Whoever wrote the Book of Joshua knew many cities and ruins and wanted us to believe that Joshua overran each and every one of them.

But unfortunately, he had no idea of the real histories of these cities.

Hebron indeed was an important city at the time Joshua arrived. But there is no archaeological or historical evidence that the city was conquered or destroyed at the end of the Bronze Age.

Gibeon was at the time no more than an abandoned ruin. Only centuries later, a small village would emerge again. So Joshua is totally wrong when it states,

“Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters” (Josh 10:2)

Cities in the neighborhood of Gibeon like Arad, Kefira, Beerot and Kirjat-Jeerim also were uninhabited.

Jarmuth too was an abandoned ghost town when Joshua arrived. The Bronze Age city had been deserted for hundreds of years. Only many centuries later, around 800-700 BC, people returned to it.

Lachish was indeed an important Egyptian garrison city at the time (the Egyptian governor was seated there) – and what’s more, it was destroyed around the year 1200 BC. But… it wasn’t the Israelites’ doing. The archaeological evidence proves that other people destroyed Lachish, most probably the Philistines. Besides, Joshua doesn't mention anything about Egyptians - and they were the ones who protected the city.

Heshbon and Kadesh Barnea didn’t exist yet. They were founded only hundreds of years later. Kadesh Barnea was founded in the tenth century BC, Heshbon was only founded 300 years after that.