[Avodah] They Found Gat

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

As you may have heard, a team found the gates of Gat, Golias's home town.

And, as I've noticed in the past, the question of whether they find
evidence of the events as found in Tanakh or evidence against can be
predicted in advance by checking the religious stance of who is running
the dig.

So you get this story from Haaretz
<http://www.haaretz.com/beta/.premium-1.669425>:
    Philistine City of Gath a Lot More Powerful Than Thought,
    Archaeologists Suggest
    Powerful fortifications newly uncovered by Israeli archaeologists
    suggest the kingdoms of Saul, David may not have been quite as
    powerful as thought.
    Nir Hasson Aug 04, 2015 3:08 AM [IDT]
    ...
    According to Maeir, the discovery of Gath as a huge, fortified
    city on the border of Judea during an extended period, without
    any signs of destruction as a result of a war with Judea, proves
    the Philistines controlled the Judean plain. Because Khirbet Kaifa
    existed for a relatively short period -- about 30 years -- it is
    likely the remnant of a failure of the Israelite kingdom to spread
    westward and not a sign of its power.
    
    "The Judean kingdom is supposed to be big, important and strong,"
    says Maeir. "But it turns out there is a very big city on its
    western border. For years, I claimed Gath was a big city, but they
    countered that it has no lower city, and if it has one it is not
    fortified. After finding a huge fortification, its clearly the most
    important city of the 10th and ninth centuries."

Now, to get a hint of how we would have heard about Gat had the dig been
run by a bilical maximalist, here's an element mentioned in
<http://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-unearth-the-gate-to-goliaths-hometown>:

    Near the gate, Maeirs team also unearthed the remains of the citys
    extensive fortification wall, a Philistine temple, ironwork and
    pottery.
    
    While the pottery bears hallmarks of the distinctive Philistine style,
    elements of Israelite techniques can be seen on the fragments as well,
    indicating there was more interaction between the two cultures than
    previously thought.

Since Pelishti culture was importing Jewish culture, doesn't that lend
MORE credibity to the idea that David haMelekh's kingdom was at east on
the same scale if not overshadowing theirs?


Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Life is complex.
micha at aishdas.org                Decisions are complex.
http://www.aishdas.org               The Torah is complex.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                                - R' Binyamin Hecht