What A (Jonah) Whale-Out-of-Water Story

Notified of

Verification of the Existence of Life at Ashdod at the Time of Jonah the Prophet

The foundation of a large fortress that was situated there during the First Temple period was exposed in an excavation the Israel Antiquities Authority...In a trial archaeological excavation the Israel Antiquities...remains of massive walls more than 1 m wide were found that are dated to the late eighth century and early seventh century BCE.

In the estimation of the excavation director, Dmitri Egorov, of the Israel Antiquities Authority, these walls constituted the base of a large building from the First Temple period, the time when Jonah the prophet was active..Based on the finds the remains are probably an extensive foundation of a structure that was used as a stronghold or fortress that dates to the time of the First Temple.

According to Sa'ar Ganor, the Ashkelon District Archaeologist of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “Giv'at Yonah, which rises c. 50 m above sea level, is the highest hill in Ashdod, whence one can look out to sea, to Tel Mor – located in the Nahal Lachish estuary which was probably an ancient anchorage, and to Tel Ashdod. Due to its strategic location, it is not surprising to find there remains of a fortress that overlooked the region in the First Temple period”. Ganor adds, “There are two possibilities regarding who inhabited the fortress at that time: one possibility is that it was controlled by the Assyrians who were the regional rulers in the Iron Age. Another possibility is that Josiah, king of Judah, occupied the fort at the time, who we know conquered territory from the Assyrians and controlled Ashdod-Yam in the seventh century BCE”.

So, you are the "invented people" in this region?

Jews or the "Palestinian Arabs"?

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