Complete, fascinating report
Two clay tablets found in Hadid recording loans and land sales in the seventh century B.C.E. indicate that most of the people living in the town, between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem today, were foreign, not Israelites, archaeologists say.
In fact, the former
territory of the Kingdom of Israel may have had very few Israelites left
during the 7th century B.C.E., archaeological evidence suggests.
The two tablets, made of
clay and inscribed in cuneiform, have been dated to the time of Assyrian
rule over the Southern Levant: the eighth and seventh century B.C.E.
They name several individuals, none with typical Hebrew names.
The town of Hadid perches on
a hill, covering a vast 50 hectares, making it one of the largest
archaeological sites in Israel.
It first arose, it seems, in
the second millennium B.C.E., assuming it is the Huditi mentioned in
the Karnak list of towns conquered by Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III.
Numerous pottery sherds have been dated to the Late Bronze Age, meaning
occupation of the site goes back at least 3,600 years.
During the following
biblical period, the settlement grew well beyond the mound. Among the
structures uncovered in the excavation is a pillared four-room house,
typical of the Iron Age in the Levant. And as said, the archaeologists
uncovered evidence of non-Israelite influences.
Both documents feature Akkadian, perhaps
Babylonian, and Aramaean names of several individuals. No local,
Yahwistic name is mentioned.
Why would the area of the former Kingdom of Israel, north of Jerusalem, become thronged by non-Israelites?
During the mid-eight century
B.C.E., the Assyrians under the leadership of Tiglath-Pileser III grew
in all directions. Order was maintained in the realm by means of a
program of mass deportation and transplantation of conquered peoples.
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