Israelites Did Indeed Destroy Canaanite Hazor, According to July/Aug 2013 Issue of Biblical Archae

WASHINGTON - June 12, 2013 - PRLog -- The Book of Joshua says that the Israelites defeated the mighty king of Hazor and destroyed the city with fire. Years of excavation have revealed the intentional destruction of the once-powerful Canaanite city—“the head of all those kingdoms”—with a raging inferno that burned at more than 2,350 degrees Fahrenheit. But who did it? According to excavator Amnon Ben-Tor in "Who Destroyed Canaanite Hazor?" the Israelites are the only feasible candidates.

Colorful frescoes of bulls, acrobats, griffins and flowers once decorated ancient palaces in Egypt, Turkey, Syria—and Israel. Well known from Bronze Age Crete and Santorini, how and why did this Aegean art style travel hundreds of miles to the east? In "Aegeans in Israel: Minoan Frescoes at Tel Kabri," archaeologists Eric Cline and Assaf Yasur-Landau discuss how the excavations at Tel Kabri in Israel help explain the Aegean connection with the easternmost parts of the Mediterranean world.

"Exchanging Bronze for Iron, Early Israel: An Egalitarian Society" by Avraham Faust reveals that although excavated structures, pottery and other household artifacts offer a glimpse of daily life in the Iron Age highlands of Canaan, no burials or tombs have been found. What do these findings reveal about the ideology of early Iron Age Israelite society?

Considerable attention has been paid to how Biblical religions influenced one another, but did these religions inspire pagan cultures as well? In "Daphnis and Chloe in the Garden of Eden," Theodore Feder discusses a charming late-second-century pastoral romance that echoes elements of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.

In his First Person, Hershel Shanks asks readers: “Why are you interested in Biblical archaeology?” In The Bible in the News, Leonard Greenspoon examines the varied uses and applications of the Biblical phrase “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away” in contemporary culture. Speaking of modern applications of Biblical phrases, Roland Deines reviews the use and misuse of labeling someone or something as “pharisaic” in Biblical Views. In Archaeological Views, John Byron recounts how a tour of Turkey inspired him to reflect on the lives of slaves in the ancient world.

Online at Bible History Daily, visitors can access daily articles on key Biblical archaeology topics, the latest news, book reviews and dozens of free eBooks, including the just-released Jerusalem Archaeology. BAS web editor Noah Wiener will give an exclusive inside look at life on an archaeological excavation this summer at Tel Kabri. Our supplemental materials on the second-century Daphnis and Chloe story provide a nice addition to Theodore Feder’s article. Users can try BAR’s digital issue or download our highly rated iPad app. The BAS Library features easy access to all footnoted articles in BAR Notables and new Special Collections each month.