Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk" <Peter_Kirk AT sil.org>]

Walter, you should know better than to slip so easily from "excavations...
failed to find" to "didn't exist", especially as the tombs provide evidence
that there was occupation. As we haven't found the site of this occupation,
we have no way of knowing or estimating its size, in area or in number.

As for the 12,000 population of Ai, this would surely have included the
population of the surrounding villages and pasturelands subject to Ai, who
would have taken refuge in the city from the attacking army. These people
could be counted as "people of Ai", but they would not have lived in the
walled area or used the city water supply. Maybe someone can estimate the
ratio of urban to rural population at the time; I would guess that the
permanent city dwellers were a small proportion.

Peter Kirk

----- Original Message -----
From: Walter Mattfeld <mattfeld AT mail.pjsnet.com>
To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2000 9:42 AM
Subject: Locating Ai


<snip>
>
> Archaeological excavations at Gibeon failed to find a Late Bronze Age
town,
> although a couple of tombs made in the Middle Bronze period had been
> utilized in the LB era.
>
> Conclusions:
>
> ... Gibeon didn't exist in
> the LB for Joshua to defend, so we have a fictional account here...

<snip>