I asked researcher Dr. David Inbar when Did King David Live in order that I will know since when I have to track the archeological footprints of the Shield which is related to him. (You will be able to delve more in the theory of Dr. David Inbar in his Hebrew book: A Journey to the Biblical Past, published in 1988).
Following is his answer (which reminds me of the thought-provoking saying: absence of proof is not a proof of absence):
Historians, biblical scholars, archaeologists and other scientists of old-world subjects of research, tend to agree that the beginning times of the people of Israel is not (and can’t) provable, yet. There are no remains of the Patriarchs’ activities in the land of Israel in general – and in the Beer Sheba valley in particular . It is agreed by most of the above scholars, that the Patriarchs – if any of them existed at all, were living during the 20th – 18th centuries B.C.E
(during MB II age) but because there are no archaeological evidences of that time in the Beer Sheba valley, the general scholarly trend, is to deny the historical narrative of the patriarchs, or to pretext the facts that there are no archaeological, cultural and material remains of the patriarchs because they were a nomadic society, therefore leaving no remains and no traces of their existence just like the Bedouin nomadic desert dwellers of today. However, the Biblical narrative of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants is very clear and vivid. One can feel the Biblical narrative in the tips of one’s hands, so realistic is the description of the patriarchs. The absence of evidences of the age above does not put the patriarchs in the complete mythological side of our narrative . If the Biblical story teller is right, one must deepen its research in the Beer Sheba valley and look as deep in the ground as possible . I searched the geographical history of the identification of Biblical Beer Sheba town and valley and I found it historically correct. I started looking for evidences matching the Patriarchs’ Biblical description . No match was found in the Middle Bronze age II (about the end of the 3rd millennium B.C.E, or in the Late Bronze period (there are not even one LB site in the Beer Sheba valley and its vicinity (Iron I – II periods or even Early Bronze I – II periods) there are not even one EB Site in the valley of Beer Sheba valley) and the only period in the above area left to search for the Biblical patriarchs’ story is the 5th millennium B.P remnants, which are abundant in the above valley and was earlier to the Israeli 1ST temples’ period finds in the region. To my great surprise, the wonderful excavations made by some of the best archaeologists like Dothan, Perrot and others, I could easily attach the Chalcolithic (5th millennium) period of the Beer – Sheba valley to the Biblical, patriarchs’ narrative.
The chronological peg to the history of Israel is the departure of Egypt, in 3760. This year marks the end of the Chalcolithic period in Israel. Up to 3760 we sat in Egypt as its rulers starting with Menasheh who was called in Egyptian Menas. The founder of this dynasty was Joseph, son of Jacob, who was called in Egyptian Osephis. David started ruling in 3221 after 495 years of the Prophets and 40 years of King Saul & Samuel. So that we can start looking for archeological footprints of David’s Shield in the 4th millennium, way before other Middle Eastern cultures like Sumer, Ugarite, Babylon and Assyria.
Dr David Inbar was born in the town of Rehovot, Israel, in 1939; He grew up in kibbutz Ramat Hakovesh and became a farmer. he enlisted to the Israeli Army, serving in the field Engineering corps; he became an officer and was severely wounded in 1966, in a battle in the West bank . Because of this battle he was decorated with the medal of bravery). After a long recovery, David was sent by the Israeli army to study in the university of Tel Aviv and his subjects of studies were: General Geography and Middle Eastern Affaires . He served after that in the Intelligence corps as a military researcher for about 7 years; he has been released from the Army and went to study Archaeology and ancient Middle Eastern Cultures and languages (including Classic Egyptian, Ugarite, old Greece and old Hebrew-Punic). After he accomplished his graduate studies at the University of Tel Aviv, he continued his academic studies for PhD) in the University of Bar-Ilan in Ramat-Gan.
