Earth’s magnetic field illuminates Biblical history
It casts light on an obscure period called the Hallstatt plateau
WHEN SENNACHERIB, King of Assyria, sent his army to the kingdom of Judah in 701BC, and had it destroy the city of Lachish, 43km south-west of Jerusalem, he was doing his bit for science as well. As Yoav Vaknin of Tel Aviv University told this year’s meeting of the American Geophysical Union, held in New Orleans and online, residual magnetism in the burnt-down buildings is helping archaeologists to date other finds in the area. It also helps geophysicists to chart the ups and downs of terrestrial magnetism.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “One with Nineveh and Tyre”
From the December 18th 2021 edition
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