Israeli Archaeologists Claim Biblical Fire in Jerusalem 2,500 Years Ago Was ‘Deliberate Destruction’ [Study]

(Photo: Pexels/Jens Mahnke)
Israeli Archaeologists Claim Biblical Fire in Jerusalem 2,500 Years Ago Was 'Deliberate Destruction' [Study]

The fire that happened over two centuries ago in Jerusalem, detailed in the Bible, was "deliberate," according to a new study. A group of researchers from Israel looked into it to unveil its secrets.

Scientists Recreate Jerusalem Fire

The tiny remains of a massive elite structure burned down during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E.

Jerusalem had political upheaval throughout this time, but one significant event, the First Temple's destruction, stands out. According to a new study, the incident impacted biblical storytelling and theology for many years.

Scientists have been able to reconstruct the specifics of what happened in this specific fire in an extraordinarily large and wealthy building, giving them more knowledge about the Babylonian campaign, Newsweek reported.

Due to its size, archaeologists determined that the building most likely belonged to an elite family. Archaeologists dug up three rooms with the designations A through C in the southern section of the structure, and they discovered that all of them had collapsed due to fire, according to the study.

Construction stones that had fallen in were evident in the sediment. Each room's walls, however, were discovered to be still in place. The number of charred bones found indicates a significant, disastrous fire occurred.

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Jerusalem Fire Was Deliberate

The researchers studied magnetic signals in shards of broken pottery and shattered floor pieces discovered inside the building to identify the ignition point and track the blaze's path. However, some artifacts showed magnetic signals pointing in other directions, indicating that they were altered during the first fire of the materials in a kiln, per IFLScience.

Magnetic signals in Jerusalem naturally point northwards. Other fragments, however, exhibited magnetic traces more inclined toward the north, indicating that they had been demagnetized at some stage following their firing. Scientists believe these objects were burned during the Babylonian battle since it takes extraordinarily high temperatures to obliterate such signs.

The biggest room, Room A, had burnt wood fragments, perhaps from the beams that held up the building's second story. On the floors of every space, pottery fragments were discovered.

The status of Room C was the most intriguing aspect because its remnants were very dissimilar from those in the other rooms. The analysis found smaller wood fragments and much more massive pieces of burned wood.

These results were analyzed, and it was discovered that Room C had higher temperatures during the fire. As the heat rose to burn the bottom floor's ceiling, the widespread presence of charred remnants implies that the building was intentionally destroyed by fire.

The fire was started in multiple places on the top and bottom floors, and the way it spread resulted in the building's rapid collapse, suggesting that those who destroyed it made great efforts to ensure it would be demolished.

The study was published in The Journal of Archaeological Science.