King David’s palace discovered, claim Israeli archaeologists

Archaeologists in Jerusalem have excavated two enormous buildings, which they believe can be attributed to the Biblical King David, according to Fox News and The Times of Israel.

The buildings belong to a site considered to be the fortified Judean city of Shaarayim, where, according to Biblical tradition, the young David and the giant Goliath had their epic duel.

 

“The ruins are the best example to date of the uncovered fortress city of King David,” said the leaders of the excavations, Professor Yossi Garfinkel of Hebrew University and Saar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “This is indisputable proof of the existence of a central authority in Judah during the time of King David.”

 

Shaarayim, which means “two gates”, is thought to be the modern city of Khirbet Qeiyafa, which has two gates in its walls. The city is located near Beit Shemesh, southwest of Jerusalem. Although the archaeologists have been working on this site for seven years, the discovery of the two buildings were fairly recent, going back to not more than a year ago.

Massive measurements
 

Garfinkel and Ganor identified one building as David’s palace, and the other as a massive royal storeroom. They are the two most enormous known structures during the tenth century BCE to have been discovered in the territory of the Kingdom of Judah.

 

“He (King David) definitely didn’t live in a simple home,” said Ganor.

 

“Khirbet Qeiyafa is the best example exposed to date of a fortified city from the time of King David,” Garfinkel and Ganor described in a statement. “The southern part of a large palace that extended across an area of about 1,000 square meters (10,800 square feet) was revealed at the top of the city.

"The wall enclosing the palace is about 30 meters (100 feet) long and an impressive entrance is fixed it through which one descended to the southern gate of the city, opposite the Valley of Elah.

"Around the palace’s perimeter were rooms in which various installations were found—evidence of a metal industry, special pottery vessels and fragments of alabaster vessels that were imported from Egypt.”

 

The storeroom is a pillared building 15 meters (49 feet) long and 6 meters wide. “It was in this building the kingdom stored taxes it received in the form of agricultural produce collected from the residents of the different villages in the Judean Shephelah,” they said. “Hundreds of large store jars were found at the site whose handles were stamped with an official seal as was customary in the Kingdom of Judah for centuries.”

'Iron Age palace' 
 

Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) spokeswoman Yoli Schwartz added that the site bears all the trademarks of an Iron Age palace.

“The palace is located in the center of the site and controls all of the houses lower than it in the city,” she explained. “From here one has an excellent vantage looking out into the distance, from as far as the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Hebron Mountains and Jerusalem in the east. This is an ideal location from which to send messages by means of fire signals.”

 

The site is abundant in artifacts, which include pottery vessels, stone tools, seals, and religious objects that were characteristic of those times. In addition, it is “the only site in which organic material was found—including olive seeds—that can be carbon-14 dated,” said Schwartz.

 

The IAA has expressed their confidence that the site can be attributed to the period of King David's rule. Garfinkel and Ganor, who believe their discoveries are evidence of centralized construction and royal administrative organization during King David’s reign, echo this sentiment.

Khirbet Qeiyafa, then and now

 

“This is unequivocal evidence of a kingdom’s existence, which knew to establish administrative centers at strategic points,” they said. “To date no palaces have been found that can clearly be ascribed to the early tenth century BCE as we can do now.

"Khirbet Qeiyafa was probably destroyed in one of the battles that were fought against the Philistines circa 980 BCE. The palace that is now being revealed and the fortified city that was uncovered in recent years are another tier in understanding the beginning of the Kingdom of Judah.”

 

The IAA is hopeful that Khirbet Qeiyafa will be declared a national park that people can visit to learn more about King David and his ancient kingdom.

Together with the Nature and Parks Authority, they are already working alongside local planning bodies to halt the development of a neighborhood in the vicinity. — VC, GMA News