A Goliath of a day!

This last Sunday was great! We visited several sites. First off we went off to Gath (Tel Asafi), where Goliath was from. Our teacher of ancient near east studies excavated there. The excavations are on the side of the hill because a crusader fortress was built on top, and crusaders always built to the bedrock, destroying all the stuff below. Our teacher showed us around, showing us where an ancient kitchen was found, where the old walls were, etc. Canaanites lived there first, then philistines, eventually Judea. He showed us this black chunk of basalt. Basalt is not native from the area, and people brought it over to there to crush wheat (the limestone from the area is too soft, and can’t be used to make your bread).  We also sung this song about 

Goliath to the song “my boyfriend’s back” by the Angels. I’ll include the song at the end of the blog.

            After that we went to Tell-Meresha. There they have the biggest ancient dove cote around. A dove coat is like a giant underground chicken coop. Doves in ancient times were used as food like chickens, also in ritual cleansing sacrifice. Mary went to temple to offer two turtle doves after she gave birth to Jesus. That’s where they met Simeon. Anywhere, it was really a quite large undergroun chicken coop. There was also a giant underground olive press. Apparently the oil can’t be exposed to sunlight or it turns bitter rather than sweet. There was also an underground water cistern.

            Also very near there we went to the “bell caves” where people have broken through the harder rock on top, the nari, (Hard sea limestone) and mined the soft chalk limestone underneath. The Chalk is soft enough to dig through with your fingernails. People mined it starting from the top going out in circles so the caves look like giant bells inside. They used it for plaster, among other things.

We then went to Lachish. The town has lots of history. Joshua conquered it in Joshua Cpt 10:32.  There are also some mudbricks that have been burt hard from around the time when the Israelites invaded. Very interesting since they were commanded to burnt he cities they took. Lachish was also the last city taken when the Assyrians invaded and destroyed the Northern Kingdom. The siege of Lachish is recorded and depicted in Assyrian carved murals. In that depiction it shows a siege ramp. You can see that siege ramp today. You can also see the wall that came up to the wall, as well as the 6 chambered gate there. We can see an ancient temple, it’s unclear from what period, herodian or earlier.  As well there are the foundations of a huge palace. Also, there was a room in the city where they found a series of letters, the “Lachish letters” say some interesting things, among with include one where a governmental official at Jerusalem tell Lachish not to listen to the prophets warning that Lachish will be destroyed because it will make the troops fear. Also there is another that warns about the incoming army. We also talked about a letter that talks about the signal fires. Apparently on the tops of cities they kept signal fires and when one went out, that meant the city was taken.  Reroboam built the 6 chamber gate and Josiah built the outside gate. The destruction the Assyrians caused was serious, they found 15,000 skeletons in one pit there! Find out more about Lachish at http://www.tau.ac.il/humanities/archaeology/projects/proj_past_lachish.html

            Hey and guess what!? We got ot visit where David faught Goliath! Today in that valley there is farmland, but interestingly enough the little river that runs through the valley is still there, and we grabbed some stones from the dry riverbank and practiced slinging them. We also had a little play about David and Goliath and I was the narrator.

We also visited Bet- Shemesh “House of Sun” near where Sampson was from. There was a whole lot of pottery shards laying around.


Also, several of the places we visited traces where the Ark went when stolen from the Israelites. It went form Ashdode- Gath- Ekon to Bet-Shemesh.

Goliath's Back Song to "My Boyfriend's back". (P.S. The bible says 5 philistine Lords were at the battle. In Hebrew the word is kind of a weird one and may be a transliteration for the word "Tyrant" in Greek. Anyway, Goliath could have been working for some tyrants. Also, Shfelah is the area in the Judean Lowland.)

Goliath's back, and you're gonna be in trouble

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

He's nine feet high and his chin is kinda double

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

He's got a big spear like a weaver's beam

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

When King Saul saw it, he started out to scream

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

And, he really is a giant!

And, he's working for a tyrant!

Now David went down to the Valley of Elah

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

Takin' his brothers some cheeses from his Papa

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

His brothers said "Hey Dave, ya did a na-na"

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

Goliath just a stood there laughin' "ha ha!"

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

And, he really is a giant!

And, he's working for a tyrant!

The Israelites were standin' on the hill on the one side

oh-oooooooo.....

The Philistines were standin' on the hill on the other side

oh-oooooooo.....

Wait and see!

So Dave chose five stones out of the wadi

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

Goliath started talkin' kinda "potty"

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

David slung a stone into his head

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

The giant fell down on his face and he was dead

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's back!

And, the giant fell down dead

And, then Dave cut off his head!

Shfelah, Shfelah, Goliath's dead!

Gath, where Goliath was from, and our very knowledgeable professor.

Olive press. The stones were used as weights to squeeze the oil from the bags of olive towards the back. (the olives were already crushed to break open the pits, which contain oil too.)

A UFO sighting in the Bell caves.

Lachish. That's the road that went up towards the gate.

Behind me is where the Israelites were, that hill behind Jarrett is where the Philistines set up camp. David and Goliath fought in the middle, the Valley of Elah.

In the river where David got his stones to throw.

Slaying my own giants.

Bet-Shemesh where Goliath was from. The Ark was also returned to Israel by being put on a cart with milk cows and driving it into the valley behind me, where it was found.

Lachish again. This hill was man made, a siege ramp to take the city! They found one of the oldest siege engines in the rubble here.

In a dove coat without a coat.