A big name in Israeli archaeology has claim he ’s found a WWW of ancient cities that were part of King David ’s empire , suggest this biblical figure was not just a humble sheepherder , but a mighty loss leader . However , his new published theory is not convert everyone in the flying field .

Writing in an open - approach and compeer - reviewed diary , Professor Yosef Garfinkel argue that a web of five fortified cities around Jerusalem actually date to the early 10th hundred BCE , some 200 years originally than previously thought . If his interpretation of the city is right , it would evoke the sprawling settlements were part of the realm of Judah and build under the reign of King David .

As per the study , the five cities appear to have a like intent , notably two parallel walls encompassing the inner dowery of the city , suggesting they were part of a integrated electronic web . They ’re also linked by a series of organised route , further implying they were deeply connected as part of a kingdom .

Historically speaking , next to nothing is have a go at it about David and scholars fiercely deliberate whether his supposed sovereignty was reality or mostly myth .

Biblically speaking , King David was a new shepherd who rose to fame after slaying the giantGoliath . He went on to become king of the folk of Judah and eventually all the tribe of Israel . The fresh research by Garfinkel more closely aligns with the biblical interpretation of King David as a powerful ruler who controlled a bustling ancient empire , including Jerusalem .

“ The minimalist need to say that David ruled over a small village and there is no kingdom , and I am say there was a land with fortified cities a sidereal day ’s walk from Jerusalem , ” Garfinkel , a Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology and of Archaeology of the Biblical Period at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , state Israeli newspaperHaaretz .

“ I ’m not such a big maximalist . What I ’m say is the land of David include Jerusalem , Hebron , and a few cities around them : that ’s the urban essence of the kingdom of David . I think it ’s realistic , ” added Garfinkel .

However , some experts have chucked cold water on this lustrous mind . While Garfinkel denies that this work actively seek to prove the Bible is historically precise – anotoriously troublesometask – other archaeologist conceive the conclusions in his latest work are reductive and mark an endeavour to corroborate the narrative of the Hebrew Bible .

After all , thisisn’t the first timesomeone has claimed they ’d discovered sheer evidence of King David ’s sovereignty .

“ I retrieve it ’s an oversimplification and he is flattening the details . There ’s a lot of belittled details I do n’t harmonise with , and there are generalizations over a full period that are problematic , ” Professor Aren Maeir , an archaeologist from Bar Ilan University , toldThe Times of Israel .

“ It ’s like when a fisherman tells you about the type of Pisces he caught and with each storey , his arms get wider and wide-cut , ” pronounce Professor Maeir . “ Is it a sardine , a mackerel , or a blue giant ? If you translate the biblical text and take it literally , then it ’s a gamy whale . I think that probably there was a modest land in Jerusalem , but we do n’t know the influence that this kingdom had . ”

The new study is published in theJerusalem Journal of Archaeology [ PDF ] .