Nadene Goldfoot
Today's map showing Geshur site in orange at top
The Massive 3,000-year-old Fort of Biblical
Geshur was found in Israeli's Golan.
The Bible claims this city-state in the northern Levant was an ally of King David – but archaeologically there is little or no proof of a link to ancient Jerusalem. We are lucky to have the evidence written in the Torah which is a wealth of facts, numbers, geography and social living; wars and deaths.
Geshur was a territory in the ancient Levant mentioned in the early books of the Hebrew Bible (Torah/Genesis/Old Testament) and possibly in several other ancient sources, located in the region of the modern-day Golan Heights.
The name "Geshur" is found primarily in biblical sources and has been taken to mean "stronghold or fortress". The Bible describes it as being near Bashan, adjoining the province of Argob (Deuteronomy 3:14) and the kingdom of Aram or Syria (2 Samuel 15:8; 1 Chronicles 2:23). Some scholars suggest it was established as an independent city-state from the middle of the tenth century BCE, maintained its autonomy for about a century until it was annexed in the third quarter of the ninth century by Hazael, the king of Aram/Syria.
Among the peoples fighting for a foothold were the Geshurites, a group of Arameans, whose capital city was in today’s Bethsaida, just north of the Sea of Galilee. It was a fishing town NE of the Sea of Galilee in the 2nd Temple times. Philip, son of Herod, built a city on the site which he called Julias.
Bashan is a region in Transjordania. In ancient times, it was on the trade-route from Damascus to Arabia and the Red Sea ports. The native people who had lived there were the Rephaim of the time of Abraham (Gen. 14:5) who were succeeded by the Amorites. Some settled near Jerusalem in the "Valley of Rephaim." Argob possessed 60 fortified cities when conquered in Moses' day. It was then included in the territory of half the tribe of Manasseh. Argob belonged to the 6th province of Solomon's kingdom (I kings 4). It was later known as Trachonitis.
Little is known from outside the Bible about this kingdom: it appears that its inhabitants worshipped a horned moon-god. "Excavations of et-Tell have revealed evidence of the Geshurite religious practices including high places, decorated stelae, offering vessels, sacrificial animals and dedicatory inscriptions. This material culture reveals strong influences from neighbouring countries. Their religious worship appears to have centered around worship of the moon-god in the form of a bull which was common in southern Syria, whilst an Egyptian influence can be seen in their art and amulets. The bull stele from the city gate has alternatively been interpreted as either a symbol of the chief god Hadad, in charge of rainfall; the moon god, who brought about the swelling of the rivers; or a combination of the two. The influence of the Israelite religion to the south may be seen in dietary practices and the selection of sacrificial animals.
"1 Samuel 27:8 reports that David undertook raids against the Geshurites while stationed in Ziklag in the kingdom of Gath. Gath was a well-known Philistine city, one of 5 in the southern coastal plate. It was the home of Goliath, the giant that David later killed. David captured Gath and later it was fortified by Rehoboam, but lost to the Assyrian king, Sargon in the 8th century BCE.
In the time of David's rule over Israel, Geshur was an independent Aramean kingdom, and David married Maachah, a daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur (2 Samuel 3:3, 1 Chronicles 3:2). The sages tell us that Maachah/Maacah(Samuel 27:8) was a war captive, and married her according to the laws set up for that. Her son Absalom(David's 3rd son) fled to his mother's native country after the murder of his half-brother and David's eldest son, Amnon (whose mother was Ahinoam of Jezreel). Absalom stayed there for three years before being rehabilitated by David (ib. 13:37, 15:8). By the 9th century BCE the kingdom of Geshur had disappeared from history."
The Arameans were a group of Semitic tribes who invaded the Fertile Crescent in the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BCE and roamed between the Persian Gulf and the Amanus Mountains. Gen. 10:22 tells us that Aram and Israel had a common ancestry and the Israelite patriarchs were of Aramaic origin and maintained ties of marriage with the tribes of Aram. Akkadian source of the 12th Century BCE tell us the Arameans achieved considerable political importance not long after when independent Aramean states and princedoms came into being in Syria and Mesopotamia. The principal Aramean deity in Syria was Hadad, god of wind, rain, thunder and lightning.
King David was the king of Israel from about 1000 BCE to 900 BCE. He was the youngest son of Jesse and was born in Bethlehem. At age 25 he became the armor-bearer to King Saul, who was a friend of Saul's son, Jonathan. They were fighting against the Philistines, and David married King Saul's daughter, Michal. Saul became very jealous of David. He was quite the fighter who became king over all of the Israelites. He captured Jerusalem, making it his capital; broke the Philistine military power and annexed the coastal belt of land; defeated the Edomites; crushed Ammon and Moab, defeated Aram, annexed Damascus and land as far as Euphrates River, signed treaties with Tyre and Sidon, extended Israelite frontiers the farthest of any other king.
Fortifications Found Show Biblical
Kingdom of Geshur More Powerful Than Thoug
ht
.Resource:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/king-david-era-fort-found-in-golan-may-be-1st-evidence-of-bibles-geshurites/
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Tanakh, (Bible) The Stone Edition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geshur
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/biblical-geshur-a-3000-year-old-superpower-1.5413366
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-massive-3-000-year-old-fort-of-biblical-geshur-found-in-israeli-golan-1.9303547?utm_source=Push_Notification&utm_medium=web_push&utm_campaign=General
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