Page 456 - Four Thousand Years Ago by Geoffrey Bibby

overwhelming expeditionary force. And the following spring
the Philistine army—horse, foot, and chariots—moved inland
from the coast south of Mount Cannel. Not far from the ruins of

the ancient city of Megiddo they met the army of Saul and routed
it utterly. And Saul and three of his sons, including Jonathan,
died in the battle.
As the new millennium opened, David went up from Gath to

contest the kingship of the defeated people of Israel.

The dating of the accession of Saul at 1020 b.c. and that
of David at 1000 b.c. is only an approximation, but a close ap­
proximation. And the Bible account of the wars of the Philistines

and the Israelites is closely borne out by the testimony of archae­
ology, as is clearly set out in W. F. Albright’s The Archaeology of
Palestine.

The dating of the fall of Shang and the establishment of the
Chou dynasty in China is disputed, and the dates adopted here
are based on the arguments already set out in the discussion fol­

lowing Chapter 16, where further suggested readings on the
subject are listed.