Published: May 03, 2007 10:47 pm      

Students dig through history

EDMOND — Three Edmond theology students have placed their hands on the past while unearthing one of the most significant archeological digs of modern history. The sights and smells of history blend with their Christian faith.

Brent Nagtegaal, Edwin Trebels and Jeremy Cocomise left the Herbert W. Armstrong College in October for Jerusalem to assist for five-months in an ongoing archeological dig of what is believed to be King David’s Palace. They will be among the six men and three women who will make the journey this summer for the third phase of the dig.

Locating King David’s Palace is significant because its history marks King David’s reign when he captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites as explained in 2 Samuel of the Bible, said Trebels, a native of the Netherlands.

Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University made international news in 2005 when she unearthed a large wall near the Kidron Valley. Funding allowed the prominent Israeli archeologist to begin the second phase of her dig, which involved the three male students.

About 20 percent of the excavation is considered complete, said Cocomise, of Chicago. The third phase of the dig will be a larger undertaking.

“A lot of the edge of the wall was pushed over into the valley in later periods, so a lot of data was lost,” Trebels said. “Now because we’re going more inland, we’ll have a better chance to find more of the very significant vessels from King David’s period.”

Without any experience in archeology, the Edmond students were able to assist archeologists excavate from recent-day Jerusalem down through layers of history. The archeological site is in central Jerusalem beneath homes and layers of other historic ruins, Trebels said. They sifted through the Islamic period, the time of Christ to when King David ruled the area 3,000 years ago. Some of the excavation unearthed material from the time of Abraham, Trebels said.

Nagtegaal said the dig was quick through the first few feet of earth that contained modern materials from the past century. From there, the excavation became a more delicate process.

“There’s lots of different layers just a foot away from each other,” said Nagtegaal of Australia. “So you have to be really careful that you don’t cross into another layer and then collect pottery from that layer in the layer above it.”

Identifying layers of history meant understanding changes in the soil, its color and consistency, he said.

“Especially being in the Bible belt, maybe some religious people are somewhat scared of archeology because they might believe that it disproves the Bible and what the Bible says,” Nagtegaal said. “But the actual fact of what we’re finding, especially in what propelled us there, is that the archeology is actually proving the Bible to be more accurate than people think.”

The students were part of the discovery of a wall measuring 7 meters thick and 20 meters long. Trebels said the size is significant because it disproves critics who claim King David was a minor chieftain of a small village.

“In order for you to have a palace of that time period, of that size, you would really have to have quite an empire and quite a support system,” Trebels said.

Lisa Napierkowski and Adar Kielczewski, both of Michigan; and Sarah Patten of Washington state, are the three Edmond students preparing to leave for Jerusalem.

King David’s period of history is relevant because of the Middle East contention about Jewish rule in Israel, Kielczewski said. The finding helps prove that Israel belongs to the Jews, she said.

“It’s right now that we are finding the proof to say the Bible has been true,” Napierkowski said. “I could have believed it but this is like proving our faith, too, that it is there and God’s word is true. But it’s only strengthening what’s already there.”

The history of King David must not be minimized, Patten said.

(Features Editor James Coburn may be reached via e-mail at jcoburn@edmondsun.com.)