Archaeologists Battle in Valley of Elah
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 Archaeologists Battle in Elah Valley A feud between archaeologists in Israel today resembles the ancient struggle between David and Goliath. As with the battle of old, one combatant is from Jerusalem ( Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University) and the other from the Philistine plain ( Oded Lipschitz of Tel Aviv University). The skirmish is only the latest in an on-going conflict that goes back to the establishment of the entity on the coast (the Institute of Archaeology founded by Yohanan Aharoni). The subject of dispute is the very same as that between the ancient Israelites and Philistines—control of the lowlands (Shephelah). In fact, it is the site of Socoh, identified in connection with the Philistine encampment that is at the heart of the dispute between the two archaeologists. Aren Maeir, excavator of the Philistine city of Gath, is an outside observer who drew our attention to a report of the clash in Haaretz (Hebrew). The article obser...