 Roi Porat, who replaced Netzer as excavation leader after the latter's death, stood by the identification.Josephus's writings provide the first-known source for many stories considered as Biblical history, despite not being found in the Bible or related material.These include Ishmael as the founder of the Arabs, the connection of "Semites", "Hamites" and "Japhetites" to the classical nations of the world, and the story of the Siege of Masada.