Evidence of medieval Muslim destruction counters historians
Discovery at church site shows Arabs not welcomed as 'liberators'
Published: 8 hours ago
A new archeological discovery counters the historical narrative that Byzantine Christians welcomed Arab troops as “liberators” in the mid-seventh century.
Islam expert and Jihad Watch blogger Robert Spencer, whose books include “Did Muhammad Exist?” and “Stealth Jihad,” cites a report from Tazpit News Agency about the unearthing of “colorful mosaic and various archeological artifacts” that recently were unearthed at the site of a fourth century Byzantine basilica in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem.
The report said the basilica “ceased to serve as a church after the early Muslim conquest.”
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Haim Shkolnik, who is leading the work on behalf of the archeology staff,” said his team “found evidence suggesting that they shattered many of the church items, contrary to what some believe about the ‘enlightened’ Muslim conquest.”
Spencer wrote that the “idea that the Byzantine Christians welcomed the Arab troops as liberators in the mid-seventh century is a staple of Islamic apologetics today, and (not surprisingly, given the abysmal state of academia today) is generally accepted among historians.”
“However, it has always had weak foundations, and is actually yet another example of a phenomenon we see increasingly often: the revisionist whitewashing of history to remove any hint of wrongdoing on the part of Muslims,” he said.
Today, the world is witnessing the deliberate destruction of religious antiquities by ISIS, which has declared the formation of an Islamic state in parts of Syria and Iraq.
Spencer wrote that in his 2005 book “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades),” he noted Islamic tradition has the Caliph Umar making a “telling admission in a message to an underling: ‘Do you think,’ he asked, ‘that these vast countries, Syria, Mesopotamia, Kufa, Basra, Misr [Egypt] do not have to be covered with troops who must be well paid?’ Why did these areas have to be ‘covered with’ troops, if the inhabitants welcomed the invaders and lived with them in friendship?'”
The TPS report said the discoveries in Gush Etzion were at a Byzantine church originally uncovered in 1977.
The evidence suggests the inhabitants were “very wealthy,” and a mosaic indicates the church was originally built in the fourth century.
“We started to expand the excavation at the end of 2015 to find out where all this wealth came from, since this area was probably isolated from major communities during the Byzantine era,” Shkolnik said in the report.
Found were glass items, pottery fragments and coins, including one with a handle with the seal of “Three Magi,” the report said.
The basilica apparently was built on a cave that was converted to a crypt. It had prayer hall aisles, a narthex and an atrium.
It then was abandoned “after the early Muslim conquest.’
Read more at
http://www.wnd.com/2016/04/evidence-of-medieval-muslim-destruction-counters-historians/#ACBBJJzcWlJTXJqt.99
