[The Earth’s magnetic field is far from constant. We can track
its shifts in rocks that melt and then resolidify. Archaeological
finds containing once-burned rocks can be precisely dated using this
method. By utilizing the ancient orientation of the Earth’s magnetic
field, scientists have been able to piece together the history of
military conquests in ancient Judea.]
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EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD SUPPORTS BIBLICAL STORIES OF DESTRUCTION OF
ANCIENT CITIES  
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Elizabeth Fernandez
December 2, 2022
Big Think
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_ The Earth’s magnetic field is far from constant. We can track its
shifts in rocks that melt and then resolidify. Archaeological finds
containing once-burned rocks can be precisely dated using this method.
By utilizing the ancient orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field,
scientists have been able to piece together the history of military
conquests in ancient Judea. _

Ancient Judea, Y Vaknin et al., PNAS, 2022

 

Avast city of 10,000 once stood within the grounds of Tel Zafit
National Park. Now it is an archaeological dig, nothing but burned mud
bricks, a crumbling break in the city’s defenses
[[link removed]],
and weapons cobbled together at the last minute from animal bones
[[link removed]].
What happened here? What force brought this great city to its end?  

According to the Bible, Gath was one of the main Philistine cities and
the home of Goliath the Giant. Its destruction is glossed over,
described in less than one verse of the Bible, in the book of 2
Kings. 

Archaeologists have long worked to figure out what happened to the
ancient city of Gath [[link removed](city)], and
just as important, when it happened. But dating sites like this is no
straightforward task. Recently, a team of scientists led by Yoav
Vaknin of Tel Aviv University tried a new method to date
archaeological digs like Gath: They used the Earth’s magnetic field.
Their results recently appeared in _Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences_
[[link removed]].

Pole reversal

Deep within the Earth, thousands of miles below the crust, lies the
boundary between the planet’s solid inner core and the molten outer
core that surrounds it. That boundary burns at 6,000° C, hotter than
the surface of the Sun. It is the hottest place on Earth.

In the outer core, massive currents of molten iron convect in giant
cells around the inner core. Imagine water boiling on your stove —
only on a much larger scale, and warmed by superheated liquid rock.
This rock is made up of iron and nickel, and its motion creates the
Earth’s protective magnetic field.

We can thank that magnetic field for a lot of things, including life.
It helps shield the Earth, deflecting radiation up and around the
planet. It protects our planet from solar winds and coronal mass
ejections from our sun, as well as from cosmic rays. 

But since motion within the core is chaotic, the magnetic field is
dynamic, too. In fact, the magnetic field of the Earth
completely reverses
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the North and South take turns being the pole of attraction. Sometimes
the switch happens after tens of thousands of years, sometimes after
tens of millions, but even when it is not reversing, the magnetic
field of the Earth
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constantly in flux. The North Pole travels
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45 km per year, its intensity gradually varying. 

The history of changes in the magnetic field is recorded in rock.
Perhaps the most well-known record is etched in stone at the
mid-Atlantic ridge. Here, new seafloor is constantly being created as
the tectonic plates spread along fault lines as long as the ocean. As
these molten rocks orient themselves, cool, and solidify, they record
the direction and intensity of the magnetic field. A search of the
seafloor allows us to read the history of the Earth’s magnetic field
itself.

Surprisingly, this method can also be used for archaeological sites
like the one at Gath. If rocks at these sites become hot enough, they
too can align to show the intensity and direction of the magnetic
field. Such heat can be generated during military actions, when
widespread destruction is common. 

A magnetic history of biblical brutality

If you were an Israelite around 2,800 years ago, the name Hazael
probably struck fear into your heart. In the book of 2 Kings, city
after city falls to King Hazael. This ruler of Damascus leveled many
cities in Judah and Israel. The prophet Elisha addresses Hazael
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2 Kings 8:12: 

_“‘Why does my lord weep?’ asked Hazael. ‘Because I know,’
he [Elisha] replied, ‘what harm you will do to the Israelite people:
You will set their fortresses on fire, put their young men to the
sword, dash their little ones in pieces, and rip open their pregnant
women.’” _

Credit: Y Vaknin et al., PNAS, 2022

Many archaeological sites illustrate the brutality of Hazael’s
campaigns. They tell the stories of how entire cities were destroyed,
and Gath was one of these. Massive destruction is evident
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the site, showing a long siege trench, fallen buildings, and human
remains. 

Different approaches to date these sites lead to different
conclusions. But one element in the destruction of these cities could
help researchers. The battles were extensive and terrible, with
widespread fires blazing at over 600° C. This heat baked the mud
bricks in the cities, and aligned them with the Earth’s magnetic
field. 

Vaknin and his team realized this, and they knew something else about
the Earth during this time. While the magnetic field is continually
changing, there are periods during which it fluctuates more quickly.
This period was one of them, with fluctuations measuring twice as
strong as their current propensity. “The dating resolution depends
on the rapid fluctuations, so I am lucky to work on this period,”
Vaknin told Big Think.

In short, the scattered fragments of ruins held the information
researchers needed to determine exactly when these cities were
destroyed.

Anchoring results in time

To use this data, the team gathered the information the mud bricks
held about the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic
field, and they combined it with knowledge of other events whose
timing is precisely known. These events are known as chronological
anchors, and unfortunately, Vaknin says, they are rare.

 “The 701 [BCE] Assyrian campaign is my favorite example,”
Vaknin says. “When the historical sources and the archaeological
record match (more than 1000 arrowheads found in the destruction of
Lachish, for example) — Bingo! We have an anchor.   

“We then compare the magnetic results from these anchors to those
from other finds whose dates that are not as well known but are
roughly dated to the same periods, according to other dating
methods.”

Using their chronological anchors, they could create a timeline. They
recorded the intensity and direction shown in mud bricks from 21
archaeological layers at 17 sites to discover exactly when each of
these cities was destroyed. The team showed that several cities were
destroyed around the same time — Tel Rehov, Horvat Tevet, Tel Zayit,
and Gath. They suggest that all of these cities were destroyed by
Hazael. 

The timing of the destruction of another city, Tel Beth-Shean, is
often contested. Vaknin’s team studied this site and found that its
bricks recorded a different magnetic field intensity and orientation
than the other cities, suggesting that this Judean city was destroyed
perhaps 70 to 100 years earlier, by Pharaoh Shoshenq I. The biblical
account of still another ancient city, Tel Beth-Shemesh, suggests
destruction at the hands of Jehoash, the King of Israel, and the
team’s geomagnetic dating showed a timeline consistent with this
interpretation. They also found that the Babylonian conquest of Judea
was likely focused on Jerusalem. 

Piece by piece, the destruction of other sites has come into focus —
some were leveled by the Babylonians, others by the Assyrians. Their
method has allowed the team to trace the contours of the region’s
chronology, suggesting the timeline of the falls of various parts of
Judah and Jerusalem.

Especially in this part of the world and for this period of ancient
history, geomagnetic dating is more precise than radiocarbon dating.
This is thanks to the number of archaeological sites
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swiftness and strength shifts in the magnetic field. But the method
can be used anywhere rocks were heated enough to align with the
Earth’s magnetic field.

_DR. ELIZABETH FERNANDEZ [[link removed]] is a science
communicator, looking at the interface between science and technology
in society, and writes on science and society, science and philosophy,
astronomy, physics, and geology. Particularly, she looks at how
science, philosophy, religion and culture intersect. She has a PhD in
astrophysics and has worked around the world, using telescopes both on
the ground and in space. Her articles have appeared on Forbes.com and
Big Think. She is also the host and producer of SparkDialog Podcasts,
a podcast on science and society, where she tells the story of science
in our lives. Besides science, she is an artist and writer, loves
pretty much every genre of music in existence, and seeks out bizarre
and unique musical instruments. She has a passion for interfaith
relations, working with people from many countries and backgrounds
promoting dialog between faiths. Follow her on Twitter @SparkDialog
[[link removed]]._

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