Information about Tel al-Rai, identified as Ziklag itself will be provided after this announcement.
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Finds from the Philistine period and 10th century B.C.E., the time of King David, signal Khirbet al-Rai as the site of Ziklag and place boundaries on the kingdom he ruled
The biblical town of Ziklag may have been found, a team of Israeli and Australian archaeologists announced on Monday. The ruins were found near the southern town of Kiryat Gat in Israel and have been dated to the early 10th century B.C.E. – the time associated with King David.
If they’re right, it would bolster the theory that David was more than just a local hilltop chieftain as some researchers claim, and support the theory that he indeed ruled over a united kingdom in the area of Judea, say the researchers, from the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Macquarie University, in Sydney, Australia. But the kingdom doesn’t seem to have been the mighty entity in antiquity that some envision.
Ziklag is mentioned in the Books of Joshua and Samuel as a Philistine town abutting the city of Gath (after which the modern city of Kiryat Gat is named).
In this context, the archaeologists point out that the very name Ziklag stands out in the biblical record because it isn’t Semitic or Canaanite, but apparently a Philistine one. Apropos of that, recent genetic studies on skeletons discovered in a Philistine cemetery in Ashkelon, on Israel’s coast, have proved once and for all who these mysterious Philistines were: They originated in Europe.
The time of King David
According to the Hebrew Bible, when the youthful David fell into disfavor with King Saul, who allegedly tried to spear him, he fled to the Philistines. The Philistine king Achish of Gath allowed David to move to Ziklag, which, according to the biblical narrative, became a base for him to build up his forces.
Some argue that David preferred to live at a distance from the accommodating Achish in order to keep his activities secret and to hide the fact that he wasn’t really beholden to the Philistine monarch.
In any event, the future Israelite king’s decision to seek sanctuary with the Philistines is one of the stranger episodes in the Bible. The story that before seizing the throne, David and his men allied with the Philistine enemy to fight against their own people, the Israelites, has provoked much argument, with apologists suggesting that the young warrior was actually deceiving Achish and did not truly act against the interests of Israel. This camp cites as evidence David’s apparently brutal forays against other enemies: the Amalekites and the people of Geshur and Gezer.
For his part, David also experienced loss as the Amalekites, nomads from the south, attacked Ziklag in his absence:
“David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines… it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South, and upon Ziklag … and had taken captive the women and all that were therein, both small and great.” 1 Samuel 29:11-30.2
What seems to be clear from the Bible is that it from Ziklag that David departed for Hebron where he was anointed king.
Science vs. scripture
These days, even the “minimalist camp” of biblical archaeologists, which is not guided by scripture but by their scientific discipline, agree that David did actually exist – along with, by extension, King Saul, David’s nemesis, and King Solomon, his son. During turbulent eras such as theirs, it is also possible that David could have taken refuge in Ziklag. Still, we have never known exactly where this town lay.
Zahi Shaked A tour guide in Israel and his camera [email protected] +972-54-6905522 tel סיור עם מורה הדרך ומדריך הטיולים צחי שקד 0546905522
My name is Zahi Shaked