Goliath's Skull Found Near Jerusalem?

'The Kingdom Times, Belfast, May 1994, carried the story of how a leading archaeologist had found Goliath's skull in a valley west of Jerusalem with the stone from David's slingshot still embedded in his forehead! Dr. Richard Martin says the discovery proves that David's battle with the 10-foot giant happened just like the Bible said it did, 1,000 years before the birth of Yahshua.

'This is the archaeological find of the century, if not of all time,' Dr. Martin told reporters at a conference in Jerusalem. 'Many people, including scholars and clergymen, would have us believe that the biblical account of David and Goliath is little more than an interesting piece of fiction,' he said.

'But we found this skull in the valley of Elah, in the foothills of the Judean mountains, where David's battle with Goliath was said to have taken place. Even more intriguing, the skull is HUGE and clearly belonged to a man of ENORMOUS STATUE.

'And if you believe the Bible, you know that Goliath was 9 feet 8 inches tall.

'But the most telling piece of evidence is the small round rock we found embedded in the forehead. The Bible tells that David killed Goliath with a stone flung from a leather sling.

'Dr. Martin found the skull during an archaeological survey 20 miles south-west of Jerusalem on 23rd March, 1993. He and his assistants instantly realized that the find was important; but it was only when they had performed tests which showed the skull to be between 2,900 and 3,000 years old that they began to think they had found the remains of Goliath.

'The Bible places the battle between David and Goliath around 990 B.C., or 1,000 years before the birth of Yahshua,' Dr. Martin said.

'According to the Bible the battle began as a band of Israelites were preparing to fight a band of Philistines in the Valley of Elah.

'At that point in history it was common for enemies to avoid massive casualties by allowing one man fron each side to fight for their respective armies. To quote the Bible, Goliath, challenged the Israelites to 'choose a man and let him come to me. If he be able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I...kill him, then you will serve us.'

'David answered the challenge and killed Goliath with a single stone thrown from a leather sling. When Goliath hit the ground, David chopped off his head with Goliath's own sword.

'As I said before, the skull that we found had a rock stuck in the forehead. There was also evidence to suggest that the head had been SEVERED from the body by a sharp object, most likely a sword. There can be little doubt that this is Goliath's skull. To be perfectly frank, I'm staking my career on it,' said Dr. Martin.'