The discovery suggests that Gath was at the peak of its power much earlier than previously thought, putting its heyday around the time when the city features heavily in the biblical narrative as a fierce rival of the early Israelites as well as the hometown of Goliath and other outsized biblical warriors.
Located in southern Israel, the site is known today as Tell es-Safi. As the name suggests, it is a tell — a mound largely made up of the stratified ruins of multiple settlements left over by millennia of human habitation. Finds at Tell es-Safi range from remains dated to the 5th millennium B. Most scholars accept the identification of this site as the biblical Gath, in large part because of its location and the major Philistine-era remains found there.
Gath is mentioned in the Bible more times than any of the five major Philistine cities the other four being Ekron, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gaza. A hidden city emerges. Archaeologists have been digging Philistine Gath for decades, uncovering temples, mud brick houses and massive oil presses that paint the picture of a bustling city sprawling over dunams 50 hectares with a population of around 5,, Gath never recovered from that blow: it was later rebuilt as a small Judahite settlement but was destroyed again by the Assyrians at the end of the eighth century B.
Until now, researchers thought that Philistine Gath flourished mainly during that fairly brief window between the late 10th century B. If we trust the biblical chronology, Saul and David , who so frequently had dealings with the Gittites, would have lived in the late 11th-early 10th centuries B.
The dig revealed that those terraces were resting on massive fortifications and larger buildings made of huge stone boulders and fired bricks — a method that makes them stronger than traditional sun-dried mud bricks. The protein encoded by BBS1 is thought to play a role in limb development. Such a gap makes an inherited contiguous gene syndrome unlikely as there would have been too many other features.
Very rarely BBS1 patients have symmetric exadactyly; most commonly it is present in one or two extremities, upper and lower-not in all four. We are not given much other detail about Exadactylus so a new BBS1 mutation due to some complex rearrangement is unlikely-a new mutation in an autosomal dominant polydactyly gene might explain his symmetrical phenotype.
If he had pituitary disease and six digits-he may have looked an intimidating foe-but he may not have been a great warrior in action. Interestingly, the book of Samuel refers to five stones that David carefully selected for his sling from the nearby stream, and further reading of the surrounding passages shows that David's relatives were all involved in the deaths of the other giants in Goliath's family. There can be other interpretations for this and various types of symbolism, but it appears likely that several giants may have been from Goliath's family, further suggesting autosomal dominant inheritance.
The reverse also almost happened-Ishbibenob, Goliath's son, is credited with almost killing David until the swift intervention of David's nephew Abishai 2 Samuel The giants from Gath were present after the Flood.
One possible answer to the often raised question of why the Nephilim giants, present before the Flood were not eradicated by it, could be that new mutations in the AIP gene or other genes caused new families of giants to appear. There is no evidence in the Bible to suggest that the Nephilim, Rephaim or Anakim were directly related but they may have had some relations and intertwined lineage. If Goliath was the son of Rapha-he is likely to be descended from the Rephaim, but being brought up in Gath, an ancient stronghold of the Anakim, could suggest he may also have had some Anakim relatives, making his champion status even more significant in the ancient world.
Families of giants have been described in the medical literature 6 , but this may be one of the oldest and most famous examples to be documented. Perusal of the archaeological literature of that period gives evidence of giants being excavated but numerous fakes exist. Technology now exists to extract DNA from giant skeletons 2 , and if any new excavations in the Middle East unearth a skeleton suggestive of Goliath, or of Og or similar biblical giants, more proof may be obtained by careful DNA analysis and it may be possible in the future to delineate the exact relations between different giant lineages in the bible, and dissect them further.
In conclusion, Goliath may have had an AIP mutation causing early onset autosomal dominant pituitary gigantism and one of his sons may have had a syndrome involving both AIP and BBS1, which could some way account for the physical characteristics of his family and their good success rate on the battle field until they met David.
We thank the reviewers for their helpful comments, particularly the theological reviewer who carefully checked our statements on the Biblical giants for accuracy and who provided very helpful comments including original Hebrew text, which has helped us clarify the scriptural texts for UMJ readers.
National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Ulster Med J v. Ulster Med J. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Correspondence to Prof P Morrison ten. Jesus, I am not sure how I will face nor endure this trial.
It seems as though, even if I mustered all of my strength, that I could not engage with this giant and win the battle. But I am so grateful that I can rely on you. That I can trust in your power to help me face against this Goliath in my life.
Remind me of your goodness and strength and how you have not abandoned me in the past. Help me to recall that you often use the weakest vessels to show others your power. Use me, God, a weak vessel as I go against this Goliath. There were likely giants walking around during the time of the Old Testament.
Although it intimidated the people of God, God never left their side. Through the example of David, we can see God using a weaker vessel to display his enormous strength. Hope Bolinger is a literary agent at C. More than of her works have been featured in various publications ranging from Writer's Digest to Keys for Kids.
She has worked for various publishing companies, magazines, newspapers, and literary agencies and has edited the work of authors such as Jerry B. Jenkins and Michelle Medlock Adams. Find out more about her here. This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history.
Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:. Privacy Policy. Subscriber Agreement. JPost Jobs. Cancel Subscription. Customer Service. The Jerusalem Post Group. Breaking News. Iran News. World News. JPost NY Conference. Diplomatic Conference. IvritTalk- Free trial lesson. The Jerusalem Report.
0コメント