The Bible and the Archaeological Evidence Reconciled
This article illustrates how projected dates of biblical events are tested against the evidence.
The Arabah, looking east at the mountains of Edom
(Courtesy of RØHR Productions, Ltd.)
How The Test Works
Here’s an example of how this testing is done at Hebron where three biblical events with projected dates occurred.
Hebron in Abram’s Time
c. 1715 BC
- Hebron was occupied before c. 2300 BC
- It was abandoned 2300–1800/1750 BC
- It was reoccupied between 1800/1750 BC and 1550 BC
- Abram arrived (projected date) c. 1715
- The site was abandoned again c. 1550–1200 BC
Abram’s projected arrival at Hebron c. 1715 BC fits within an occupation window. Since no one would date Abram earlier than 2300 BC, a date of c. 1800/1750 BC presents a “no earlier than” time for Abram’s arrival at Hebron. This occupational sequence at Hebron is not compatible with the 15th century BC chronology that would place Abram at Hebron c. 2080 BC, a period when Hebron was abandoned.
Hebron in the Time of the Israelite Spies
c. 1174 BC
- Hebron was destroyed c. 1550 BC
- It was abandoned between c. 1550 and 1200 BC [1]
- It was reoccupied c. 1200 BC
- The Israelite spies must have passed Hebron “no earlier than” c. 1200 BC
What the Israelite spies observed was a town “fortified to heaven” and manned by the fearsome Anakites.[2]
The Traditional Chronologies do not fit the evidence: The 15th century BC chronology dates the spies’ arrival at Hebron c. 1445 BC. And the 13th century BC chronology would have the Israelite spies passing Hebron in the 1250s BC. Hebron was not inhabited in those periods.
Hebron in the Time of the Israelite Conquest
c. 1135 BC
- Hebron was reoccupied c. 1200 BC
- The Conquest occurred c. 1135 BC (in the 12th century chronology)
The traditional chronologies are again contradicted by the evidence. Hebron was not occupied c. 1406 BC when the 15th century BC chronology says the Conquest began. Nor was it occupied c.1230 BC as proposed in the 13th century BC dating.
The projected dates of Bible events in Israel’s origins, based on a Conquest date of 1135 BC, threads the needle at every datable site where a biblical event occurred.
Synchronisms
The 12th-century chronology’s projected dates of these and other biblical events examined in the book form synchronisms with the archaeological evidence. The concept of a synchronism, as used here, imposes a restriction on the possible dates of a Bible event in one of three ways: an event could have happened “no earlier than,” within a “narrow window of time,” or “no later than” the period defined by the hard evidence. Archaeological bracketing is the independent variable that establishes whether a biblical event could or could not have happened at the projected date.
- No Earlier Than: Most of the 80 datable biblical events identified in this research are of this class. In the example above, the Israelite spies could have passed Hebron no earlier than c. 1200 BC (the beginning of the Iron I period).
- A Narrow Window of Time: An example occurs at the Egyptian New Kingdom capital of Rameses (Pi-Ramsses). The Israelites were tasked with building this city in the time of the Pharaoh of the Oppression (Exod. 1:11) and departed from the same city in the Exodus. Since this city existed only between c. 1270 BC and c. 1120 BC (when it was finally abandoned due to the silting up of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile), the period of the Israelite Oppression and the Exodus both had to have occurred during this 150-year narrow window of time. This is the window is predicted in the 12th century chronology.
- No Later Than: The destruction and abandonment of Lachish may be an example. Israel’s defeat of Lachish (Josh. 10:31–32) could have occurred no later than c. 1130 BC since a destruction of this date at Lachish was followed by a period of abandonment that lasted two hundred years. The excavators’ date for the abandonment of Lachish is the same year the Israelite Conquest was completed, according to the 12th century chronology.
The table below compares projected dates of several biblical events in three chronologies (the 15th, the 13th, and the 12th) against archaeological occupation dates. These events occurred during the Wandering/Conquest/Judges periods.
Egyptian Conflict?
The last row in the above table lists “Egyptian Conflict.” In a topic below (“Israel in the Egyptian New Kingdom”) you will see why Israel could not have invaded Canaan before the mid-12th century BC without a high likelihood of military conflict with Egyptian forces. The Bible does not mention any encounter with the Egyptians after the Exodus. The reason why is consistent with a Conquest date that fits only in the latter 12th century BC: the Egyptians had finally abandoned Canaan a few years before the Israelites arrived.
[1] Some claim Hebron was inhabited in the Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 BC) based on the discovery of unprovenanced pottery of that era found at the site and a reference to the “district of Hebron” in the Amarna Letters (latter 14th century BC). But none of the excavators have found an occupational stratum dating to this period. A concentration of Late Bronze Age material found in a burial cave containing 53 individuals dated to the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (D. Ben-Shlomo and E. Eisenberg [2014: 10]) suggests the Hebron mound and vicinity was a burial site used by seminomadic peoples who periodically visited the site. Hebron may have been a tribal assembly point but there is no evidence of sedentary occupation. Examples of tribal assembly points include Jericho, Arad, Dibon (before the 12th century BC), and the Israelite assemblies at Kadesh-Barnea.
[2] The report of the Israelite spies recorded in Deut. 1:28 implies reference to the town of Hebron as the chief deterrent to the invasion: “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven [emphasis added]. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there.” (Compare Num. 13:22, 28.) The focal point of the spies’ negative report was Hebron and the nearby Valley of Eschol.