Numbers 21:25-26, The Conquest of Heshbon
And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. For Heshbon [was] the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites.
//While the Israelites were led through the wilderness by Moses, messengers were dispatched to Sihon, king of the Amorites, requesting permission to pass through their land. But Sihon refused the request, and formed an army to fight with Israel. Moses and the Israelites won the battle, and occupied the city of Heshbon.
Archaeological excavations at the site of Heshbon, however, show no habitations before 1200 B.C. Any establishment of a local empire would have to have occurred long after Moses passed through. This battle over Heshbon simply could not have happened.
What’s most odd about this particular myth is that eleven chapters later, this same book of Numbers confirms the mythical nature of its earlier story by telling how, after the conquest of Canaan, the city of Heshbon was built by the tribe of Rueben!
Numbers 32:37, And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim
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