Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Walter Mattfeld" <mattfeld AT mail.pjsnet.com>]

Dear Maria,

This thread is about establishing when the Pentateuch was written, using
historical allusions and achaeological evidence from towns and cities
mention in these narratives.

In Regards to your questions:

> What time period is the original building of Jericho assumed to have
> occured? And by
> whom?

The Pentateuchal account suggests Jericho was attacked ca. 1400 BCE by
Joshua, the Exodus occuring ca. 1441 BCE (cf. 1 Kings 6:1 which states the
Exodus occured 480 years before Solomon's 4th year and his building of the
temple). 1 Kings 16:34 states that Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho in
Ahab's reign, ca. early 9th century BCE.

Both of these dates have been challenged by the archaeologcial evidence.

Jericho's Middle Bronze Age walls were destroyed ca. 1540 BCE by the
Egyptians. Defensive walls at Jericho are not attested again until the 7th
century BCE.

This means there was no walled settlement for Joshua to attack, ca. 1400 BCE
or 1220 BCE (the former date being preferred by Conservative scholars, based
on 1 Kings 6:1, while the latter date is preferred by Liberal scholars for a
variety of other reasons).

If Jericho's walls were not rebuilt until the 7th century BCE, it is hardly
likely that the biblical narrative, claiming a 9th century BCE foundation,
would have been accepted by those who's living memory would know the city
had been refounded in the 7th century. Allowing 100/200 years for the
collective memory to fade and forget the 7th century BCE foundation,
suggests the biblical narrative was written in the 6th or 5th century BCE.
In fact the latest date for the biblical narrative is 560 BCE (2 Kings
25:27), suggesting a 6th century BCE composition for the Hiel the Bethelite
story.

All the best,

Walter

Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld
Walldorf by Heidelberg
Baden-Wurttemburg
Germany

----- Original Message -----
From: Maria Solarez <funi AT earthlink.net>
To: Walter Mattfeld <mattfeld AT mail.pjsnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2000 5:51 PM
Subject: Re: Dating the Pentateuch, Jericho Anomalies


>
> Thanks, Maria