I’ve read that Joshua’s conquest of Jericho and Ai could not have happened.
Question:
I've been reading about archaeology and the city of Ai and that Joshua's conquest could not have happened there as the Bible claims. I really could use some help with that.
Answer:
You need to remember that archeologists' "datings" are based on modern-day chronologies, which have a likelihood of errors. Interestingly, there is no dispute that Jericho was destroyed in a manner consistent with what is recorded in the Bible. What has been recently argued is that the time frame is wrong. This is usually argued from Egyptian chronology, but I know of at least one Egyptologist, David Rohl, who has some substantial evidence that modern Egyptian chronology is off because it doesn't consider that some dynasties in Egypt overlapped. See A New Chronology under the topic of Joshua.
The sad thing is that when conflicting evidence is found, many people tend to go with the ones contrary to the Bible simply because they are different. It is only when they are dragged kicking and screaming to the conclusion that the Bible is right that they acquiesce and then run to find something else that contradicts the Bible.
