Earth’s magnetic field supports biblical stories of destruction of ancient cities

 

Once, a sprawling city of 10,000 thrived within Tel Zafit National Park's grounds, but today, it stands as an archaeological site marked by burned mud bricks, a breached city defense, and makeshift weapons crafted from animal bones. The question looms: what led to the downfall of this once-great city?

According to biblical accounts, Gath, a prominent Philistine city and the residence of the Giant Goliath, met its demise, briefly mentioned in 2 Kings. Archaeologists, eager to unravel the mystery and determine the city's fate and timing, face the challenging task of dating such sites. Recently, a team, led by Yoav Vaknin from Tel Aviv University, adopted an innovative approach, utilizing the Earth's magnetic field for dating archaeological digs like Gath, with their findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Delving into the Earth's core, where the solid inner core meets the molten outer core, the team explored the Earth's hottest region, reaching temperatures exceeding 6,000°C. The outer core, a molten mix of iron and nickel, generates massive currents, creating the Earth's protective magnetic field. This dynamic field, crucial for shielding against radiation and solar winds, undergoes periodic reversals, with the North and South poles alternating as attractions.

This magnetic history, imprinted in rocks, extends to archaeological sites. When subjected to high temperatures, such as during military conflicts, rocks align with the magnetic field, offering a potential means of dating historical events.

The study focused on Gath's destruction during the reign of King Hazael around 2,800 years ago, as chronicled in the book of 2 Kings. Hazael's brutal campaigns left a trail of destruction, with fires reaching over 600°C, baking mud bricks and aligning them with the Earth's magnetic field.

By analyzing the magnetic alignment of these baked mud bricks, the team aimed to pinpoint the precise timing of Gath's destruction. They leveraged "chronological anchors," events with known timings, to calibrate their findings. Using this geomagnetic dating method, the team established timelines for the destruction of multiple cities, attributing Gath's demise to Hazael. The study sheds light on the destruction of various cities, aligning their fall with historical events and providing a more precise dating method than radiocarbon dating for this specific period and region.