Lecture 3: Canaanite Jerusalem

The lecture focused on Pre-Israelite Jerusalem during the Late Bronze age which predates 1000 BCE. The city of Jerusalem existed before King David's rule. It had continuous settlement in the area for three reasons. It was near a water source the Gihon Spring. The city had agriculture to support the settled civilization. It was also near a watershed for trade. The evidence that get we through archeology and literary evidence provides us confirmation of some of the claims about Jerusalem. From the people that lived there we get non-biblical text such as the Execration texts with hieroglyphics that were used as a form of simple magic to curse one's enemies. Some of these texts refer to Rusalimum which we know is associated with Jerusalem. This suggests that Jerusalem had some notoriety. Some other archeological evidence we get are the Wall and Tower near the Gihon and the Amarna Letters.

Although the texts confirm some of the claims made, others also show evidence that is contrary to what was thought of as true. There are some inconsistencies in the some of the biblical passages. For instance in Joshua 10,21 and 24, the people that were living in Jerusalem where wiped out by the people of Judah. However, in Joshua 15 and 1 it says that they were not all wiped out. This type of inconsistency lead to the idea that the bible had many different authors contributing to it. There are also some theories that arose such as conquest/non-quest for Jerusalem, immigration, and Mixed ethnic origins.

Later, we began to talk about Jerusalem during the time of David. David's reign was during the Iron Age. He was a prominent figure in biblical history in the tale of David and Goliath. He took control of Jerusalem from the Jebusites and the area he conquered was renamed the City of David in his honor.