The Board of Directors of the Associates for Biblical Research has approved our return to the archaeological excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir, Israel, 16 km (about 10 miles) north of Jerusalem. This excavation will be conducted under the direction of ABR Director of Research, Dr. Bryant Wood. Topography, fortifications, and pottery finds all suggest that Kh. el-Maqatir is a candidate for the Ai of Joshua 7-8. The excavation is scheduled for May 20-June 6, 2009.
Read more:
Excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir: The Search for Joshua’s Ai
ABR website articles bearing on the location and historicity of Joshua’s Ai:
- The Rise and Fall of the 13th Century Exodus-Conquest Theory
- Further Considerations on the Location of Bethel at El-Bireh
- Locating Biblical Bethel
- Beth Aven: A Scholarly Conundrum
- Israel’s Origins
- “The Cites are Great and Walled Up to Heaven“
- From Ramesses to Shiloh: Archaeological Discoveries Bearing on the Exodus-Judges Period