It was already hot in the Judean Wilderness.  I was rushing through a salvage excavation so the IDF could finish a small military installation.  It seems as though that spot had been strategic throughout history.  We had uncovered a Hellenistic military outpost situated on top of one from the iron age which in turn sat upon an outpost from the bronze age.

I was drawing architectural plans of the small fort when a dark cloud moved over me blocking the sun.  Thankful for the temporary shade I was astonished to see that the cloud was a huge flock of storks on their annual migration.  Israel lay in the flyway between Europe and Africa.

I was still gazing into the sky when Imanuel, my boss at the Israel Department of Antiquities, sat down and handed me a Bible.  “Open it to Genesis chapter twelve.” he intoned.  Not being too sure where this might be found, I fumbled about until it lay open on my lap.  “Good, now begin reading.”

Without really understanding why, I began reading.  I remembered how in university I was taught that the Bible was a collection of unreliable myths.  My degree in Archaeology prepared me to be more pragmatic and less faith oriented.  It was an exercise in absurdity, I mused as I read.

¹Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

²And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

³And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

⁴So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

⁵And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

⁶And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

“OK, Stop there” Imanuel interrupted.  “We are standing on the exact spot where Abram entered the land of Israel.”

I was stunned.  How could a fellow scientist make such a rediculous statement?

Ignoring the look of disbelief on my face, he continued.  “Look East, toward Jordan” he instructed.  “The “Kings Highway”, the major north/south roadway of the ancient world lies just behind those mountains”  Pausing for me to nod my recognition, he went on to point out the gap in those mountains which lay directly in front of us.  “That break is where the trunk road into Canaan intercepted the King’s Highway.  Below us lay the remains of an ancient stone bridge across the Jordan River.  An ancient road led from the gap to the bridge, from the bridge to the place where we were standing.

“All right”, I conceded, “This could have been a likely spot but by no means THE exact place.”  Looking sternly into my eyes Imanuel kindly scolded me.  “This is the exact spot and there can be no other!”, he insisted.  “For centuries scholars have sat in libraries and drawn lines from Haran south to Canaan.  They surmised that Abram traveled these imaginary routes.  But I tell you the truth lies in those verses of the Bible which you have just read!”

“Look again!”  he demanded. “Verse 6 tells us that after entering the land, Abram went to Shechem.  Now turn 180 degrees and you will see the ancient road to Shechem.  Abram walked this path even as the Bible has told us.  If he had entered through the north, he would have come to Dan and the Bible would have said so.”

I was dumbfounded!

Never in my life had anyone made such a commonsense commentary on Biblical truth.  I could see the reality of it with my own eyes!…My life would never be the same.

Join me now as we take this adventure together.  Welcome to “The Biblical Archaeologist”!