TELL Magazine August - September 2019

In chapter 11, Baal-gad a Canaanite
city was taken and their kings
executed. In chapter 13 we see that
Baal-gad remains to be captured.
The fact that the book of Joshua
contains two competing views of
the conquest suggests that there
was more than one author.
It is clear that these different
narratives often contradict each
other, as in the case of Baal-gad.
Additionally, the book of Judges
provides a very different perspective
on the conquest of Canaan and
reflects elements expressed in chapter
13 of the book of Joshua as opposed
to the conquest narratives. In the
opening chapters of the book of
Judges, the Canaanites were still in
the hill country and the southern
wilderness and the Philistine cities
on the coast were not taken.
We also have the archeological
evidence, which more often than
not is in conflict with the biblical
narrative. The archeological
evidence for Joshua’s invasion is
underwhelming to say the least!
There is evidence of the destruction
of major Canaanite cities but during
a different period. For example, the
famous Battle of Jericho could not
have occurred during the time of
Joshua, because Jericho was not a
walled city at that point. There is
evidence of destruction in Jericho,
and it seems that the walls did
indeed come tumbling down, but
centuries earlier. The book of Joshua
devotes two full chapters (7 and 8)
to the destruction of Ai, but there
is no evidence of such a city ever
existing. While there were some small
settlements, there is no evidence of
a walled city. Archeological findings
do indicate that new waves of
settlements in Canaan commencing
around 1200-1000 BCE, during
Iron Age I occurred but even here,
we will never know for certain
who these peoples really were.
Ancient history is painfully difficult
for even the most seasoned historian.
Information is scant which makes
it difficult to offer any kind of
hypothesis or theory with absolute
certainty. It is hard enough to gather
factual evidence for certain events
in modern times where we have
eyewitness accounts and more sources
to help us. What seems probable
to me, though, is an evolutionary
process of the indigenous peoples of
Canaan gradually merging with semi
nomadic pastoral clans during the
Iron Age I to form a new identity
that would eventually come to
be known as Israelite. The early
Iron Age was a period when major
empires withdrew from Canaan.
This allowed these indigenous groups
to merge and eventually achieve a
cultural synthesis. Gradually, social
structures developed, as did cultural
affinity. Hostilities surely broke
out among these groups, but it was
more likely that a gradual and, for
Joshua at Jericho - Romare Bearden
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