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[German Version] I. Archaeology – II. History (Arab. Tell el-Qāḍī), city near the southern foot of Mount Hermon enjoying a location favorably situated along trade routes in a fertile valley at one of the sources of the Jordan River. I. Archaeology A differentiated city developed at this site during the EBA (27th – 24th cent.) to which a mighty earthen wall was added during the MBA (1st half of the 2nd mill.). After being destroyed at the end of the MBA, …

[German Version] Geology, the study of the earth, deals with the structure and development of the earth(crust), examines land and water distribution, climate (changes), movements of the earth, and explores mineral resources. The grand geological periods (2.6 billion years since the pre-Cam-¶ brium) permit the assumption of development in line with classical evolutionary theory (macroevolution, transcending species; evolution), disputation of which by “creationism” (microevolution within species) is theologically irrelevant because the b…

[German Version] I. Historical Development – II. Reality and the Ideal – III. Criticism and Kingship after the Monarchy I. Historical Development Kingship, traditional in Canaan, was not an institution grafted onto Israel (1 Sam 11:14). After the collapse of the cultural and political world of the Late Bronze Age, in the central Palestinian uplands the formation of Philistine city states triggered a consolidation of groups, regions (e.g. Ramah: 1 Sam 7:15–17), cities under oligarchic rule (Judg 9:6), and the Gibeo…

[German Version] (“Five City League”). The impression of a political and military league of Philistine cities acting in concert is given by 1 Sam 6, Josh 13:3, and the references to “the” Philistine rulers in Samuel. But the situation of the port cities of Gaza, Ashdod, and Ashkelon differed substantially from that of the inland cities of Ekron and Gath, all settled long before the arrival of the Philistines in Palestine; their different economies and interests would suggest competition rather tha…

[German Version] is the biblical Rabbath Ammon, capital city of the Ammonites and of the Persian sub-province Ammon, at the end of the 6th centurybce. After Alexander the Great it was Ptolemaic, and was raised to the status of a polis by Ptolemy Philadelphus (reigned 283–246bce), hence the name. Pompey attached thisDecapolis city to the province of Syria. After 106bce, as part of the province of Arabia, Philadelphia (27.6 hectares) was a flourishing city on the Via Nova Traiana, particularly in the 2nd and 3rd centuriesce. The upper city had a temple of Heracles; the lower city …

[German Version] overlooks the Valley of Jezreel from the south. It was fortified in EB II–III and MB II and was destroyed by Thutmoses III in 1468 bce and by Shishak c. 930 bce. The cuneiform archive at Taanach (unique in Palestine) mentions Rehov, Gur, Dothan, and Yibleam; Amanhatpa (possibly Amenhotep II) complains that the city prince does not show him sufficient respect. In the Late Bronze and Early Iron periods, Taanach was a metalworking center. Prince Yašdata fought against Labʾayu of Shechem (EA 244f., 248). Settlement…

[German Version] I. Old Testament Philistines (Heb. פְּלִשְׁתִים/ pelištîm; LXX ϕυλιστιείμ/ phylistieím [12 occurrences] and ἀλλόϕυλος/ allóphylos [269 occurrences]; Egyp. pl/rst) are represented in the Bible as living in the “Land of the Philistines” (Gen 21:32; Exod 13:17; 1 Sam 30:16 etc.); for Jewish narrators most specifically the area extending from Ashdod through Gath and Ekron to the boundary of Judea itself (1 Sam 5:1–12; 6:1). Their leaders are a group of five cooperating “princes” (Josh 13:3; Judg 3:3; …

[German Version] 1. The city. Nebo (Ḫirbat al-Muḫayyiṭ) is on the northern edge of the “land of Madaba” ( KAI 181, 7f.), north of the Arnon in the disputed region claimed by both Israel and Moab ( KAI 181. 10; Num 32), near the northeast edge of the Dead Sea (Num 22:1; Deut 34:1). In the 9th century, Omri and Ahab had occupied the land beyond Nebo to a line between Ataroth and Yahaz ( KAI 181.4–8). After Ahab’s death, Mesha, the founder of the Moabite state from the Gadite city of Dibon ( KAI 181.1f., 10; Num 33:45f.), was able to retake Ataroth, which had been extended by the Omrides, ¶ in a bloody ba…