Wilbur Fields<\/b><\/p>\n
Professor, Ozark Christian College<\/p>\n
Joplin, MO<\/p>\n
Aerial view of Khirbet Nisya. Size of the site is about 7 acres. El-Bireh (ancient Bethel?) is beyond the mountain off upper right hand corner<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
I have been involved off and on since 1972 in the search for the town of ʾAi. Since 1981, I have worked eight seasons with Dr. David P. Livingston of Ephrata, PA, in his excavations at Khirbet Nisya in Israel, ten miles north of Jerusalem. Livingston feels that Nisya is the actual location of ʾAi, the second city destroyed by Joshua. I agree with this view.<\/p>\n
The name ʾAi is pronounced Eye in Hebrew and in Spanish. The Hebrew word has the same consonants as a word meaning heap of ruins. In the Old Testament the word always has the articles, \u201cThe ʾAi.\u201d<\/p>\n
ʾAi was captured by Joshua just after he took Jericho. The story of this conquest is told in the book of Joshua, chapters 7 and 8. The capture of ʾAi was unique in two respects: First, Israel suffered a defeat in their initial attack on the town. And second, the Israelites captured the city by using troops hidden in ambush behind the city.<\/p>\n
The location of ʾAi has been uncertain for centuries. In 1838, the American geographer, Edward Robinson, located some ruins at a place called Beitin, twelve miles north of Jerusalem. Robinson decided that this was the location of the Biblical town of Bethel. Both the Bible and other sources indicate that ʾAi was close to Bethel. About three km SE of Beitin is a huge 27-acre mound known as et-Tell, meaning The Mound, or tell. This mound of et-Tell, or one of the tiny mounds near it, has come to be generally accepted as the location of ʾAi.<\/p>\n
The most common things found in archaeological digs are potsherds, broken pieces of pottery. I am very pleased to report to you that the ages of the potsherds found at Khirbet Nisya correspond closely to the very periods when <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 6:3 (Summer 1993) p. 70<\/p>\n
the Bible says that ʾAi was being lived in. For example, we have found MANY potsherds from the Middle Bronze II period, the Canaanite age of about 1950\u20131550 BC. This was the period near when Abraham camped by ʾAi (Gen. 12:8; 13:3). No fragments of Middle Bronze age pottery have been found at et-Tell.<\/p>\n
Edward Robinson (1794\u20131863)<\/b><\/p>\n
We have found numerous pottery pieces from the Late Bronze I age, 1550\u20131400 BC, the very time when the Bible indicates Joshua destroyed Jericho and ʾAi. Dr. Livingston has drawn and published pictures of this pottery in his Ph.D. dissertation (Andrews Univ., 1989) and in the Bulletin of the Near East Archaeological Society (1990:2\u201319).<\/p>\n
We have found almost NO potsherds datable to the Late Bronze II period, 1400\u20131200 BC. This negative evidence seems significant because that was the period when ʾAi was devastated, according to Joshua 8:28.<\/p>\n
We have found a large number of potsherds datable to the divided kingdom period in Israel (called Iron II age by archaeologists). (See Livingston, 1989:139\u2013143). This is significant because the book of Isaiah was written during that time, and Isaiah 10:28 mentions ʾAi (in the form ʾAiath) as existing at that time. No potsherds from the divided kingdom period have been found at et-Tell.<\/p>\n
Equally exciting are the discoveries of many pieces of pottery made during the Persian period, right after the Babylonian captivity, when the Jews were under the rule of Persian rulers like kings Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were written at that time, and both mention ʾAi and its nearby town of Bethel. (Ezra 2:28; Neh. 7:32; 11:31). Absolutely no Persian period remains have been found at the big mound called et-Tell, which is generally considered to be the location of ʾAi.<\/p>\n
We have found Hellenistic and early Roman remains at Khirbet Nisya. These are interesting, though they do not relate directly to the Bible. I enjoyed excavating crushed Hellenistic period store jars from a complex of three pits joined by tunnels, in 1991.<\/p>\n
We have found at Nisya almost NO pottery remains from the Late Roman period (about AD 100\u2013300). This is probably significant, because the church historian Eusebius said (about AD 325) that ʾAi was a deserted place at that time. Our researches show that after the Late Roman period (during the Byzantine period) there was a large settlement at Nisya, and the place continued to be occupied in the Arabic and Mameluke periods of the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n
How can an archaeologist identify some ancient ruins as being a certain Biblical city if he does not find some datable inscriptions? Dr. Anson Rainey of Tel Aviv University gives us some clues: \u201cIf one wishes to find another site for ʾAi.. . then he must look for a site with extensive Late Bronze occupation, including reasonably strong fortifications.\u201d (Rainey, 1971:188). Rainey has been an outspoken critic of Dr. Livingston\u2019s dig at Nisya. But I feel that the requirements he suggests for identifying the site are very reasonable.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve already told you that we have <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 6:3 (Summer 1993) p. 71<\/p>\n
found potsherds at Nisya indicating considerable Late Bronze I age occupation. However, our search for \u201creasonably strong fortifications\u201d from that period has been much tougher. I do feel that wherever ʾAi actually was there will be little if anything left from the time of Joshua, because \u201cJoshua burned ʾAi and made it a tell forever, a desolation of this day\u201d (Joshua 8:28). Nisya appears to have been rebuilt several hundred years later after its destruction by Joshua. Then it was destroyed again, and rebuilt several times. Each time the builders dug down to bedrock to build on, which is close to the surface almost everywhere at Nisya. This rebuilding on bedrock has scrambled the older wall remains and rubble layers with materials placed there in later periods. (Livingston discusses this problem in Khirbet Nisya, 1989:29\u201330.)<\/p>\n
Area 77, view south-east. The foundation of a large pre-Byzantine structure. Probes in deep pits or cuttings in the bedrock between the walls produced pottery from the Middle Bronze, Late Bronze I, Iron Age I, and Iron Age II periods<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
In spite of this problem, in our 1990 excavations, in square 77 near the summit of the mound, we found two or three huge stones standing on edge beside the foundations of what appears to be a tower from the Herodian period. The stones measured about 1.6 x 1.3 m, and about .7m (21\/2 ft!) in thickness. Livingston reports that \u201cas we dug down on the west side of one of them, the ceramics included Late Bronze age sherds. And at the very end of our dig season a rim sherd from a Late Bronze age cooking pot was found under the edge of the most exposed stone.\u201d (Near East Arch. Soc. Bulletin, No. 35; 9). \u201cMaybe at long last we have found our walls!\u201d Dr. Livingston plans to return in August 1993 to continue excavation of this possible wall area.<\/p>\n
Dr. Joseph A. Callaway excavated extensively at the mound called et-Tell in 1964\u20131972. Dr. Callaway wrote, \u201cʾAi is simply an embarrassment to every view of the conquest (of Canaan) that takes the Biblical and archaeological evidence seriously\u201d (1968:312).<\/p>\n
The Israeli archaeologist Ziony Zevit wrote, \u201cMy conclusion is that although the ʾAi story was indeed told about the Iron Age village (an area on the mound of et-Tell), it is historically not true, in the sense that we moderns understand historical truth.\u201d (1985:67).<\/p>\n
What is it about the search for ʾAi at et-Tell that has made so many scholars disbelieve the Bible story about ʾAi, and, by extension, disbelieve much else in the Bible?<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 6:3 (Summer 1993) p. 72<\/p>\n
The main reason for questioning the Bible story of ʾAi is that no pottery or other remains have been found at the mound of et-Tell which are datable to the periods when the Bible says ʾAi was occupied. The only remains at et-Tell are from the two periods called the Early Bronze age (3200\u20132350 BC) and the Iron I age (1220\u20131050 BC), which is the period of the judges in the Bible. The Early Bronze age was long before the time of Abraham, and constituted much of the time between Noah\u2019s flood and Abraham. (For charts showing the periods when et-Tell was occupied see the article \u201cʾAi\u201d in Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, and in Biblical Archaeologist, Mar. 1976:19).<\/p>\n
Et-Tell is accepted by the vast majority of writers as the location of ʾAi. If et-Tell is indeed ʾAi, it is hard to escape the conclusion that the Bible is in error in what it tells about Joshua\u2019s capture of ʾAi.<\/p>\n
Dr. Joseph Callaway wrote rather wistfully (in BAR, 1985:68) \u201c…Was my excavation of ʾAi worthwhile? …Archaeology has wiped out the historical credibility of the conquest of ʾAi as reported in Joshua 7\u20138. The Joint Expedition to ʾAi worked nine seasons between 1964 and 1976 and spent nearly $200,000 only to eliminate the historical underpinning of the ʾAi account in the Bible.. . We are being pressed to find a more realistic perspective from which to understand Joshua 7\u20138.\u201d<\/p>\n
A nationally circulated article (1988) trumpeted the statement, \u201cThe war of conquest supposedly conducted by Joshua, in which his army destroyed peoples and brought the walls of Jericho tumbling down, never happened. Excavations have shown that there was no city there at the time; nor was there one at ʾAi, which the Bible says was levelled by Joshua\u2019s army. \u201cJericho is a theological statement about the power of God,\u201d concludes Joe Seger, an archaeologist at Mississippi State University.<\/p>\n
Such statements are based on negative evidence. The archaeologists at et-Tell found no buried signs saying \u201cThe Ai City Limit.\u201d Conclusions based on a lack of evidence or on ignorance are considered fallacies in logic.<\/p>\n
Should we give up our belief in the Bible\u2019s history because we do not quickly find specific remains that prove that every event recorded in the Bible really happened? I think not. If we must have that kind of proof to believe, we can never walk by faith, only by sight.<\/p>\n
The Bible tells us to hold fast to what it says. (See II Peter 1:19\u201321). Both the Old Testament and the New Testament tell us that the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). I Peter 1:25 tells us that this message that the word of the LORD endures forever is a word which was preached to us by the GOSPEL!<\/p>\n
These verses about the word of the Lord enduring forever should caution those who feel that the Scriptures were not originally given without error, or that they have become hopelessly corrupted or lost in being transmitted to us.<\/p>\n
One man who felt that the Bible would prove to be true when it was fully investigated was Dr. David P. Livingston. Livingston took a class in Jerusalem in 1966 at the Institute of Holy Land Studies. He was told that the ʾAi story was only a legend, and that Joshua\u2019s battle there really did not occur.<\/p>\n
From that day in class Livingston began three years of intensive research on the ʾAi question. This was culminated in Nov. 1970 when he published an article in Westminister Theological Journal. Livingston argued that the commonly accepted locations of Bethel at Beitin, and of ʾAi at et-Tell were probably incorrect and that Bethel was probably near modern Bireh.<\/p>\n
He presented statements from the ancient historian Eusebius that Bethel and ʾAi were near the 12th Roman mile stone <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 6:3 (Summer 1993) p. 73<\/p>\n
north from Jerusalem. Twelve English miles north of Jerusalem would be a place near Beitin or et-Tell. But they were Roman miles, which were only 4,854 feet long (about .9 English mile.) Thus, the 12th Roman mile stone would be about 10 or 11 miles from Jerusalem, closer to the modern town of Bireh and to Khirbet Nisya than to Beitin and et-Tell farther north.<\/p>\n
Livingston argued that Beitin and et-Tell, which are 3 km apart, have no real mountain between them, although the Bible says there was a mountain between Bethel and ʾAi where Abram encamped when he came from Shechem, shortly after his arrival in Canaan (Gen. 12:8). At Beitin there is a valley east of the town; and at et-Tell only a hill west of it about the same height as et-Tell itself. In contrast to that, there is a high mountain at the east edge of the town of Bireh, suggesting that Bireh may be the place where Bethel was. The mountain is named Jebel et-Tawil, meaning \u201cThe Tall One.\u201d It is the highest mountain (907 m) in the entire vicinity for several miles.<\/p>\n
Livingston himself rediscovered the little mount of ruins called Khirbet Nisya. Nisya is a spur or knoll on the east slope of the mountain east of Bireh. He was the first to propose that Nisya might be the location of ʾAi. Nisya had been located and named on the 1883 map Survey of Western Palestine by Conder and Kitchenere (where its name is spelled Nisieh). Nisya was a location not known by the Israelites. It is now about a quarter of a mile down the slope east from the Jewish settlement called Psagot.<\/p>\n
Livingston obtained a permit from the Israel Department of Antiquities to excavate at Khirbet Nisya. Since 1979 he has conducted eleven brief excavation seasons <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 6:3 (Summer 1993) p. 74<\/p>\n
there. Livingston produced a 283-page doctoral dissertation on the Nisya excavations and numerous other articles.<\/p>\n
We have had exciting moments at Khirbet Nisya. We found a Canaanite Middle Bronze II period knife blade in a deep pit. Similar knives have been found in tombs elsewhere in Israel. We found a gold Arab dinar coin, dated about AD 700. Twenty to thirty skeletons were jumbled together in a small tomb, along with many pieces of jewelry such as bracelets, earrings and beads. I had the privilege to excavate a large man-made cave with a complete olive-pressing factory in it. In the olive pressing cave was a beautiful Arabic lamp of about AD 1500. In the same cave was a necklace with 28 coins that had been attached to it by threads. When first discovered, the necklace was so tarnished that we thought it was made of copper or bronze. But when it was cleaned up, it showed itself to be pure silver wires braided together.<\/p>\n
But to me the greatest excitement in our diggings at Nisya has been those discoveries that suggest it may be the true location of ʾAi, and that the Bible has been vindicated again. In the past there have been a lot of Biblical people, events, and places, whose existence has been said to be unhistorical, but who have later been found to be real and harmonize well with Bible history. I could mention Belshazzar, king of Babylon; Sargon II, king of Assyria; the Hittite empire in Asia Minor; and others.<\/p>\n
I am sure that whether Nisya proves to be ʾAi or not, we can believe and be sure that the word of the LORD endures forever.<\/p>\n
Bibliography (annotated)<\/b><\/p>\n
1. Albright, Wm. F., & Kelso, James L. The Excavation of Bethel (1934\u20131960). Cambridge: American Schools of Oriental Research,<\/i> 1968. (A definitive volume. See esp. Chap. 10, pp. 45-53.)<\/p>\n
2. Bimson, John J., & Livingston, David. \u201cRedating the Exodus\u201d in Biblical Archaeology Review<\/i> (XIII, 5), Sept.-Oct. 1987, pp. 40-53, 66\u201368. (Bimson\u2019s proposal of late date for end of MB II period is outdated.)<\/p>\n
3. Blizzard, Roy B., Jr. \u201cIntensive Systematic Surface Collection at Livingston\u2019s proposed Site for Biblical ʾAi\u201d in Westminister Theological Journal<\/i> (XXXVI,2). Winter 1974, pp. 221-232. (A report on the Dec. 1971 surface potsherd survey at Khirbet Nisya. Only sherds of Iron age, Hellenist, Roman, Byzantine, and Arabic periods were found. A brief response by Livingston follows the article. Blizzard\u2019s conclusions are now disproven.)<\/p>\n
4. Callaway, Joseph A. \u201cExcavating ʾAi (et-Tell) – 1964\u20131972\u201d, in Biblical Archaeologist<\/i> magazine (39, 1), March 1976, pp. 18-30. (A concise but thorough and well-illustrated summary.)<\/p>\n
5. \u201cʾAi\u201d, in Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land,<\/i> Vol. I pp. 36-52. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1975. (Thorough survey. Presupposes et-Tell is location of ʾAi.)<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 6:3 (Summer 1993) p. 75<\/p>\n
6. \u201cNew Evidence on the Conquest of ʾAi\u201d, Journal of Biblical Literature<\/i> (LXXXVII, III). Sept. 1968, pp. 312-320. (Concise summary. Expresses views critical of Biblical record.)<\/p>\n
7. \u201cThe Early Bronze Age Sanctuary at ʾAi (et-Tell)\u201d, No. I. London: Bernard Quaritch LTD., 1972. (A major archaeological volume.)<\/p>\n
8. Livingston, David P. \u201cLocation of Bethel and ʾAi Reconsidered\u201d, Westminister Theological Journal<\/i> (XXXIII,I), Nov. 1970, pp. 20-44 (A major article, the first published argument for relocating Bethel at Bireh, and ʾAi at a ruin just east of Bireh. Arguments in this article have been criticized, but not refuted.)<\/p>\n
9. \u201cTraditional Site of Bethel Questioned\u201d, Westminister Theological Journal<\/i> (XXXIV,I, Nov. 1991, pp. 39-50. (A reply to Anson Rainey\u2019s criticism. See below, No. 15.)<\/p>\n
10. \u201cWhere is Bethel and ʾAi?\u201d Archaeology and Biblical Research<\/i>. (I, 1), Winter 1988, pp. 24-.<\/p>\n
11. \u201cKhirbet Nisya 1979\u20131986: A Report on Six Seasons of Excavation.\u201d Ph.D. dissertation. Andrews Univ., 1989. 283 pp. (A major volume. Complete text, drawings, photos, etc. Advocates that Khirbet Nisya is the location of ʾAi.)<\/p>\n
12. \u201cThe 1987 & 1990 Excavations at Khirbet Nisya\u201d, Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin<\/i> (#35), Fall 1990, pp. 2-19. (Has drawings of pottery, photos, etc.)<\/p>\n
13. \u201cThe 1990 Khirbet Nisya Dig Report\u201d, Archaeology and Biblical Research<\/i>. (3, 4). Autumn 1990, pp. 113-117.<\/p>\n
14. \u201c1991 Khirbet Nisya (ʾAi) Excavation Report\u201d, Archaeology and Biblical Research<\/i>. (5, 1). Winter 1992, pp. 16-21.<\/p>\n
15. Rainey, Anson F. \u201cBethel is Still Beitin\u201d, in WTJ (XXXIII,2), May 1971, pp. 175-188. (A vigorous attack on Livingston\u2019s article, numbered 8 above. I do not feel he answered any of Livingston\u2019s basic arguments.)<\/p>\n
16. Letter to editor on the location of Bethel and ʾAi, Biblical Archaeology Review<\/i>. Sept.-Oct. 1988, pp. 67-68. (Similar arguments to those in Rainey article numbered 15 above.)<\/p>\n
17. Zevit, Ziony. \u201cThe Problem of ʾAi\u201d Biblical Archaeology Review<\/i>. (XI,2) Mar.-April 1985, pp. 58-69. (The article advocates that the ʾAi story was an imaginary account made about the eighth century BC to account for the ruins at et-Tell. The article includes an article by Joseph a Callaway, \u201cWas My Excavation at ʾAi Worthwhile?\u201d Ibid, pp. 68-69)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wilbur Fields Professor, Ozark Christian College Joplin, MO Aerial view of Khirbet Nisya. Size of the site is about 7 acres. El-Bireh (ancient Bethel?) is beyond the mountain off upper right hand corner. I have been involved off and on since 1972 in the search for the town of ʾAi. Since 1981, I have worked … Continue reading “THE
\nSEARCH FOR ʾAI”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}