The northern battle
The greatest city of Canaan, head of all those kingdoms, burns. The ash is still in the tell. What archaeology can and cannot say about it.
Stop 17 of 84. 141 km from Jerusalem. Next stop, Golan and Gamla, is 20 km away.
1When Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, 2and to the kings who were on the north, in the hill country, in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west, 3to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the hill country, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4They went out, they and all their armies with them, many people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. 5All these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel. 6Yahweh said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7So Joshua came suddenly, with all the warriors, against them by the waters of Merom, and attacked them. 8Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and chased them to great Sidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the valley of Mizpah eastward. They struck them until they left them no one remaining. 9Joshua did to them as Yahweh told him. He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire. 10Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword: for Hazor used to be the head of all those kingdoms. 11They struck all the souls who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was no one left who breathed. He burned Hazor with fire. 12Joshua captured all the cities of those kings, with their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them; as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded. 13But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only. Joshua burned that. 14The children of Israel took all the plunder of these cities, with the livestock, as plunder for themselves; but every man they struck with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They didn’t leave any who breathed. 15As Yahweh commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua. Joshua did so. He left nothing undone of all that Yahweh commanded Moses.
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This stop is being written. The reading above is complete and the map is right; the walk itself, in my own words from the ground, comes in order as the book is finished. Stop 1, Shechem, is written in full if you want to see the shape of a chapter.
Supporting passages and the contested points for this stop are already fixed in the spine of the book and will be printed here.