Exhibit Watch: Controversial Qeiyafa Comes to U.S. Museum
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Since the beginning of Dr. Yosef Garfinkel’s excavation at Khirbet Qeiyafa in 2007, the site has been producing exciting and controversial finds that have kept the Biblical archaeology world buzzing. A new exhibit at Southern Adventist University’s Lynn H. Wood Archaeological Museum, The Battle over King David: Excavating the Fortress of Elah, will now present many of the finds from Khirbet Qeiyafa to the public for the first time. A team from Southern Adventist University has been excavating at the site in partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem since 2009.
Overlooking the Valley of Elah in the Judean foothills, the fortified Judahite site of Qeiyafa, on the border with the Philistines, has produced persuasive evidence to support the kingship of David at the beginning of Iron Age II, when the Bible says he ruled. The unique presence of two gates at the site has led Garfinkel to identify it as Biblical Sha’arayim, which means “two gates” in Hebrew. A scale model of one of the gates will be on display in the exhibit, as well as a number of ceramic vessels, seals, coins and stamped jar handles. Replicas of the well-known Qeiyafa Ostracona and a small limestone shrine will also be on view (the original objects are being studied in Israel and were not available for loan).
Through April 2014
Lynn H. Wood Archaeological Museum
Collegedale, Tennessee
www.southern.edu/archaeology
Since the beginning of Dr. Yosef Garfinkel’s excavation at Khirbet Qeiyafa in 2007, the site has been producing exciting and controversial finds that have kept the Biblical archaeology world buzzing. A new exhibit at Southern Adventist University’s Lynn H. Wood Archaeological Museum, The Battle over King David: Excavating the Fortress of Elah, will now present many of the finds from Khirbet Qeiyafa to the public for the first time. A team from Southern Adventist University has been excavating at the site in partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem since 2009. Overlooking the Valley of Elah in the Judean […]
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