Let the Stones Speak

#60: Revealed: A 2,700-Year-Old Depiction of Jerusalem and King Hezekiah (Exclusive Interview)

Around 170 years ago, British archaeologist Sir Austin Henry Layard excavated much of Assyrian King Sennacherib’s palace in ancient Nineveh. In the royal throne room, there stood a stunning 3-meter-high carving of a majestic city that was utterly unique in all of Sennacherib’s reliefs. Atop the tallest tower in the city was one individual holding up a royal standard. Could this be a depiction of ancient Jerusalem and could the lone figure be Judah’s King Hezekiah, of whom Sennacherib boasted that he besieged as a “bird in a cage.” Revealed: A 2,700-Year-Old Depiction of Jerusalem and King Hezekiah [https://armstronginstitute.org/1401-revealed-a-2700-year-old-depiction-of-jerusalem-and-king-hezekiah]

#59: Revealing the Source of Royal Ivory from Biblical Times

Ivory was a luxury item in the ancient biblical world, associated exclusively with royalty and the rich. King Solomon sat on a throne of ivory in Jerusalem. King Ahab had a famous house of ivory in Samaria. Where did the Bible’s ivory come from? Dr. Harel Shochat from the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa answers this question in a recently published article titled “A Thousand Years of Nubian Supply of Sub-Saharan Ivory to the Southern Levant, ca. 1600–600 B.C.E.” Dr. Shochat explains how ivory was exported from Nubia, Egypt’s southern neighbor on the Nile, to the Southern Levant. On today’s program, host Brent Nagtegaal and Dr. Shochat take a deep dive into his paper. They analyze what the data shows about ivory exports during biblical times.

#58: A 3,000-Year-Old Palace on Israel’s Northern Frontier

Excavating the time of David and beyond at Abel Beth Maacah with Prof. Naama Yahalom-Mack https://armstronginstitute.org/1328-a-3000-year-old-palace-on-israels-northern-frontier [https://armstronginstitute.org/1328-a-3000-year-old-palace-on-israels-northern-frontier]

#57: Massive 2,800-Year-Old Dam Discovered In Ancient Jerusalem

Excavators in the City of David have uncovered a massive dam built during the time of Jerusalem’s biblical kings. The dating of the reservoir to about 800 B.C.E., two hundred years after King David reigned, was determined following the publication of new carbon-14 results of the dam wall. On today’s program, Brent Nagtegaal reviews the discovery in light of biblical history. https://armstronginstitute.org/1285-massive-2800-year-old-dam-discovered-in-ancient-jerusalem [https://armstronginstitute.org/1285-massive-2800-year-old-dam-discovered-in-ancient-jerusalem]

#56: New Excavations: King Rehoboam’s Fortifications at Lachish

The Bible records that King David’s grandson, King Rehoboam, fortified 15 cities in the kingdom of Judah almost 3,000 years ago. The biggest of these was Lachish, recognized as Judah’s second most important city after Jerusalem. Prof. Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University is currently excavating at Tel Lachish. Two days before the end of the excavation, Let the Stones Speak host Brent Nagtegaal sat down with Professor Garfinkel to view the massive city wall his team is unearthing. https://armstronginstitute.org/1257-new-excavations-king-rehoboams-fortifications-at-lachish