TY - JOUR
T1 - Reconstructing biblical military campaigns using geomagnetic field data
AU - Vaknin, Yoav
AU - Shaar, Ron
AU - Lipschits, Oded
AU - Mazar, Amihai
AU - Maeir, Aren M.
AU - Garfinkel, Yosef
AU - Freud, Liora
AU - Faust, Avraham
AU - Tappy, Ron E.
AU - Kreimerman, Igor
AU - Ganor, Saar
AU - Covello-Paran, Karen
AU - Sergi, Omer
AU - Herzog, Zeev
AU - Arav, Rami
AU - Lederman, Zvi
AU - Münger, Stefan
AU - Fantalkin, Alexander
AU - Gitin, Seymour
AU - Ben-Yosef, Erez
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.
PY - 2022/11/1
Y1 - 2022/11/1
N2 - The Hebrew Bible and other ancient Near Eastern texts describe Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian, and Babylonian military campaigns to the Southern Levant during the 10th to sixth centuries BCE. Indeed, many destruction layers dated to this period have been unearthed in archaeological excavations. Several of these layers are securely linked to specific campaigns and are widely accepted as chronological anchors. However, the dating of many other destruction layers is often debated, challenging the ability to accurately reconstruct the different military campaigns and raising questions regarding the historicity of the biblical narrative. Here, we present a synchronization of the historically dated chronological anchors and other destruction layers and artifacts using the direction and/ or intensity of the ancient geomagnetic field recorded in mud bricks from 20 burnt destruction layers and in two ceramic assemblages. During the period in question, the geomagnetic field in this region was extremely anomalous with rapid changes and high-intensity values, including spikes of more than twice the intensity of today’s field. The data are useful in the effort to pinpoint these short-term variations on the timescale, and they resolve chronological debates regarding the campaigns against the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the relationship between the two kingdoms, and their administrations.
AB - The Hebrew Bible and other ancient Near Eastern texts describe Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian, and Babylonian military campaigns to the Southern Levant during the 10th to sixth centuries BCE. Indeed, many destruction layers dated to this period have been unearthed in archaeological excavations. Several of these layers are securely linked to specific campaigns and are widely accepted as chronological anchors. However, the dating of many other destruction layers is often debated, challenging the ability to accurately reconstruct the different military campaigns and raising questions regarding the historicity of the biblical narrative. Here, we present a synchronization of the historically dated chronological anchors and other destruction layers and artifacts using the direction and/ or intensity of the ancient geomagnetic field recorded in mud bricks from 20 burnt destruction layers and in two ceramic assemblages. During the period in question, the geomagnetic field in this region was extremely anomalous with rapid changes and high-intensity values, including spikes of more than twice the intensity of today’s field. The data are useful in the effort to pinpoint these short-term variations on the timescale, and they resolve chronological debates regarding the campaigns against the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the relationship between the two kingdoms, and their administrations.
KW - archaeointensity
KW - archaeomagnetic dating
KW - archaeomagnetic spike
KW - archaeomagnetism
KW - chronology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140545217&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2209117119
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2209117119
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C2 - 36279453
AN - SCOPUS:85140545217
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 119
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 44
M1 - e2209117119
ER -