Last summer, Dr. Boyd Seevers, professor of Old Testament studies, traveled to Israel to work on an archeological dig, where he and his team, including UNW alumni Wade Weeldreyer and David Gerry, sought to confirm the historical accuracy of the book of Joshua. He uncovered an artifact that illustrates life in Israel at the time of Judges and may pinpoint the location of an ancient city.
The pithos—a large storage jar—was discovered 10 miles north of Jerusalem at a site called Khirbet el-Maqatir in the West Bank of Jordan/Israel. This location has been prime ground for excavation for the last 20 years because of its great biblical and historical significance.
Prior archaeological work at Ai had not revealed remains from the time of Joshua, but Khirbet el-Maqatir is now proposed as a possible alternative location that could also have been called "Ai" during the time of Joshua. If this is correct, then the biblical historicity of Joshua 7-8 can be confirmed. Excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir have revealed a Canaanite fortress established ca. 1500 BC and destroyed ca.1400 BC—a probable date for the Israel conquest.
Dr. Seevers and his group also found Israelite homes from the time of Judges built two hundred years later along the wall of the earlier fortress. In the ruins of one home, they found a large, nearly-complete Israelite storage jar, called a pithos, which is characteristic of Israelite culture for that time.
Pieces of such jars—which would commonly contain water or grain—are often found; however, this nearly complete artifact—four feet high and two feet in diameter—is rare. Dr. Seevers and students Matthew Bauman, Chad Ziemer, Hannah David, and Arianna Winslow worked to restore the pithos for display.
Seevers travels at least once a year to Israel, the country where he lived for eight years. As University of Northwestern's J. Edwin Hartill endowed professor, Seevers receives course release time allotted to work on scholarship. His focus is research, excavation, and publication of the finds at Khirbet el-Maqatir.
