Archaeologists believe that they have found the location of the gate to the ancient Philistine city of Gath. The gate is “massive,” and the fortifications are described as “monumental” (link). Indeed, the link also states that “the remaining walls are so massive [that] it may take several seasons to fully uncover them.”
All readers familiar with the Bible will instantly recognize the significance of the Philistine city of Gath. It was one of a confederacy of large, walled Philistine cities mentioned in the Bible. The Philistines were the persistent enemies of the Israelite tribes for centuries. It was from Gath that the giant named Goliath went forth to meet his doom at the hands of the young shepherd boy named David (I Samuel 17). The Ark of the Covenant, captured briefly by the Philistines when they defeated the Israelites in a battle, was temporarily in Gath, but God afflicted the city so terribly that they sent it elsewhere (I Samuel 5:8-10). David and his band of 600 loyalists were sheltered by the king of Gath for over a year when King Saul was seeking for David to kill him (I Samuel 27-29). Gath is mentioned many times in the Bible, and II Chronicles 26:6 records that King Uzziah of Judah broke down its wall in a war in the 8th century BC. If these are the remains of the city gate of Gath, then both Goliath and David walked through them during their lifetimes.
The link refers to the “Jewish kingdoms of Judah and Israel.” That statement does need to be corrected. Both kingdoms were “Israelite,” but only the kingdom of Judah was “Jewish.” Judah was the primary tribe of the kingdom of Judah and the main tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel were Ephraim and Manasseh. In the modern world, it is a very common mistake to refer to both Israelite kingdoms as “Jewish.” However, the northern kingdom of Israel was never “Jewish,” and its descendants today are not to be found among the Jews. The modern Jews/Israelis are descended from the ancient kingdom of Judah’s population, and they are known by the tribal name of Judah to this day. The ten northern, non-Jewish tribes largely forgot about their origins as they migrated and formed new kingdoms and empires during the millennia after they went into exile in the 8th century BC. While groups of Jews returned to the Holy Land under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah during the time of the Persian Empire, only remnants of three tribes are mentioned among the returnees (Ezra 1:5). None of the returnees were from the northern ten tribes of Israel.
My books include much secular and biblical historical documentation about the entire history and migrations of the ten tribes of Israel, and they detail the kingdoms and empires founded by the exiled Israelite tribes over the millennia as well as the modern nations which have been founded by them. I urge those who have not read my books to do so, whether they read my printed books or my downloadable E-book. Sample texts of each of the books in my 4-book set on Israelite history can be read by clicking on the links underneath the cover photos for each book. My E-book, The “Lost” Ten Tribes of Israel…Found!, is the same as my original printed book by that name. The four printings of that book sold out years ago, but all its information can be found in my downloadable E-book by that name. The books in my 4-book set on Israelite history are “derivative” books which include the information in my initial book, but the 4-book set includes much additional information, photographs of museum artifacts and many illustrations. If you read the books, your view of ancient history and the modern world will never be the same. You will understand God’s Divine Hand throughout history in the affairs of mankind and see his involvement with our modern nations as well. All the books include full bibliographies and copious chapter endnotes so any reader of them can duplicate and confirm the research.
http://www.livescience.com/51737-goliath-city-gates-uncovered-israel.html?cmpid=514645
