Where can I find information about the falling of Jericho’s walls?
Question:
I am doing a paper for school trying to prove that the Bible is true. One example I was going to use was the walls of Jericho. What I have to do is find the verses, and then try to prove it looking in books, interviews, the Internet, etc. I have heard before that the walls of Jericho have been discovered and were found to have fallen inwards, which, logically is impossible, (please believe me I do not believe it is impossible, I am a Christian and believe God kept His promise with the Israelites and handed the city over to them). I need the sources for this fact to clarify it. Please let me know.
Answer:
I would not want to do your research for you as it would take away from the purpose of your assignment. However, perhaps I can get you started in the right direction.
Joshua chapter 6 tells how Israel conquered the city of Jericho. After marching around the city as God directed for a week, "So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city" (Joshua 6:20). Thus it doesn't say inward but merely flattened.
In 1929, Dr. John Garstang excavated the ruins of ancient Jericho. He found that Jericho had a double wall with houses built across them, just as the Bible described Rahab's house. "Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall" (Joshua 2:15). Further, he determined that the wall was destroyed by some violent convulsion. When the walls fell, they fell outward and down the hillside, thus creating a flat surface. Had the walls been destroyed by battering rams the walls would have fallen inward. He also found evidence that the city had been burned. "But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD" (Joshua 6:24).
For a really good article on this subject, let me recommend: The Saga of Ancient Jericho. Note the bibliography at the end which will lead you to more information.
