Though the site is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and surveys have indicated extensive pre-Biblical Bronze Age occupation, Abel Beth Maacah had never been excavated before 2013. In the Bible, the city figures prominently in 2 Samuel 20:14–22 when Sheba son of Bichri took refuge there after calling for revolt against King David. Joab’s negotiations with a “wise woman” of the city resulted in Sheba’s beheading. The Bible also describes the city as conquered by Ben Hadad of Aram-Damascus (1 Kings 15:20) and by Tiglath-pileser III in 733 732 B.C.E. (2 Kings 15:29). |