Digging the Bible

IT’S TRUE—if you want to do archaeology in Israel, you go into the field with a shovel in one hand and a Bible in the other. Dr. Mike Freikman of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem joins us this week to discuss his current excavation at Tell Beit Mirsim. This site, located about 12-1/2 miles southwest of Hebron, was excavated more than 90 years ago by one of the giants of biblical archaeology, William F. Albright.Dr. Freikman, who’s done the most recent excavations on the Copper Age megalithic site on the Golan Heights called Gilgal Refaim (“Wheel of the Giants”)and the nearby serpent-shaped ridge we've dubbed the Serpent Mound of Bashan, explains why he’s returning to a site that hasn’t been positively identified with a place named in the Bible—especially when that means following in the footsteps of one of the pioneers of archaeology in Israel. If you’re interested in volunteering to help dig at an ancient Judean city destroyed in 701 BC by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, contact Mike by email at [email protected].