Many scholars believe that the Old Testament is simply a mixture of folklore and bad theology assembled long after the events supposedly took place. Thus, they assume, biblical history bears little resemblance to actual events.

This assumption took another serious hit in recent months when archaeologists from three countries announced evidence that points to the existence of the biblical kingdom of Edom— precisely when and where the Bible says it was, and contradicting the common belief that this kingdom didn't exist until two centuries later.

The kingdom of Edom, mentioned throughout the Old Testament, is described as existing in what today is southern Jordan. The Edomites and Israelites were enemies, almost constantly in conflict.

The Bible shows Israel interacting with Edom after the Exodus in the 15th century B.C. The Edomites were descendants of Jacob's brother Edom or Esau, who lived a few centuries earlier. Yet many scholars have not accepted Edom as coming on the scene until the eighth century B.C. at the earliest.

In recent years, however, a team of archaeologists led by Russell Adams of Canada's McMaster University, Thomas Levy of the University of California at San Diego and Mohammad Najjar of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities excavated at Khirbat en-Nahas in Jordan, in what would have been Edomite territory in biblical times.

When they dated their finds using high-precision radiocarbon-dating methods, the results, as they described them in the British journal Antiquities, "were spectacular" (quoted by Michael Valpy, "Archeologist Unearths Biblical Controversy," The Globe and Mail [Toronto], Jan. 25).

The dating showed that the copper mining and smelting site was first occupied in the 11th century B.C. and a protective fortress was built in the 10th century B.C. The evidence clearly supported the existence of an Edomite kingdom 200 years earlier than Bible critics assumed it came into being.

The dates also provide powerful evidence for the existence of the Edomite kingdom precisely at the time King David and his son Solomon reigned over Israel. Bible scholars have long believed David ruled ca. 1010-970 B.C. The dates from the Khirbat en-Nahas fortress correspond nicely to David's reign, a time during which he conquered the Edomites and "put garrisons in Edom . . . and all the Edomites became David's servants" (2 Samuel 8:14).

Referring to this conflict, Professor Adams observes: "This battle between the Israelites and the Edomites, although not possible to document, is typical of the sort of border conflicts between Iron Age states. And the evidence of our new dates at least proves that it may, in fact, be possible to place the Edomites in the 10th century or earlier, which now supports the chronology of the biblical accounts.

"It is intriguing that at Khirbat en-Nahas, our large Iron Age fort is dated to just this period, suggesting conflict as a central concern even at a remote copper-production site" (quoted by Valpy, The Globe and Mail).

Many scholars who reject the Bible argue that the emergence of the regional kingdoms mentioned in the Bible didn't take place until much later, and David and Solomon, if they existed at all, were nothing more than minor tribal chieftains.

Yet again, the archaeological evidence dug from the ground is proving those critics wrong.