Abstract
The extent of the Babylonian destruction in the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE is today essentially an archaeological question. It may be examined by comparing pottery and other remains found in First Temple period destruction layers in the City of David in Jerusalem, Lachish, En-Gedi, Arad and at dozens of other recently excavated or surveyed sites, both large and medium-sized towns and agricultural settlements. The results of all of these excavations and surveys clearly affirm that Judah was almost entirely destroyed and that its Jewish population disappeared from most of the kingdom’s territory (except, perhaps, for the area of Benjamin). One of the results was that two thirds of the destroyed kingdom’s area was subsequently occupied by Edomites, turning it into ‘Idumea’. With the growth in the number of excavations and surveys across Judah in recent years, our view of the total destruction of Judah by the Babylonians has been strengthened. This view is based upon purely archaeological considerations and is not motivated by hidden ideological considerations.
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