Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Did Goliath really exist?

I was reading today's haaretz and came across an article (linked above) about some recent finds at the archeological site of Gat. Gat is considered the city of Goliath. No, this is not a piece written to make you believe in the Bible if you don't. I think we all can agree no matter your opinion on the Bible that some true historical events are written there.

There are some controversies as to was Goliath really as tall as some biblical writings insist, six cubits, or 9 ½ feet, some state he was over 7 feet tall. Some doubt the story of David killing him, there are some inconsistencies in parts of the Bible concerning that.

However, the town of Gat did exist. There are other historical writings that refer to the Refaim which is the race that Goliath is listed as coming from.





The picture above is of the Gilgal Refaim (The Circle Of The Refaim) in Israel. It is said to have been built by those same people that Goliath descended from. In the late 1980’s a group of British archaeologists may have uncovered skeletal evidence for giants in Jordan. At the site of Tel es-Sa’idiyeh, archaeologist Jonathan Tubb and a team from the British Museum unearthed the remains of some extremely tall people.

A mound near Toledo, Ohio, held 20 skeletons, seated and facing east with jaws and teeth "twice as large as those of present day people," and besides each was a large bowl with "curiously wrought hieroglyphic figures." (Chicago Record, Oct. 24, 1895; cited by Ron G. Dobbins, NEARA Journal, v13, fall 1978).

All of us have heard of men like Andre the Giant, and others in history that have been much taller and larger than the average person. In the end? It is very possible there was a Goliath, the more we learn? The more questions that come to mind.

:-)

some of the places I went to search for this article if you are curious....

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6 comments:

Unknown said...

I used to think that too Dan, I think his height was exaggerated but it is possible given some of the archeological evidence found of taller skeletons from that time period, that he could have been over 7 foot tall. The race of people that are said to have lived at Gat were Indo-Europeans.

Some believe it was a pituitary disorder, that created Goliath. It should be interesting to see what else they uncover from Gat.

Unknown said...

As to the mound? There was at least one mound that was reported near Swanton Township that early settlers dug up finding Indian remains and other finds as well. Unfortunately back then things were not preserved. They were no where near the size of the mounds further to the south that were thankfully preserved.

Here

A really awesome online source to a history book of Ohio written in 1888 if you like older history of our area. It was extremely useful to me with a few other off line sources when I wrote my book.

Subcomandante Bob said...

The truth of the matter is that the NBA, contrary to popular belief, extends back almost 6,000 years.

Most people don't know that Goliath was Gat's center, pulling down 12 rebounds and pouring in 30 points a game. David was an undersized power-forward who managed to shut down Goliath in a crucial Jerusalem-Gat Game 7 to win the 2347 BC NBA Finals.

The Toledo mound has been demonstrated to be the remains of the Seneca Sonics, an ABA franchise in the 6th century. They were killed when a band of warriors mistakenly thought they were the hated Ojibwe Magic, in town for the first of a home-and-home set.

Unknown said...

That explains the Ring formation then, obviously it was some sort of training circle. Thanks Bob!

:-)

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