Events Calendar

The following presentation will take place at the University of Northwestern—St. Paul, MN about the Roman battle at Maqatir/Ephraim north of Jerusalem in AD 69. Dr. Boyd Seevers, Col. Kenneth Downer, and three Northwestern students will present on May 10th at 9:40-10:50 a.m. in room G115 in the Billy Graham Community Life Commons on Northwestern’s campus. Posters and programs should be available at the venue and will specify which room.

Title: A Roman Attack Comes to Life: The Conquest of Khirbet el‐Maqatir/Ephraim in A.D. 69 

Presenters: Dr. Boyd Seevers, Col. Kenneth E. Dower, & UNW students Bennett Selfridge, Grace Haug, and Skylar Drinka

Abstract: Current research by a professor and students at Northwestern, combined with military analysis by a U.S. Army colonel, have brought to life the Roman conquest of a site near Jerusalem, attacked shortly before the Romans besieged and destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish temple in A.D. 70. Analysis of excavated finds from the site revealed arrowheads, slingstones, ballista balls, and other Roman and Jewish weapons used in the battle on a fateful summer morning in A.D. 69, a few years after Jesus had stayed in the town, named Ephraim (Jn 11:54). The archaeological finds and their location on the battlefield, combined with seasoned military analysis, produce a realistic reconstruction of how the brutal battle may have played out. It was a battle that none of the Jewish inhabitants survived, and one that brought the vaunted Roman military machine one step closer to crushing the Jewish rebellion in Judea. Prof. Boyd Seevers and the UNW students will present Part 1: The Context and Physical Evidence of the Battle, and Col. Kenneth E. Dower will present Part 2: A Proposed Reconstruction of the Battle and Its Aftermath.