Inside BAR

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Lachish was one of five Canaanite cities that allied themselves against Joshua and the invading Israelites. In a series of lightning attacks, according to the Bible, Joshua conquered these cities.

Excavations at the great 30-acre mound of Tel Lachish have now reached strata from the time of Joshua. In “Lachish—Key to the Israelite Conquest of Canaan?” Tel Aviv University archaeologist David Ussishkin describes his excavations of Late Bronze Age Lachish, the city at the time of Joshua. Ussishkin has uncovered clear signs of a rapid destruction, which fits the description in Joshua 10:31–32 that Joshua “attacked [Lachish and] captured it on the second day.” But should this destruction level be attributed to the Israelites?

Ussishkin’s previous reports in BAR on Lachish focused on the Judean city conquered by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C. (“Answers at Lachish,” BAR 05:06) and on the counter-ramp thrown up against the Assyrian attackers led by Sennacherib (“Defensive Judean Counter-Ramp Found at Lachish in 1983 Season,” BAR 10:02).

Editor of Tel Aviv, the journal of Tel Aviv University’s Institute of Archaeology, Ussishkin serves on BAR’s editorial advisory board and has directed the Lachish excavations since 1973. (For those wishing to dig with Ussishkin this summer, see “Excavation Opportunities 1987.”)

William Sanford La Sor, professor emeritus at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, brings on-site experience at Qumran, Chorazim and Jerusalem’s Temple Mount to an analysis of Jewish ritual baths in “What Jewish Miqva’ot Can Tell Us About Christian Baptism.” Ritual immersion in these baths, as practiced by Jews in the first century B.C. and the first century A.D., was undoubtedly the basis for John’s baptismal rite in the River Jordan, where he baptized Jesus.

Professor La Sor has had a distinguished and prolific career as a teacher and writer on both the Old and the New Testament. Author of The Truth About Armageddon and Amazing Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Faith, La Sor began his writing career as sports editor of his high school newspaper. Like any baseball fan he has special memories, among them seeing Babe Ruth hit a home run off Rube Walberg, and standing in line all day to buy a $1.00 ticket for a 1929 World Series game.

Summer is the time to dig. In 1987, dozens of excavations will need volunteers to pick, haul, shovel, scratch, sweep and sift away the past in order to bring ancient history to light. “Excavation Opportunities 1987” lists 18 digs you can join, from Gamla on the Golan Heights, south to Har Karkom in the Negev Desert.

For a day-by-day account of what to expect on a dig, read “Digging in Joshua’s Shadow,” by Barbara Del Bianco. A church religion teacher, Del Bianco joined the team at Mt. Ebal after reading about the site in the “Excavation Opportunities 1986,” BAR 12:01.

In 1872 a Hungarian named Stephan Illes crafted a 13-foot by 15-foot model of Jerusalem. The model was on permanent display in Geneva until public interest ebbed; then it was packed away in a basement and forgotten. Now, thanks to detective work by a Hebrew University teacher, a student and a Swiss amateur historian, the zinc model has been retrieved, restored and moved to a new display in Jerusalem. Freelance writer Helen Davis, in “Jerusalem Model Rediscovered,” describes and illustrates details of the 1:500 scale model that give us a view of the city “at the brink of modernization … with all the great archaeological finds yet to be uncovered.”

Davis was born and educated in New Zealand, where she trained as a reporter on a daily newspaper. She worked as a journalist in Britain and Zambia before moving to Israel eight years ago with her journalist husband and their four children. Formerly editor of Israel Scene magazine, Davis is now a freelance correspondent for newspapers and magazines in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The 1986 BAS Publication Awards are announced on the back cover. The best popular and scholarly books and articles on the Bible and archaeology in nine major categories, as well as five special awards, have been selected by our panels of distinguished judges.

The best article in BAR in 1985 and 1986 has been chosen to receive the first Fellner award (BARlines). Compare your choice with that of our judges.

Lachish was one of five Canaanite cities that allied themselves against Joshua and the invading Israelites. In a series of lightning attacks, according to the Bible, Joshua conquered these cities.