Dig finding counters Bible

JERUSALEM, July 23 (JTA) — A recent archaeological discovery may require a revision of the ancient history books — and of the Bible. Recent archaeological digs have provided evidence that Jerusalem was a big and fortified city already in 1,800 B.C.E., 800 years before King David conquered the city from the Jebusites. The new findings contradict the theory that prior to David’s raid on Jebus, Jerusalem was a poor and small village. Gideon Avni, a Jerusalem archaeologist, said the entire concept on the City of David, the core of Jerusalem’s Old City, would now have to be changed. The digs at which the discovery was made took place near the Gichon spring, Jerusalem’s main water source.