Dr Garth Gilmour Illustrated Lecture on The Archaeology of David & Goliath

Illustrated Lecture on The Archaeology of David and Goliath

The story of David and Goliath in the Bible is one that has often been considered as something of a fairy tale, a nice story to introduce the heroic, almost mythical character of King David to us. But now new light has been cast on the story by the remarkable excavation of a small fortress overlooking the Valley of Elah, in the exact location that the Biblical account places the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines. The finds from the Elah Fortress offer new insights into the very earliest days of the monarchy in Israel, and they contribute greatly to our understanding of the story and indeed the whole debate surrounding the importance, even the very existence, of David as the founding king of Israel.

In this illustrated lecture biblical archaeologist Dr Garth Gilmour will discuss the archaeological site and its finds and consider their significance for our understanding of the biblical account, and for its reliability.

Coffee will be served on arrival and lunch will be served after the lecture.

Garth Gilmour is a biblical archaeologist who has excavated at a number biblical sites in Israel, including the Philistine capital cities of Ekron and Ashkelon. He has degrees from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and from the University of Oxford. His latest book, on the first excavation in Jerusalem of the British Mandate period a century ago, is to be published in 2024. For many years he was based in the Department of Jewish Studies at Oxford before he moved to Jerusalem to lead a Christian ministry there for three years. He has led tours to Israel for over 25 years, and now lives with his wife in Copenhagen in Denmark. Garth is a teacher of the scriptures, and enjoys bringing the world of the bible alive to audiences through his experiences of living and working in the land of Israel, and in studying the archaeology of that country.