6,000 Year Old Warrior Ignites a Modern Controversy

During a time when many societies were transitioning from nomadic lifestyles to more permanent village settlements, a long-lived man was given a special burial in a remote desert cave. Placed around him were various personal objects carefully stained with blood red ochre, including a broken bow, a flint knife, a walking stick and a pair of leather sandals. The presence of weapons inspired the moniker, “The Warrior”, but the other artifacts could indicate the roaming existence of a hunter. Biblical rivals and twins Jacob and Esau also lived during a time of transition; Jacob was a “tent dweller” and herder, whereas Esau was a hunter and nomad. Did our “warrior” live the challenging life of a desert nomad like Esau? Six thousand years later, the “Lost Faces of the Bible” team of archaeologists, forensic anthropologists and artists try to determine how this ancient man lived and what he looked like in his final hours.

The reconstruction has already ignited a controversy. It was assumed that the man in question was a “warrior”, but the sword in the cave had a ceremonial purpose and it seems – once proper forensic examinations were done – that the man had delicate, not strong, muscles. There’s no question that he had a special burial so he must have been a special person. Professor Israel Hershkovitz suggests that he may have been some kind of medicine man i.e., a shaman. Perhaps we are looking at the burial of a man whose status was spiritual, not military. These conclusions have angered academics who have speculated that the bones belong to a “warrior”. For example, the new conclusions contradict the doctoral thesis of Hai Ashkenazi, of Tel Aviv University. Ashkenazi worked under Professor Yuval Goren who has made headlines recently – at least on my blog – for using bulldozers in archaeological digs here and here. Warrior or shaman, our work has reignited a scientific investigation and literally put flesh on the face of a 6,000 year old man.

Watch Lost Faces of the Bible: Ancient Warrior tonight on National Geographic Channel US, 9pm EST, hosted by David Berman, star of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (also, at 8pm EST watch our series “Living in the Time of Jesus: Crime and Punishment”, an entertaining and engaging limited series that transports viewers back in time to witness life during the first century.)

Click here to see my recent article “Archeological detective work” on The Times of Israel