JAKARTA - The eerie towering giant of Bible legend, Goliath, may be only slightly taller than a professional basketball player, archaeologists say.
Goliath is depicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a mighty Philistine warrior who was defeated in battle by King David. It was said, it was almost three meters high.
However, archaeological finds claim Goliath was actually about 7 feet 10 inches - hardly a "giant", even though people tended to be shorter back then perhaps he was enormous in comparison.
The tallest NBA players of all time, Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan, both measure 7 feet 7 inches. Meanwhile, the tallest man in recorded history, Robert Wadlow, will dwarf Goliath at 8 feet 11 inches.
According to the Daily Star, Wednesday, November 25, excavations at Bible sites often reveal evidence showing that much of the Bible is based on spiced facts for dramatic effect.
Goliath is described as "four cubits and one span" in height, a description complicated by a recent provision that one cubit means different things in different areas.
Last year at Tell es-Safi, Israel, a gateway to Goliath's hometown, Gath was excavated and its walls were found 2.38 m - seven feet and 10 inches apart, the equivalent of four cubits and a modern span.
Archaeologist Jeffrey Chadwick of Brigham Young University in Utah says this is the most likely contender for just how tall Goliath really is.
Old Testament writers wanted to illustrate Goliath's size and strength and compare it to Gath's defensive barrier, said Prof Chadwick at the American Schools of Oriental Research's virtual annual meeting on Nov. 19.
"Ancient writers used real architectural metrics from that time to describe Goliath's height, likely to show he was as big and strong as his city walls," he said.
His theory has been met with interest by other biblical scholars, although Old Testament scholar Gary Arbino says Prof Chadwick needs to do more research.
He said it also needed to establish that "four cubits and one span" was a generic phrase meaning hefty at the time.
Gath was first occupied by the Canaanites in the early Bronze Age, but was rebuilt by the Philistines more than 1,000 years later.
The city was a major center of civilization during the Iron Age some 3,000 years ago - the era in which Goliath lived.
Scholars remain divided over whether David and Goliath actually existed and fought.
Archaeologists have been exploring Tell es-Safi for more than 20 years and found evidence to suggest that the "giant" was real, including pottery shards bearing his name.
There is also evidence that Gath was destroyed by the invading army some 2,850 years ago.
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