Pritchard, James B. (James Bennett), 1909-1997

Locating the site of Ancient Gibeon (El-Jib) in Jordan was perhaps James Pritchard’s most notable accomplishment. This identification was made based on the discovery of the city name in Hebrew script on the handles of wine-storage jars found at the site. Pritchard conducted research at ancient Gibeon (El-Jib) for five field seasons from 1956-1962 with the hope of further linking the archaeological remains found at the site with events mentioned in the Bible. In total, ancient Gibeon is mentioned 43 times in the Bible and is repeatedly described as the scene of dramatic events. For example, the Bible depicts how the people of Gibeon deceived Joshua, obtained a peace treaty from him, and ultimately saved their city from the same destruction endured by other cities such as Jericho and Ai. Further events included Joshua’s command that “Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon” during a battle with the Amorite Kings, as well as a tournament between the rival forces of Joab and Abner that took place at the “pool at Gibeon.”

Until Pritchard decided to excavate this site in the 1950’s, two primary theories regarding the archaeological site present at modern day El-Jib prevailed. The first was put forward by an American explorer, Edward Robinson, who proposed that because of El-Jib’s location and the similarity in sound between the Arabic “Jib” and the Hebrew “Gibeon,” the archaeological site at El-Jib must be the location of ancient Gibeon. The second theory, postulated by the German biblical scholar Professor Albrecht Alt of Leipzig, argued that the archaeological site at El-Jib was instead the biblical city of Beeroth. Despite the disagreement regarding the identity of this ancient site, there was no doubt of its importance. Its size, a fifty-meter mound over 16 acres, marked it as one of the larger cities of ancient Palestine.

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