whom they helped in sacking Jerusalem.