Top Ten Discoveries Related to Joshua and the Conquest

The books of Joshua and Judges describe the settlement of the Israelites in the Promised Land. Some have suggested the archaeological evidence does not support the biblical description of the conquest of Canaan in the 15^th century BC¹. This can be based on a faulty reading of the biblical text, expecting widespread destruction throughout the region and instantaneous new cultural remains signalling the arrival of the Israelites. Numerous scholars have noted that the Israelites did not immediately take over the entire land, destroy all the cities, re-build their own cities and establish their own distinct, material culture.² Kenneth Kitchen, for example states, “The book of Joshua in reality simply records the Hebrew entry into Canaan, their base camp at Gilgal by the Jordan, their initial raids (without occupation!) against local rulers and subjects in south and north Canaan, followed by localized occupation (a) north from Gilgal…