An archaeologist has apparently discovered the palace of King David. See this account of the find, which confounds liberal scholars who had been casting doubt on David’s existence and which confirms Biblical details.
Archaeologists had previously discovered the remains of the walls around the ancient Jebusite fortress that David conquered and then made his capital. But the area inside was so small, with no trace or no room for any kind of palace. Thus, some scholars–a number of whom had a pro-Palestinian agenda that downplayed any Jewish claims to the city–said that King David was a legendary figure, at most a village chieftain rather than the ruler of a powerful kingdom. But then Jewish archaeologist Eilat Mazar noted that 2 Samuel 5, after talking about David taking the stronghold, building a city around it, and building his palace, said that when the Philistines came, he “went down” to the stronghold. Near where the stronghold was in Jerusalem is a hill. She dug there and discovered the foundations of a huge building, built on bedrock, which means that it was not over any other site. This apparently remained the residence of Judah’s kings up until the nation’s conquest and Babylonian captivity. On the site Dr. Mazar discovered a seal of “Yehuchal Ben Shelemiah,* who is apparently the “Jehucal the son of Shelemiah” who was the nemesis of the prophet Jeremiah just before the city fell (Jeremiah 37-38).
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