David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition (39 page)

Israel Finkelstein
is a professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University. He is a leading figure in the archaeology of the Levant and the laureate of the 2005 Dan David Prize in the Past Dimension—Archaeology. Finkelstein served for many years as the Director of the Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University and is the co-Director of the Megiddo Expedition.

Neil Asher Silberman
is an author and historian who has published widely on the archaeology of the Near East. He also serves as the director of the Ename Center for Public Archaeology and Heritage Presentation in Belgium, consulting and working on international projects in public interpretation and heritage policy.

* The circumstances of the initial compilation of the Deuteronomistic History will be described in Chapter 6.

* In this book we will use the geographical terms “Judah” and “Judahite” to refer to the situation beginning in the presumed time of David in the Early Iron Age (tenth century
BCE
) and ending with the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians in 586
BCE
. The more general term “Judean highlands,” derived from the Greek and Latin geographical terminology, will be used to describe this highland territory in all other periods.

* This event seems to be remembered, as a vivid memory and a sobering lesson, in an oracle of the prophet Amos (6:2).

* The original text is apparently 1 Samuel 30: 26. As we will see in a subsequent chapter, the list of towns which follow was apparently added much later, to serve the kingdom of Judah’s expanded territorial goals.

* For a more detailed description of the debate over the Early Iron Age remains in Jerusalem, see Appendix 2.

* The reason why the Shishak invasion was linked in the Deuteronomistic History to the reign of Rehoboam may be more theological than historical. It is a vivid example of the Deuteronomistic principle of sin and divine retribution, since Rehoboam permitted idolatry and was punished by a foreign assault on his land. The biblical author living in the late seventh century
BCE
could have known about this distant event from several possible sources, such as an inscribed hieroglyphic stele still standing somewhere north of Jerusalem (like the one found at Megiddo); from local oral traditions; or from migrant Judahites who lived in the late seventh century in the Delta, near Tanis, capital of Sheshonq I, where his monuments and historical achievements were still remembered.

* There is one possible, vague memory in the heroic tales of 2 Samuel 23, a mention in passing that Benaiah the son of Jehoiada “slew an Egyptian” (verse 21.)

* Although 2 Samuel 8, which describes some of David’s wars, is not usually considered part of the “Court History,” nonetheless, since military triumphs are an important element of David’s biblical image, we include it in our discussion of royal traditions of the Davidic dynasty.

* For more detail on the archaeological search for the monuments of David’s Jerusalem, see Appendix 2.

* The importance of the Tel Dan inscription and its mention of the “House of David” is discussed in Appendix 1.

* This does not suggest, however, that a more modest temple and palace built by the earlier highland chiefs of Judah did not stand there before.

* For a basic discussion of the evidence for David’s historical existence, see Appendix 1.

* Knauf particularly stressed the central role played in ancient Near Eastern courts by stories expressing the viewpoint of the queen mother, whose main political challenge was to maintain the primacy of her line in the struggle for succession to the throne.

* It is contained in the final chapter of what scholars describe as the “Ark Narrative,” the story of the wandering of the Ark from Shiloh to captivity in Philistine cities, and back to Kiriath-jearim and finally Jerusalem—1 Samuel 6–7: 1; 2 Samuel 6.

* Baruch Halpern explained this story as a sophisticated work of propaganda by the supporters of Solomon, aimed to counter rumors that he was not the son of David, and thus not of royal Davidic blood. We would argue that even if the story were old, it assumed its present form only much later in Judah’s history.

* Though the name is spelled this way in the Revised Standard Version of the Hebrew Bible, his name is properly Jehoram; he reigned as king of Judah, according to the traditional biblical chronology, 851–843
BCE
. Likewise Joash’s name is properly spelled “Jehoash.” (See chart on p. 18.)

* The list of targeted liquidations of northern figures is painfully long: David is indirectly linked to the death of Abner, the loyal general of Saul (2 Samuel 3: 27); to the killing and then beheading of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul (2 Samuel 4: 7); to the hanging of seven other members of the house of Saul (2 Samuel 21: 7–9); and the beheading of the northern rebel Sheba the son of Bichri (2 Samuel 20: 22).

* For more on the evidence for horse breeding and trading at Israelite Megiddo, see chapter 5.

* Despite the legendary stories of the exile of the “Ten Lost Tribes” of Israel in this period, we cannot be sure that Sargon’s claim of deporting almost 30,000 Israelites after the fall of Samaria is accurate. In the eighth century
BCE
the population of the northern kingdom living west of the Jordan can be estimated at about 225,000. Even if we were to take Sargon’s figure of 27,290 Israelite exiles at face value and add to it the 13,500 Israelites claimed by Tiglath-pileser III to have been deported from the Galilee, the overwhelming majority of the rural Israelite population was not deported. Many undoubtedly remained in their ancient villages in the immediate wake of the conquest and continued to cultivate their land.

* The discovery of this major episode in Jerusalem’s history is due to the excavations of Nahman Avigad in the Jewish Quarter in the 1970s and more recent excavations by Ronnie Reich and Eli Shukron in the City of David.