Original subtitles

[Narrator] In Israel, a pioneering team

of investigators is unearthing the remains

of an ancient fortress.

Oded, come and see.

We just found the corner of the tower.

[Oded] Very nice. Very nice, so this is...

[Narrator] Inside, they uncover treasures hidden

for more than 3,000 years.

Where?

Scarab... over there.

[speaking foreign language]

[Oded] Wow! Very nice.

Amazing.

[Narrator] They reveal disturbing evidence

of death and destruction across the entire ancient city.

All the site was just destroyed.

Many people were killed.

[Narrator] Could these groundbreaking finds

help reveal the truth behind one of the Bible's

greatest stories, the legend of David and Goliath?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

The stories in the Bible are famous across the world.

They tell of great battles between good and evil,

earth-shaking catastrophes...

...and epic heroes.

Now, new archaeological discoveries

buried in the Middle East for thousands of years,

shed light on real events that inspired these legends.

The story of David and Goliath

is one of the most celebrated legends in the Bible.

David, a young Israelite shepherd,

battles a giant warrior named Goliath.

Armed with just a sling, he kills him with a single stone.

[Goliath groans]

A victory that would pave the way for David to become

one of the most revered kings.

[Archaeologist] David and Goliath is probably

the most famous biblical story known today.

People in China, people in Japan,

people has nothing to do with Judaism or in Christianity

know about David and Goliath.

[Narrator] In the story of David and Goliath,

the Bible mentions specific locations and details.

But how historically accurate are they?

Now, experts are on a mission to investigate the truth

behind the legend.

They use pioneering technology

and investigate ancient weaponry

to unlock the secrets of this epic showdown.

♪ ♪

In the heart of modern-day Israel,

25 miles southwest of Jerusalem,

lies the ancient city of Lachish.

Lachish is not far from the Valley of Elah

where the Bible says the battle

between David and Goliath took place.

Leading archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel

has been digging here for over 15 years.

[Yosef Garfinkel] Lachish is one of the most important site

in the ancient Near East.

It has connections with Mesopotamia, with Egypt,

the Aegean, Cyprus, and the biblical tradition,

altogether make it a very unique space.

[Narrator] Lachish was settled around 3000 BCE,

roughly 500 years before the Great Pyramids of Giza

were built in Egypt.

At this time, the land was known as Canaan.

Later, around the time David is said to have ruled,

the site would grow into one of the most important cities

in ancient Israel.

♪ ♪

[beeping]

- A coin? - Yeah.

[Archaeologist 1] Wow!

[Archaeologist 2] I think it will be early Hellenistic,

which means around late 4th century,

after Alexander the Great.

We already have several coins from this period in this area.

[Archaeologist 1] The poor guy lost a whole bunch of coins,

not just one.

[Narrator] Although the Bible is a book of faith,

it is seen by many as a record of the early history

of the Jewish people.

It suggests that Lachish was conquered by the Israelites

hundreds of years before the time of David and Goliath.

Yosef is interested in finding out more about this city

and its biblical connections.

[Yosef] It's excitement.

We are clarifying biblical questions

historical questions; this is unbelievable place.

[Narrator] Yosef's new dig here is starting to uncover

puzzling signs of destruction and debris.

[Yosef] Did this belong to the collapse

or this belong to the wall?

[Narrator] As well as an intriguing structure.

[Yosef] Here we have the first wall,

so it's very exciting to have the first wall.

You can see the bricks, one, two, three, four.

But one wall is not enough, so we need to find three more walls

and to have a room, then we need four, five walls

to have a building.

[Narrator] Yosef thinks this site may once have been

an elite quarter of the city,

and that these might be the ruins of a palace or temple.

If he is to link the structure to the biblical story,

he must first uncover when it was built.

[Archaeologist 1] Wow!

[Archaeologist 2] Is it pottery?

[Archaeologist 1] Yeah, it's a big piece of bowl.

[Archaeologist 2] Oh!

[Archaeologist 1] Amazing.

[Narrator] This bowl could be a critical clue.

Archaeologists use the style and decoration of pottery

to distinguish between different centuries.

[Yosef] Let's have a look what it is exactly.

So, this is beautiful, maybe we find more part of it.

[Narrator] The design of this bowl dates the structure

to the 12th century BCE.

This is a time archaeologists call the Late Bronze Age.

Yosef investigates the building's fate.

[Yosef] This is the wall, but if you look here,

you see a black line running all the way.

Look at the ashes here from the side of the wall.

We have here part of the destruction debris

relating to the wall.

[Narrator] Archaeologists suspect a fire tore through

the building sometime in the 12th century BCE.

Look at the ashes here.

Something from wood was burnt here.

It can be furniture or maybe beams of the roof

that burnt and collapsed and accumulated here.

I'm sure that for the people who lived here,

it was a catastrophe.

[Narrator] The fire also left behind a strange clue:

the mud walls were turned to ceramic.

This phenomenon only occurs at extreme temperatures

of around 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit.

It hints at an intense and sustained blaze,

something Yosef finds elsewhere in the city.

[Yosef] Destruction cannot happen by accident,

maybe one house can be burnt, but if the whole city is burnt,

this is clear evidence for intentional destruction.

Now it's a big historical question,

who destroyed Lachish?

[Narrator] A clue might lie to the south of Israel

near Luxor, Egypt.

On the west bank of the Nile

lies the impressive temple complex of Medinet Habu.

Built by King Ramses III in the 12th century,

it is adorned with statues to gods,

colossal pillars,

and elaborate inscriptions.

It is in these inscriptions that Ramses III

records his time as ruler of Egypt.

Archaeologist Arto Belekdanian

investigates one particular set of inscriptions

in the hope it could shed light on Lachish's attackers.

[Arto Belekdanian] What we're seeing here

is an extremely important battle in ancient Egyptian history,

fought between Ramses III,

depicted in heroic size over there,

bow drawn, and against the Sea Peoples.

[Narrator] The Sea Peoples appear to be a coalition

of different groups from the north

who first assemble around the early 1100s BCE.

Initially, the Sea Peoples conducted

isolated hit-and-run raids across the Mediterranean

with occasional forays into Canaan.

Around the year 1180 BCE,

they had assembled a mighty army

and moved south to attack Egypt.

♪ ♪

[Arto] King Ramses III talks about the events

of the eighth year of his reign when the Sea Peoples attacked.

One of the Sea Peoples mentioned in that text behind me

right there are the Peleset.

[Narrator] Studies show that the Peleset and other Sea Peoples

may have originated from the Greek Aegean region.

But how might the Peleset be linked

to the destruction of Lachish?

Arto decodes the next part of the inscription.

[Arto] Now these peoples, they attacked Egypt,

and as they're entering the marshy landscape

of the north of Egypt,

Ramses III sprung his trap,

and he utterly defeats them all.

[Narrator] After defeating the Peleset,

Ramses forcibly resettled them in Canaan,

possibly to fight as mercenaries in his army there.

Shortly after, the Egyptians lost control of the region,

leaving the Peleset to become known as the Philistines.

♪ ♪

The Philistines rose to rule an area of the Mediterranean coast

known as Philistia.

They are central to the story of David and Goliath.

♪ ♪

Biblical historians believe that the Philistines

may have confronted the Israelite army

around the 10th century BCE.

The Bible says a 10-foot-tall Philistine warrior

called Goliath taunts the Israelites,

challenging one of them to a duel to end the conflict.

David, a young Israelite shepherd,

volunteers to face Goliath

and kills him with a single stone from his sling.

Drawing Goliath's own sword, David severs the giant's head,

and the Philistine army flees.

The Bible depicts the Philistines

as a ruthless, violent people.

Historically they are believed to have been in conflict

with the Israelites for nearly 400 years.

Crucially, the dating evidence for the fire matches up

with when they arrived in the region.

Yosef may have a prime suspect for Lachish's downfall.

[Yosef] In my opinion, the most reasonable possibility

is that the Philistine destroyed Lachish,

because they were a new, young, strong, powerful population.

[Narrator] It seems Lachish may have been destroyed

by the Philistine people.

Through the pottery evidence and carbon dating

of the ruins of Lachish, Yosef establishes

that the fire took place around 1150 BCE.

The problem is that the fire happened at least 150 years

before scholars say the battle between David and Goliath

may have taken place,

at a time when Yosef thinks the site

belonged to the Canaanites.

Could other sites in the region provide more evidence

for the biblical showdown?

[Narrator] In central Israel lies the hilltop site

of Tel Azekah.

♪ ♪

In the story of David and Goliath,

the Philistines camp somewhere close to Tel Azekah.

King Saul and the Israelites come to face them.

David, an Israelite shepherd, leaves his flock behind

and sets out from the hills

carrying provisions for his brothers at the battlefront.

When David arrives, he hears Goliath defying the Israelites

and goes down into the valley to fight the giant.

♪ ♪

Archaeologist and biblical historian Oded Lipschits

has been excavating this region for 15 years.

[Oded Lipschits] Tel Azekah is a special place first,

because it was never dug properly,

and because it was one of the first sites ever excavated

in the Holy Land, in Israel.

We are excavating here as part of the largest expedition

operated in Israel in the last 15, 20 years.

[Archaeologist 1] Oded, come and see.

We just found the corner of the tower.

[Narrator] Today, Oded is interested in finding out more

about this site's biblical connections

and has unearthed a large ancient settlement.

[Oded] This is the wall, the continuous of the wall,

over here as well, foundation trench,

and Sasha measuring.

[Archaeologist 1] Wow, zoi!

[Oded] Where?

[Archaeologist 2] Scarab, over there.

[speaking foreign language]

[Oded] What did you find?

[Archaeologist 1] I've just found a scarab right here,

pretty small one.

[Oded] Wow!

[Narrator] Scarabs were ancient Egyptian amulets

thought to protect the wearer.

[Oded] You can see the hole, so it was, was hanged.

Amazing how did he find, to find it, amazing.

[Narrator] The Egyptian scarab is an intriguing find,

but more evidence is needed to make a connection

to the biblical story.

[Oded] Hey, Daria.

Can we check it under the microscope

to see what we have here?

Ah, wow!

Look at the edges of it, so nice, so small and so nice.

And the other side of it.

We have here three signs.

[Narrator] The scarab shows the ankh hieroglyph

symbolizing life.

[Oded] Wow, it's very nice.

[Narrator] The design of the scarab reveals

that it comes from an earlier period in Tel Azekah's history,

when the rulers of ancient Egypt controlled this region.

So, what became of the people here?

In the far corner of the site,

the team makes a morbid discovery.

Among the rubble, they uncover fragments of bones.

These are the remains of four human bodies,

one of them a teenager.

Three of them are in cowering, protective position,

and all have widespread fractures,

consistent with massive blunt force trauma.

Could this have been the work of a biblical army camped here?

♪ ♪

Other digs at the site have also uncovered

similar signs of destruction.

[Oded] We found all the site was just destroyed.

Many people were killed.

Dozens of pottery vessels broken all over.

Everything was left in ruins.

[Narrator] Oded thinks that the closeness of this site

to Philistine territory hints at the identity

of those responsible.

[Oded] I think that the reason for this destruction

is the Philistines that were settled in this exact time.

[Narrator] It's likely a terrible battle

with the Philistines happened here.

The problem is that carbon dating suggests

that Tel Azekah was destroyed around 1130 BCE.

The site would then not be reoccupied

for another three centuries.

[Oded] The time of David and Goliath,

around the 10th century BC, the time of King David,

is exactly in the middle of the time that Azekah was abandoned.

So, it means that the story aimed to a period

where Azekah was not existing.

[Narrator] Evidence suggests that both Tel Azekah

and Lachish were destroyed around the same time,

before biblical historians

placed the battle of David and Goliath.

So why would the story mention such a pivotal event

using a ruined city?

Answers could lie on the other side of this ancient frontier

in the home of Goliath himself.

[Narrator] 21 miles west of Jerusalem

lies the ancient site of Tell es-Safi.

Archaeologist Aren Maeir has spent the last three decades

excavating this site and has found it rich

with ancient Philistine artifacts.

[Aren Maeir] Every time someone sticks a trowel into the earth,

something new comes up,

which is, can be both exciting and surprising,

and of course, it helps us understand the past.

[Narrator] Today, he's investigating

the most fantastical element of the biblical legend,

the existence of a giant called Goliath.

The Bible says that the legendary Philistine champion

was one of several gigantic warriors

that came from a city called Gath.

The problem is that the location of Gath is a mystery,

and what we know about the Philistines

doesn't quite match up with the biblical legend.

[Aren] We have no archaeological evidence

that any of the Philistines were larger than other people.

All the skeletons that we have found of Philistines,

they're normal height people.

[Narrator] Aren thinks that the Philistine settlement

at Tell es-Safi might hold some clues.

[Aren] One of the interesting finds we've found at the site

was a small temple up in the upper city on the eastern side.

The fascinating aspect of it was right in the center

of the temple, there were two column bases.

♪ ♪

[Narrator] The temple once stood in the heart

of this Philistine settlement;

the two central columns supported a heavy roof

and were spaced an arm's length apart.

The Philistines are thought to have built

a mighty temple in Gath.

Its design is intriguing;

it was held up by two colossal columns.

A description of a similar temple appears

in an Old Testament tale

featuring a legendary Israelite warrior called Samson.

♪ ♪

Drawing supernatural strength from his long hair,

Samson has slain hundreds of Philistines.

♪ ♪

Betrayed by his lover as he sleeps,

soldiers shear his powerful locks,

then blind him and take him prisoner.

His captors take him to their holy temple

where Samson prays to his own god

and is given back his strength.

He breaks the temple's two central pillars,

bringing it crashing down and killing himself,

along with thousands of Philistines.

♪ ♪

Could this temple discovery make this the city of Gath,

the home of Goliath?

The problem is Tel es-Safi isn't the only Philistine site

with a similar temple, so more evidence is needed.

[Aren] What we have here is a gate

and a line of fortification in both directions.

And this type of large, monumental,

or sometimes we, we call it megalithic masonry,

seems to indicate that this was a massive fortification.

[Narrator] Tell es-Safi's colossal walls protected a site

50 hectares in area,

the equivalent to around 90 football pitches.

In the 11th century BCE in this region,

there's only one Philistine location important enough

to be of such a colossal size.

This must be the city of Gath,

the mighty Philistine stronghold.

It was surrounded by a deep trench

and protected by two massive walls

with one of the largest city gates ever found in Israel.

Twice the size of other cities in the region,

it was a place the Bible calls the "home of giants."

♪ ♪

Aren heads to some ruins to try and unlock the truth

behind why this site was known as the home of giants,

and if there might be a link to the story

of a supersized warrior like Goliath.

[Aren] The fortifications of the city and of the gate

were comprised of very large, monumental stones.

This is a very nice example,

it's something close to a meter long and a meter wide,

and about almost a meter in depth,

and you can see it's a massive stone,

and there's a whole line of them running over here.

[Narrator] These blocks date back

to the 10th to 11th centuries BCE,

the time Goliath is believed to have existed.

Some measure six feet long, with the city's defensive wall

stretching around the entire site.

[Aren] My theory is that this was very impressive

when the city was in existence,

and perhaps people came to the remains of the city

and looked at it, this is the city of Gath, wow!

These boulders are enormous,

only a giant could move such a boulder,

so there must have been a whole race of giants

that lived at Gath,

and that's how maybe the biblical story developed.

[Narrator] Similar myths of giants

arose at other ancient sites

like at the Greek Mycenaean site of Tiryns,

thought to have been built by a cyclops.

So, was Goliath purely a biblical legend?

Or could a man by that name have once walked

in this ancient city?

A unique discovery from the late 10th

to the early 9th centuries BCE might be a clue.

[Aren] I'm holding a sherd that has on it an incise description.

There's several letters that are incised,

together it makes something like "Al-w'at" and then "W'al,"

and broken off.

Now, our interpretation of this inscription

is that these are two names,

that are not Semitic names, but rather Indo-European names.

[Narrator] Linguists believe the name Goliath

is similar to these names.

It also seems to have an Indo-European origin,

perhaps reflecting the Philistines'

possible Greek Aegean roots.

[Aren] As I always tell people,

this is not Goliath's cereal bowl,

but it does tell us that during the time

that according to the biblical tradition,

Goliath and his family lived at Gath,

we have now archaeological evidence that there were

other people with other non-Semitic Indo-European names

living at Gath.

[Narrator] This breakthrough opens the door

to further discoveries that could prove the existence

of an actual person named Goliath.

It also reveals how a memory of the Philistines

and their powerful city might have been preserved

in the biblical tale.

So where did the biblical authors believe

the giant's showdown with David took place?

[Narrator] Archaeologist Oded Lipschits and his team

are hunting for clues that could connect

the ancient city of Tel Azekah

to the story of David and Goliath.

The biblical authors reference Tel Azekah as a key site

in the showdown, a battle scholars date

to the 10th century BCE.

Yet the city was destroyed 200 years earlier

and lay abandoned at the time.

If Oded is to link the site with the story,

he must first uncover the importance of these ruins.

[Oded] What do you find, Yitzhak?

[Yitzhak] I found a brilliant cornerstone here, which is...

[Oded] Where is it?

[Yitzhak] Yeah, maybe the Israelites.

As you can see, we have a corner here,

uh, make a rectangular stone like this.

[Oded] Yeah. This is wonderful.

[Narrator] The team uncovers the remains of a watch tower.

It dates back to the 2nd century BCE

when the site was reoccupied.

[Oded] This is a really wonderful find,

the complete contour of the tower

coming back to the wall of the citadel here

and with the line of the wall.

[Narrator] The tower is thought to have stood 25 feet high

and was one of four towers

that formed part of a defensive fortification

around the ancient settlement.

[Oded] This is the corner of the tower,

the street is going all the way here.

[Narrator] In the time of the Israelites,

Tel Azekah was a stronghold in the Judaean region.

Over 5,000 years, the site has seen 25 different settlements,

some thriving, others suffering war or disaster.

♪ ♪

Oded heads to another excavation

to uncover its evolution.

[Oded] We are looking here at one of the biggest sections

that were excavated during 10 seasons of excavation

here in Azekah; it's 15 meters high.

And what we did, we started from the topsoil to the bedrock,

and we could see that 5,000 years ago,

the first people of Azekah came here.

[Narrator] A closer look at these lost layers

reveals the Canaanites, predecessors of the Israelites,

may have been the first to recognize the site's value.

[Oded] In 1800 BC, all of the site of Azekah

was fortified, it's the first time that it was fortified,

and it's an unbelievably strong fortification.

It's about one kilometer all around the site

with some towers.

[Narrator] It is thought that 30,000 tonnes of mudbricks

were needed to construct this megafortress;

a colossal investment.

So, what made this dusty, rocky landscape worth defending?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[Oded] From the earliest time that people

set and fortified the place,

it was because the location, location, location.

Azekah is situated at the end of a very long ridge

going always south.

This ridge is separating between

two geographical and geopolitical unit

for hundreds and thousands of years.

And in the biblical period,

this was Judah, and here was Philistia.

[Narrator] The Bible has a chilling Hebrew name

for this contested region:

Ephes Dammim, the "border of blood."

A settlement here would have a strategic viewpoint

over the border to control trade or agriculture,

or to spot advancing armies.

[Oded] It's like an eagle nest in the highest mountain

separating the two areas.

[Narrator] As Tel Azekah had been destroyed

by the Philistines prior to the story of David and Goliath,

why then would biblical authors reference a ghost town?

[Oded] The message of the story is we don't have to think

about Azekah as a fortified town or as a town, or as a place,

but only a symbol of the border between the two units.

Philistines and Israelites is a story of importance,

because of this first time

that, you know, winning over the strong power of the Philistines.

[Narrator] It seems this strategic site

was only referenced in the story

to symbolize a bigger Israelite victory over the Philistines.

So, what about the rest of the story?

The central element tells of a giant being killed

by a shepherd with a sling.

Could it be historically factual?

[Narrator] As archaeologists excavate deeper in Lachish,

Professor Yosef Garfinkel investigates the importance

of slings in battle

during the time of the story of David and Goliath.

[Yosef] We don't know too much about weapons in this time,

because we don't have much archaeological data.

But all the times there are new objects coming

which were buried and hidden for thousands of years.

[Narrator] Past digs at Lachish have unearthed a treasure trove

of these weapons.

[Yosef] In the site in one house that my team excavated,

about 100 sling stones were found in one room.

It's a very simple weapon, everybody can prepare a sling

and everybody can collect a few stones and shoot them,

but you need to be expert in order to hit,

not just to shoot, but also to hit.

[Narrator] These sling stones are not from the supposed time

of David and Goliath;

they date to a much later period

when a people called the Assyrians attacked this city

in the 8th century BCE.

Wall carvings discovered hundreds of miles away

at Nineveh in Iraq show them being used at Lachish.

[Yosef] The relief covered the whole room,

it's very loud and it depicts the city of Lachish.

We can see here a row of archer.

In addition we can see two slingers.

They have their sling in the hand.

It's like artillery shooting it today in modern battles.

[Narrator] The reliefs confirm that slings were used

in ancient warfare,

but how powerful and accurate were they in battle?

♪ ♪

The answer may lie at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, England.

Researcher Lewis Everett is dedicated to learning more

about ancient weapons.

Today he's putting the firepower of a sling

to the test.

[Lewis Everett] Slinging is very fun,

but it can also be very frustrating,

because you expect to see tangible progress,

but that only comes with deliberate and patient practice.

[Narrator] Lewis is using a replica of an ancient design

dating back to when the story of David may have taken place

over 3,000 years ago.

[Everett] So here it is, the sling.

The main part of the sling is the pouch.

It's got two cords on this side,

you have a loop that goes around one of the fingers,

the other cord has a knot at the end,

and that is what you use to grab onto and let go to release it.

The sling is a very simple weapon,

it is not a complicated piece of technology.

All it needs to do is retain something at one end of it

and a means of releasing it at the other.

[Narrator] Next, he must select the perfect projectile.

[Everett] One of the main advantages of a sling

is that you can find ammunition just lying around.

This is the stone that I'm gonna be shooting.

This is 200 grams,

and this gives you the power, it gives you the accuracy.

[Narrator] To discover the sling's impact,

Lewis rigs up a radar chronograph

to measure the projectile's kinetic energy.

[Everett] Kinetic energy and momentum are important

because they tell us how much power the sling stone will have

as it's delivering energy to the target.

[Narrator] Then, for a target, he sets up

a block of ballistics gel

with the same density as human flesh.

With everything set, now for the moment of truth.

♪ ♪

Slingers were used in battle like archers,

and were capable of firing stones over 650 feet.

[snap]

[Everett] Oh, that was bad.

[Narrator] The ancient weapon is difficult to master.

[Everett] At a downward angle it's quite difficult to get.

[snap]

[Narrator] As the projectile is released...

[snap]

...the snap of the cord creates an intimidating sound

to strike fear in the enemy.

[snap]

[snap]

[Everett] Unlike a bullet or an arrow,

it hasn't penetrated the medium,

but instead sent a violent shockwave throughout it.

[Narrator] So how powerful were the projectiles?

Lewis consults the chronograph.

[Everett] 42 meters a second, or 139 feet per second.

Compared to a bullet, this is slow,

but also compared to a bullet, this is so much heavier.

And so, by being so much heavier,

it can sacrifice a lot of speed and maintain its deadly impact.

[Narrator] Like being hit by a flying hammer...

[snap]

...a victim could suffer mutilated organs,

heavy internal bleeding,

or like Goliath, a smashed skull.

[Everett] I would be absolutely terrified

to be on the receiving end of someone who's been practicing

this since childhood and knows their sling and their skill.

[snap]

You can only imagine what that would do

if it hit flesh and bone.

[Narrator] Armed with a sling to protect his flock from wolves,

shepherd David could easily have inflicted

a lethal injury to a human.

With the sling's power proven,

could there be a historical truth

to what followed the battle--

the rise of David and the final defeat of the Philistines?

[Narrator] Back in Lachish, Professor Yosef Garfinkel

and his team are excavating a new area.

[Archaeologist 1] Okay, here we go!

[Narrator] This site could offer new evidence

to help explore the Israelites' rise to power.

After David is said to have defeated Goliath,

he marries the daughter of King Saul,

a man envious of David's courage.

Fearing the wrath of Saul,

David and his followers seek refuge in the wilderness.

♪ ♪

For years David survives as an outlaw,

but his legend and his following continues to grow.

♪ ♪

When King Saul dies, David assumes the crown

and is then said to have driven out Israel's enemies.

♪ ♪

As the team digs...

a clue emerges.

♪ ♪

[Yosef] This is an excitement discovery.

I think we have here one side of the bowl, and this fragment,

this should be on the other side,

so this is something like this.

But still I see here a lot of fragments,

so probably we'll have all the fragments that is needed

to reconstruct the complete bowl.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[Narrator] After a careful wash...

[clinking]

[Yosef] Seven, eight.

[Narrator] Yosef inspects the fragments.

[Yosef] Nine.

What characterized the pottery of this time

is what we call red slip, you see that we have red color here,

and it's not Philistine pottery and it's not Canaanite pottery.

This is the pottery that characterized Judah

in the 10th and 9th century BC.

[Narrator] To occupy this site,

on the edge of what was Philistine territory,

suggests the Judean Israelite people had expanded their rule.

Yosef will need more than pottery

if he's to say for certain.

[Yosef] Let's have a look.

[Narrator] His team makes another discovery,

a colossal defensive wall.

[Yosef] It's very strong, you can see that it made

from stone, not bricks, you can see that it's solid.

[Narrator] This unique fortification is 13 feet thick

and would have stood 23 feet tall,

an intimidating site to any invading army.

[Yosef] It's very exciting to see the city wall here,

because we found it before on the northern side of the site,

and now we have it on the southern side of this site,

and carbon dating around 930 BC,

and this fit the biblical tradition.

[Narrator] This groundbreaking discovery

is a vital piece of evidence;

it suggests that the people living here

were growing in power.

[Yosef] This is the most important discovery

of our expedition.

[Narrator] Archaeologists have uncovered fortifications

on other Judaean Israelite sites,

suggesting shifts in power across the region.

Following the destruction of Gath,

the ancient Babylonians would overrun the Philistines

in less than 150 years.

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Locating a single, sweeping Israelite victory

around the 10th century BCE has so far proved elusive.

Archaeological evidence suggests

a long and drawn-out conflict.

[Yosef] I personally think that they took

historical fighting between Israelites and Philistines

that took generation over generation,

and it was in the end crystalized into a story

of one Philistine and one Judaean person.

This is the way people remember things in antiquity.

[Narrator] The biblical authors looked to have used the story

to symbolize their triumph against a long-term foe.

The phrase "David and Goliath" over time came to be used

by some to represent the victory of an underdog.

[Oded] So, I think that always it's better to think

about the meaning of the story,

to make sure that we will understand

that the real force behind this battle is God.

[Narrator] For many people of faith,

the story of David and Goliath is a literal, historical truth.

Others believe the Old Testament

draws on real events and places

to help explain an ancient rivalry.

Excavations at Gath have unearthed hidden evidence

of megablocks and pottery

that shed light on the myth of the giant Goliath.

[Oded] Don't remove anything,

maybe only the poles, but you can excavate this half square.

[Narrator] The discovery of skeletons

and personal artifacts at Tel Azekah

reveal the human cost of conquest.

[Archaeologist 1] This is a scarab.

[Oded] Wow!

[Narrator] And newly unearthed remains

of an ancient fortified city at Lachish reveal a people's rise.

The story of David and Goliath endures to this day

as one of the most powerful legends,

a tale of courage against impossible odds.