This final post reporting on my research trip to Jordan includes two sites we visited on our first day. I’ve done so in order to tie together some of the significance aspects of our visit to Gerasa and our later examination of sites in Israel. Elijah’s Hill / Tell Elias In order to identify sites …
Where should we expect to find the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah? I already addressed this matter in part in Post #9 about Lot’s Cave in the vicinity of Zoar. In that post I used the evidence of the biblical text, of toponomy (linguistics of place names), and the Medeba Map. In addition, we …
This particular research trip set as one of its goals the evaluation of three lines of evidence with regard to identifying the locations of Sodom and Gomorrah and attempting to establish chronological timelines: (1) Biblical evidence within the text of Scripture itself as the prima facie evidence; (2) archaeological evidence as provided in excavation reports; and, (3) …
Petra Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time. — John William Burgon Biblical Connections Preparing for a tour of Petra provides an opportunity to think about its biblical connections. Petra and its peoples’ histories begin with the history of Abraham’s descendants. When Abraham’s wife Sarah …
Aroer and the Arnon Gorge Most references in the Old Testament to Aroer occur with reference to a fortress on the edge of the Arnon Gorge known also as Wadi Mujib. Such a location fits “crest of a mountain” as the possible meaning of the name Aroer — another possible meaning would be “juniper,” a …
Medeba Scripture refers to Medeba in lists of cities seized by the Israelites (Numbers 21:30; Joshua 13:9, 16). Joab, during David’s reign, fought the Amorites and Ammonites at Medeba (1 Chronicles 19:6–15). About 150 years later, King Mesha of Moab (see 2 Kings 3:4) erected a stela (the Moabite Stela) mentioning how Omri had taken …
For the first week of December 2019 my travels take me to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan with a group connected with Shepherds Theological Seminary and The West Institute. As we visit various sites of significance for biblical studies, I will post a few pictures and a brief description. Many biblical sites exist in Jordan, …
