Hilkiah and his sons

 Hilkiah ("my portion is Yah") was a Hebrew priest at the time of King Josiah (c. 641-609 BC ). He was the High Priest and is known for finding a lost copy of the Book of the Law at the Temple in Jerusalem when King Josiah ordered the Temple to be refurbished (2 Kings 22:8). Hilkiah's preaching may have helped Josiah return Judah to the worship of the God of Israel.   
 
 2 Chronicles 34:
 
 9 And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.    
 
 14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses. 15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.
 
 18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. 20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying, 21 Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.   
 
 Archeology has verified two sons of Hilkiah with the unearthing of the bulla of Azariah (“Azariah, son of Hilkiah”). Since the bulla of Azariah came from a provenanced legal, controlled dig in the City of David in 1982, it helps to validate the seal of Hanan - the seal and the bulla were made by the same person. The Seal of Hanan made it to the antiquities market around 1980. It is engraved, “(belonging) to Hanan son of Hilkiahu the priest.”
 

  Azariah served as high priest before the Babylonian exile (1 Chronicles 4:39) .     

 1 Chronicles 9:11:   
 and Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God;    
 
 The best possible choice for Hanan, son of Hikiah, is found in Jeremiah 36:12 (605 BC):
 he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there...Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. 

 Jezebel (died c. 843 BC) was the wife of King Ahab, who ruled the kingdom of Israel. By interfering with the worship of the Hebrew God, by disregarding the rights of the common people, and by defying the great prophets Elijah and Elisha, she provoked the destructive strife that weakened Israel for decades. She has come to be known as an archetype of a wicked woman.
 
 She was the daughter of the priest-king Ethbaal, ruler of the coastal Phoenician cities (now in Lebanon) of Tyre and Sidon. When Jezebel married Ahab (who ruled c. 874–853 BC), she persuaded him to introduce the worship of Baal-Melkart. She tried to destroy those who opposed her, and most of the prophets of Yahweh were killed at her command. These cruel and despotic actions provoked the righteous wrath of the prophet Elijah. In 1 Kings 17:1, he accurately prophesied the onset of a severe drought as divine retribution:   
 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.   
 
 Sometime later Elijah had the Baal priests slain, after they lost a contest with him to see which god would heed prayers to ignite a bull offering, Baal or Yahweh. When Jezebel heard of the slaughter, she angrily swore to have Elijah killed, forcing him to flee for his life.   
 
 1 Kings 18: 

19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. 20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
 22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: 24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.
 25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
 27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. 28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
 29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
 30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. 34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. 35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.
 36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God. 40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
 41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.
 45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
 46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. 19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
 
 
 The last vicious act attributed to Jezebel is recorded in 1 Kings 21:5–16. Ahab wanted to enlarge his palace complex by buying the adjacent vineyard, which was owned by Naboth, but Naboth refused to sell it.   
 
 Ahab told Jezebel about it. She told him, “I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite” (1 Kings 21:7). She acts in Ahab’s name, and uses the king’s seal rather than her own. She falsely charged Naboth with blaspheming “God and the king,” and had him stoned to death.  After this, Elijah confronted Ahab, predicting that he and all his heirs would be destroyed and that dogs would devour Jezebel.   
 
 A few years later, Ahab died in a battle with the Syrians, but Jezebel lived for another ten years. Elijah’s successor was Elisha the prophet. He was also determined to end Baal worship, and he had his military commander Jehu anointed to be king of Israel. This provoked civil war - Jezebel’s son Jehoram (Joram) was ruling at the time. Jehu killed Jehoram on Naboth’s property, then went to Jezebel’s palace.   
 
 She “paints her eyes with kohl and dresses her hair” and appears at an upper window, apparently hoping to seduce Jehu (2 Kings 9:30), but Jehu ordered her eunuchs to throw her out the window. Later, when he issued that she be properly buried as a king’s daughter, it was discovered that dogs had eaten most of her body.   
  
 When what is believed to be the seal of Queen Jezebel came to scholarly attention in the early 1960s, it was donated to the Israel Department of Antiquities. It was published in the Israel Exploration Journal in 1964 by Israel’s then-leading paleographer, Nahman Avigad. The seal bears four letters (YZBL) interspersed around the images. Jezebel is a rare Phoenician name. Ancient Israel, like its neighbors, was a patriarchal society. Women possessing seals clearly belonged to the upper classes.   
 
 The seal comes from a private collection, and it's not known where or when it was found. We must be cautious in assessing the authenticity of unprovenanced finds, but we cannot condemn the whole lot just because they're unprovenanced. Even in the highly praised Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals, only 10% of the seals discussed come from professional excavations. 

   It is a very fancy seal. It is large - 1.25 inches from top to bottom, and is filled with common Egyptian symbols that were used in Phoenicia at this time. At the top is a crouching winged sphinx with a woman’s face and part of a female Isis/Hathor crown. The body of the sphinx is a lioness, appropriate for the seal of a queen. To the left is an Egyptian ankh. Below the line is a winged disk. Below this is an Egyptian-style falcon. On either side of the falcon is the cobra most commonly seen on the headdresses of Egyptian royalty. The serpent-like symbol beneath the falcon is a lotus, a typical female symbol connected to royal women.   
 
 There should be two additional letters before the four letters that appear on this seal— a lamed and an aleph. There is one damaged part of the seal just large enough for the two missing letters. The broken-off part of the seal most likely contained these two letters. 

 The seal does not contain her father’s name or the addition “queen,” but there are other reasons to believe that this is the Jezebel of the Bible. The unusually large size suggests a very wealthy, influential person. The winged sphinx, winged sun disk, and falcon are well-known symbols of royalty in Egypt. The female Isis/Hathor crown on the winged sphinx, which is a symbol for the king, suggests the owner to be female. The Egypto-Phoenician style points to someone who loved this type of art. This goes along with the fact that Jezebel was a Phoenician princess (1 Kings 16:31).
 
 The double cobra is a typical symbol of queens with prominent roles in religion and politics from the 18th Egyptian dynasty onward. Often the Egyptian queen Tiye, a model for later queens, is represented wearing the Isis/Hathor crown or the crown with double cobra. Besides the name of the owner, the iconography definitely suggests a queen. Other individuals used the same symbols to indicate their closeness to the throne, but no other seal uses them all.
 
 The form of the letters, especially the Y, is Phoenician or imitates Phoenician writing. The L also appears to be ancient Phoenician.

  In the Ugaritic Baal ritual, the queen represented ‘Anat, who had to revive her beloved husband Baal. The pharaoh at his death was identified with Osiris, and it was Isis who had to restore him to life with the help of her sister Nephtys. These two goddesses were often represented as cobras. By including the two cobras, the ankh, and the horned sundisk on her seal, Jezebel wanted to characterize herself as the revitalizing force behind the throne.
 
 https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/fit-for-a-queen-jezebels-royal-seal/
 
 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jezebel-queen-of-Israel 

 Before the Israelites' entry to the Promised Land, Deuteronomy 11:29 records Moses' direction that "when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal".     
 Aaron Lipkin: “People who don't believe in the Bible need proof. And we have to strengthen that proof to show them the truth, that the Bible is real, that the stories did happen, that God's miracles also happened. All of this is embedded in Joshua's Altar.”
 
 Exodus 20:
 25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. 26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.   
 
 Joshua's Altar is considered by many to be the biggest archaeological find confirming that the Bible is true. There are two ramps instead of steps, as directed in verse 26. The mound of unhewn stone where Joshua and the children of Israel made their connection to God for the first time upon entering the Promised Land was found here in 1980.   
 
 Archaeologists were searching for this site for centuries because they knew how important it was to proving the Bible. But they were looking on the southern slopes of Mt. Ebal, and found nothing. They thought the altar may have been destroyed over time.
 
 After the war in 1967, Israel understood that there was opportunity to find ancient sites of the Jewish people in Samaria and Judea. The government asked for a survey, and one of the archaeologists was Adam Zeital.
 
 In 1980, he surveyed the area and found an enclosure with a large pile of stones. The site was excavated from 1982-1989. They were finding amazing evidence, and they found the altar of Joshua in a completely different place than everyone thought it should be.     
 Zertal and his crew dug out the exterior layer of the pile of stone, and started seeing the straight lines of a structure appear. When the Israelites were finished using this altar c. 1250 BC, they covered it with stones. Under these stones, thousands of pottery shards from the time of Joshua and Moses have also been found.   
 
 The structure was not at first recognized as an altar. Zertal didn't know what it was – he hadn't seen any equivalent for such a structure from ancient times. One day he sketched it. He was sitting in a dining room in a nearby village, when a religious Jew came in. He asked Zertal if that was what he had found. When Zertal said yes, he showed him a sketch of the Second Temple altar. It looked exactly like the find on Mt. Ebal. Eventually, Zertal came to realize that Joshua and Moses actually existed, and that the Exodus had really happened.
 
 The altar and the clay are Israelite. Upon further digging, an enormous amount of ash and bones were found. The eternal flame burned there, as is commanded in Leviticus 6:13.

 The bones were sent to the Hebrew University for analysis. The sacrificed animals had to be young. All the animal bones analyzed were young animals. What would never be found in Israelite ashes are unpure animals that were used for sacrifice. They found cattle, sheep, and goats - pure animal bones that are mentioned in Leviticus 11.   
 
 The foot-shaped rock structure around the altar is a mystery, but six other footprint-shaped formations built by the Israelites have been found as the typical worshipping structure that would signify, in a way, God's footprint, the place in the land where God reigns.
 
 Joshua 1:3:
 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
 
 The ancient Israelites covered their altar with stones before they left the site. They didn't want anyone to defile it, and they didn't want two different sacred places. The centers of worship for the Jewish people crossed the Jordan into this land, and Mt. Ebal is the first sacred place they claimed. They later moved to Shiloh, then Jerusalem - the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant moving with them.   
 
 Amazing archaeological finds that put the Bible in a three dimensional situation are being uncovered. Mt. Gerazim and Joshua's Altar on Mt. Ebal are not just something to be read about, they are physical, they are visible – we can see and touch them. 

bible evidence, faith and religion
 
 https://youtu.be/JZglPosex_8
 https://youtu.be/iRCm5BmLI_0
 https://youtu.be/fy3Q9JkKjsg 

 In 2019, the Associates for Biblical Research completed Season Three of a multi-year expedition at Shiloh, the site of Israel's first capitol. There were many important finds: an altar horn, a possible postern gate, bullae and scarabs, a large structure from the tabernacle period, and more. One find stands out from the rest.
 
 In June 2018, Shiloh Square Supervisor Tim Lopez excavated a ceramic pomegranate near a large East/West wall dating to Iron Age I, a period when the tabernacle was in service at Shiloh. This is believed to be part of a massive building from the time of Samuel. The tabernacle, and later the temple, oriented East-West. This is the first East-West wall from Iron Age I to emerge from expeditions to Shiloh over the past century.   
 
 Shortly after the ABR pomegranate came to light, they searched the final publications of the Danish and Israeli excavations. The Danish excavation had also recovered a ceramic pomegranate, but they misidentified it as a stopper - an understandable oversight, since the flowered petals of it were missing. Christianity Today included the Shiloh pomegranates in their list of the Top 10 Biblical Archaeology finds of 2018.
 
 The grapes of Eschol often symbolize the fruitfulness of the Promised Land, but the pomegranate more clearly symbolizes Israel's new Eden. The Bible mentions pomegranates 15 times. The first mention of it reveals its sacred status in how the priestly garments were to be made in Exodus 28:
 33 And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: 34 A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.
 
 The bells were utilitarian, signaling the entrance of the high priest into the Holy Place. Exodus 28:35:
 And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not.
 
 Unannounced mediaries risked death.   

 The pomegranate's significance lies in its rich symbolism. It represents potential for fertility and God's abundant provision. Before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, Moses described it in Deuteronomy 8:8:
 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;   
 
 Moses' list includes five fruits: grapes, figs, olives, dates, and pomegranates. Of these fruits or their by-products, only the pomegranate qualified as a revered fruit that represented God's nature to his people.   
 
 Why did God find such pleasure in the pomegranate and instruct that it should be in his presence? Many sources claim that all pomegranates have 613 seeds, but others dispute this. If the claim is true, it's possible that these seeds represent the 613 laws in the Hebrew Bible.

The tabernacle functioned for almost 500 years until Solomon built the first temple (1 Kings 6:1). The pomegranate continued to represent God to his people. There are 100 pomegranate-shaped ornaments that adorned the pillars in Solomon's temple. 2 Chronicles 3:16:
 And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.   
 
 Biblical writers connect no fruit, besides the pomegranate, with God's presence.   
 
 The Israelites were not unique in their veneration of the pomegranate – it also had  special significance for many Ancient Near Eastern cultures. The best-known parallel is the Greek myth of Persephone. At least a dozen other cultures have myths that involve the sacred nature of the pomegranate. The image of a pomegranate adorns the Karnak temple in Egypt. Assuming Moses' authorship of the Pentateuch in the 15th century BC, it's possible that his writings influenced other Mediterranean cultures.   
 
 
https://biblearchaeology.org/research/topics/amazing-discoveries-in-biblical-archaeology/4449-promised-land-pomegranates 

https://www.academia.edu/39720872/A_Ceramic_Pomegranate_from_Shiloh

 Archaeologists working on a road project in the Jezreel Valley outside Afula discovered a monumental pillared building that served Israelite kings such as Omri and Ahab at the ancient site of Horvat Tevet (“ruins of Tevet”). 

   The Omride ‘Royal Estate’ is located six miles from Tel Jezreel, the site of another palace of King Ahab. The estate is described as “the best preserved building of the House of Omri ever found in Israel.” After large storage jars were found there, they believe the complex served as an estate for Israelite officials to collect and redistribute agricultural products in the surrounding region.
 
 The ruins were uncovered as part of an ongoing salvage excavation. Due to upcoming construction of a new route for Israel’s Highway 65, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University have been excavating the site. The most prominent remains at the complex date to the 9th century BC.
 
 The industrial complex at Horvat Tevet is dominated by the large pillared building. The structure was partitioned into three sections: two entrance rooms at the sides and a central hall with two rows of monolithic stone pillars—some of which still stand two meters tall, but would have likely been much higher.
 
 The building’s foundation is made from chiseled limestone blocks. The local stone is basalt, so the limestone blocks must have been brought from afar. The floors of the building were elegantly paved, which was unusual for the time period. The size and grandeur of the building seem to indicate that it was used as a royal administrative center. It also shows the power and prosperity of Omri’s rule.
 
 The Horvat Tevet area was part of the tribe of Issachar’s allotment. Joshua 19:
 17 And the fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the children of Issachar according to their families. 18 And their border was toward Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem, 19 And Haphraim, and Shihon, and Anaharath, 20 And Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez, 21 And Remeth, and Engannim, and Enhaddah, and Bethpazzez; 22 And the coast reacheth to Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Bethshemesh; and the outgoings of their border were at Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages. 23 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.
 
 Archaeologists also found the remains of an earlier pillared structure below the existing Omride building. This structure may have been used for similar administrative and agricultural purposes. It is from the beginning of the 9th century BC, the reign of King Baasha. The building’s use as an agricultural distribution center may indicate some of the prosperity Baasha’s kingdom had.
 
 The Biblical account says that because Baasha “walked in the way of Jeroboam” and “made my people Israel to sin,” God would “take away the posterity of Baasha” (1 Kings 16:2-3). Baasha’s son Elah was later killed in a coup led by Zimri.  1 Kings 16:16:
 And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp.
 
 Israel turned to Omri as the new king of Israel. The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser, the Mesha Stele, and the Kurkh Monolith also reference King Omri by name.
 
 Omri began ruling from Tirzah, but six years into his reign he built a new capital and established a new dynasty. 1 Kings 16:24:
 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria.    
 Omri’s son Ahab continued his building projects, and built a house of Baal in Samaria. The monumental structure at Horvat Tevet matches the large-scale building projects conducted by them.
 
 In one of the entrance rooms, archaeologists found an Israelite-style four-horned stone altar. Exodus 27:2:
 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.   
 
 The altar does not necessarily mean the building was a temple - at the time, it was common for religious activity to take place in administrative centers. King Jeroboam's actions are described in 1 Kings 12:31:
 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.   
 
 This practice continued throughout the northern kingdom’s history.
 
 A large, ancient agricultural industrial zone surrounded the Omride building. Archaeologists found pottery kilns, grinding stones, and several textile workshops. Large Omride-style storage jars found in the complex also have links to other Israelite cities such as Jezreel, Megiddo and Rehov. Only a few dozen such jars have been found in urban centers, but hundreds have been found in smaller rural areas. Tevet may have been the point of origin for these jars, or for whatever goods they contained.   
 
 The construction and destruction of the Horvat Tevet complex matches the same period of Omride construction and destruction found at Jezreel, Megiddo and Samaria. The pillared royal estate was largely evacuated and its entrances were walled off during a later invasion, most likely by the Arameans around 840 BC. The invaders set the structure on fire, which would have caused the roof to collapse on the building, leaving the structure below mostly intact. This may have been part of the Aramean conflict recorded on the Tel Dan Stele and in 2 Kings 9.
 
 A large fortress was built next to the ruins of the building almost immediately after its destruction. Large grain silos associated with this fort suggest the area continued its agricultural use.
 
 “Nowhere else can you go into a palace built by the house of Omri and see it like it stood on the day it was destroyed—there is no such thing in the country," says Tel Aviv University archaeologist Dr. Omer Sergi.
 
 Excavations at Horvat Tevet continue as it is prepared for the construction of a new road. “Ironically, the reason the monumental complex was constructed there in the first place is the same reason why the modern road is going to be built and the site destroyed,” Sergi said. “Because then, as now, this is the best route through the Jezreel Valley and north toward the Galilee and Phoenicia. The road has been passing there for thousands of years.”
 
 

 https://watchjerusalem.co.il/863-omride-royal-estate-found-in-northern-israel 

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/december/biblical-archaeology-new-discoveries-2020-bible-artifacts.html

 Joshua 6:20:
 So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.
 
 The phrase “fell down flat” is translated from two Hebrew words: naphal - to fall, and tachath - bottom or below.  Literally, it means the wall fell below itself. Excavations at Jericho have revealed that this is exactly what happened.
 
 The Battle of Jericho as described in Joshua marked the first battle fought in the Israelites' conquest of Canaan. The battle is famous for the triumphant fall of Jericho's walls. According to the Bible, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho with the Ark of the Covenant in  silence for six days. On the seventh day, they marched seven times and on the seventh pass, the priests blew their trumpets and the soldiers shouted at the walls to bring them down.   
 
 The discoveries made by numerous excavation teams at Jericho are consistent with the historical account of the Battle of Jericho as recorded in the Bible.   
 
 Jericho was a very heavily fortified ancient Canaanite city. Its destruction was essential for the Israelites to advance into Canaan after they crossed the Jordan. The fall of Jericho is an excellent example of textual and archaeological evidence collaborating.
 
 Canaanite Jericho was an imposing city, with an inner wall and an outer wall. The outer mud brick wall was built on top of a revetment wall, making it twice as high. Between the two walls was a sloped rampart, with an upper wall encompassing the inner city.   
 
 Jericho is the only place where archaeologists have found a wall that has almost completely collapsed. The fallen wall formed a ramp for the Israelite soldiers to go up into the city and set it on fire.
 
 Professor Meyer said: "According to the Bible, the order of events was that first, the walls fell down, then the city was burnt, and finally it was abandoned. Every archaeologist who has excavated Jericho has come to the same conclusion. Upon the stone retaining wall from the time of Joshua - parts of which can still be seen today - a mudbrick wall once stood. According to the archaeologists, the mudbrick wall fell outward and down to the base of the foundation stone wall. Archaeologists who dug at the base of the stone retaining wall found a pile of collapsed reddish mudbricks along the entire portion of the retaining wall they unearthed."
 
 The bricks almost certainly came from the city wall on top of the tell or from a mudbrick parapet wall atop the revetment wall, or both. This pile of red bricks would have provided a natural siege ramp that would have allowed the Israelites to go “up into the city” as the Bible describes.   
 
 Before the Battle of Jericho, two spies were sent to check out the city. When they were discovered, they hid in the house of Rahab, the prostitute. The Bible describes her house as being in part of the city wall with a window looking out of the city, through which she let down the spies so they could escape (Joshua 2:15). When they had taken the city, Joshua said to the spies, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her” (Joshua 6:22). This implies that the part of the wall where Rahab’s house was did not fall with the rest of the city walls.
 
 When Jericho was excavated in 1907-09, it was discovered that a part of the wall on the north side of the city had not fallen. Houses were built on the rampart against this outer city wall. The walls of these dwellings were only one brick wide, indicating this was probably a poor part of the city. It's plausible that this was the area where Rahab’s house was located.
 
 Storage jars filled with burnt grain were also found. Grain was a primary staple of food for ancient people. If Jericho was under siege for a long time, which was the usual military tactic, the grain would have been eaten by the inhabitants. The city of Jericho was devoted to the Lord for destruction and the Israelites were not supposed to take the plunder (Joshua 6:17-24). This explains why the grain was not taken.
 
 The discovery of many jars full of burnt grain in the destroyed homes of Jericho affirms other important biblical details:
 The Battle of Jericho occurred in the spring (Joshua 3:15, 5:10), shortly after the harvest. The burnt jars found indicate this.
 The siege of Jericho was only seven  days long (Joshua 6:4). Large quantities of burned grain indicate there was no prolonged siege.

  Archeologists also found evidence for a massive destruction of the city by fire from the same time period. In the three-foot-thick burn layer, rooms of ash, collapsed roof timbers, and the burnt grain jars were found.
 
 Jericho is among the oldest known towns on Earth, with excavations revealing 23 layers of ancient civilizations.
 

 https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/1297977/Archaeology-news-Bible-evidence-fall-of-Jericho-proof-Old-Testament 

 https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2019/05/25/biblical-sites-three-discoveries-at-jericho/