The evidence that Samson lived?
Samson in the Treadmill, by Carl Bloch, Danish painter, d. 1890. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) A stone seal from the 11th century BC , possibly depicting a man fighting a lion, has been discovered at the site of Beth Shemesh . The archaeologists who excavate the site have suggested identifying the scene on the seal with the story of a man fighting a lion, and that this story or legend eventually found its way into the text of the Bible and the Samson story. The seal is approximately 1.5 cm in diameter and depicts what appears to be a long haired man fighting (punching? or standing next to?) a four legged animal with a feline tail which even seems to have a tassel at the tip (unique to lions) and a head that appears to have some type of pointed ears like a feline. Because lions are known from historical records and ancient artwork to have inhabited the Levant in antiquity, identifying the animal figure with a lion is plausible. Beth Shemesh, or "House of the Sun," is loca...