A biblical site frequented by Israelite kings according to the Hebrew Bible has been identified in Jordan, researchers say. The Iron Age site, known as Mahanaim, was part of the Kingdom of Israel (also called the Northern Kingdom). The team also believes they have identified the remains of a building at Mahanaim that was used by elite figures, possibly even Israelite kings.
Today, the site that may be Mahanaim is called Tal ad-Dahab al-Gharbi, archaeologists Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University and Talai Ornan of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem write in an article published in the journal Tel Aviv. The researchers base their claim on archaeological remains found at the site and an analysis of biblical passages that mention Mahanaim.
Mahanaim
The name “Mahanaim” means “two camps” in Hebrew, and biblical passages suggest that it was located next to another place called Penuel, the researchers write. Today, a smaller archaeological site known as Tal ad-Dahab esh-Sharqi, which may be Penuel, is located near Tal ad-Dahab al-Gharbi, which in turn may be Mahanaim, they explain in the article. Biblical passages suggest that Penuel had a temple, and at Tal ad-Dahab esh-Sharqi the remains of a rectangular platform, which may be a temple, have been found.
The Tal ad-Dahab al-Gharbi site was excavated by a German archaeological team between 2005 and 2011. During that time, the German team found the remains of stone blocks with various engraved images, including people playing the lyre; a lion, possibly from a hunting scene; a date palm tree; and a man carrying a goat to what appears to be a banquet, possibly “intended as food for a feast,” according to the new study.
Finkelstein and Ornan say the blocks are likely the remains of a building used by dignitaries. The researchers also note that the style of the engravings is similar to that of eighth-century BCE wall paintings at a site known as Kuntilet Ajrud in the northeastern Sinai Desert of Egypt.
Previous work at Kuntilet Ajrud has shown that the site was controlled by the Kingdom of Israel in the eighth century BCE, suggesting that the blocks found at Tal adh-Dahab al-Gharbi also date to the eighth century BCE and were the work of craftsmen associated with the Kingdom of Israel.
The researchers add that Mahanaim and Penuel were built by Jeroboam II, a king of Israel who ruled in the eighth century B.C.
Visited by Israelite kings?
This building may have been used by Israelite kings. Finkelstein notes that stories in the Hebrew Bible mention that an Israelite king named Ishbaal was crowned at Mahanaim and that King David fled to Mahanaim when he was at war with Absalom, one of his sons. While these biblical stories suggest that some of Israelite kings may have visited the building at Mahanaim, ultimately “there’s no way to know,” Finkelstein told Live Science.
Bartosz Adamczewski, a professor of theology at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, who was not involved in the study, believes that the proximity of Tal ad-Dahab al-Gharbi to Tal ad-Dahab esh-Sharqi helps explain how the name “Mahanaim” – two camps – came about.
Illustrative Photo by Brett Jordan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/writing-typography-blur-bokeh-11506026/
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First published in this link of The European Times.
