WhatsappWhen people loot antiquities, they are deciding to steal history. That is obviously a very low level of humanity to descend to. But this is not so rare in the Middle East. There are so many antiquities in the Middle East because so much of the Bible story-line took place here. This is the same area where all of the forefathers and their wives lived and were buried. It is the same place where Joshua and the Jewish people entered the Land of Israel at Jericho. So from which period are these relics that are found?
Judea and Samaria – the Heartland
In general, the heartland of Judea and Samaria describes the hilly area to the North and South of Jerusalem. It denotes the area where King Saul became the first King of Israel. It is where Samuel anointed both Saul and David to be the Kings of Israel. They in turn fought many of their major battles right on these hills.
The Bible and World War I
Chaim Herzog is a former President of the State of Israel. He published several books about the Wars of Israel. In one of them, he recounts the story of a young British soldier who fought in the hills north of Jerusalem against the Turks. While they were camping out and preparing for battle, he read the story about Yonatan (Jontahan), King Saul’s son, and a secret passage through the hills that he used near the encampment of Michmas.
He told his commander about it and they used the same exact secret passage through the mountains to catch the Turkish encampment by surprise. When we find old relics from the Bible, we are not only bringing the Bible back to life, we are reliving out in our days.
