| ToC | Reading the Old Testament | . . . Chapter 6. Joshua | ToC |
D. Third Campaign: HazorA coalition of city-states in the region of the Sea of Galilee was organized by Jabin, king of Hazor. They fought against the Israelites at Merom. Joshua and the Israelites won a great victory and ended by burning Hazor to the ground.
This was a tremendous victory because Hazor was the dominant urban center in northern Canaan in the Middle Bronze Age. Yadin (1972), its principal investigator, has called it "the New York City of Canaan." It was smaller in the Late Bronze Age, yet still significant. Being able to dispose of Hazor, the Israelites must have been a considerable fighting force.
Archaeology of Hazor. Hazor is a massive site that has been extensively unearthed. It was occupied during the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 B.C.E.). The site contains unmistakable evidence of destruction by fire in the second half of the thirteenth century B.C.E. This destruction is credited to Joshua by most authorities. Hazor was resettled after this devastation and the material remains suggest it was by a less sophisticated people, usually identified as the Israelites. These people lived in tents and huts. The site was refortified and developed in the time of Solomon. See Yadin (1972).
The narrator asserts that the conquest was now complete. Note the finality of his summary statements: "Joshua left nothing undone of all that YHWH had commanded Moses" (11:15); "Joshua took all that land, just as YHWH told Moses. Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel. Each tribe received its allotment. The land had rest from war" (11:23).
 Figure 6.4 Campaigns of Conquest
|  |  |
| ToC | Reading the Old Testament | . . . Chapter 6. Joshua | ToC |
|
