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Some Significant

Archaeological Findings

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References

“The Stones Cry Out” by Randall Price

“Scientific Evidences of the Bible’s Inspiration” by Bert Thompson (Apologetics Press)

“Ready with an Answer” by John Ankerberg and John Weldon

“Digging for Answers” by Garry K Brantley (Apologetics Press)

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From the

Old Testament

Period

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Genesis

Corroboration from extra-biblical sources

From the library of king Ashurbanipal of Assyria in 668-626 BC

Resemblance of the Genesis Creation in the Babylonian creation myth (Enuma Elish)

Resemblance of the Genesis Flood in the Babylonian flood epic (Gilgamesh Epic)

From a Chaldean monument: a record resembling the Genesis account of the Tower of Babel

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Abraham

Abraham and the patriarchs and the city of Ur (discovered in 1922) (Genesis 11:28-31)

The five cities of the plain (Genesis 14:2), as well as scores of other cities mentioned in the Bible

Abraham’s rescue of Lot in Genesis 14

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Sodom & Gomorrah

Considered by many to be myth or legend

Cities of Sodom & Gomorrah mentioned in the Ebla tablets discovered in 1975 - confirms their actual existence

Discovery of site in 1924 known as Bab edh-Dhra, by prominent archaeologist W F Albright, in the region where Sodom was expected to be located

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Sodom & Gomorrah

Excavations from 1965 discovered:

Site had faced extensive destruction by fire and covered by thick layer of ash

Evidence of fire having fallen from above and burned through the roof

Also discovered other sites in same region with similar evidence of extensive destruction by fire and ash - possibly the other three cities of the plain including Gomorrah which were also similarly destroyed

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Culture & Background

Information on contemporary customs

Tablets Discovered Period Significance

Ebla 1976 2400 BC Historical background

Mari 1933 1800 BC Historical background

Nuzi 1931 1500 BC Social customs

Amarna 1887 1500 BC Conditions in Palestine

Ugarit 1929 1500 BC Canaanite religion & literature

Mescha 1868 850 BC Moabite-Israelite relationship

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Culture & Background

Nuzi Tablets

Large number of cuneiform tablets

Explains why Laban was so concerned about the missing idols (Genesis 31:19,30) - could be token of promise from father-in-law to bequeath property to him

Records the use of straw in brick-making (Exodus15:13-18)

Explains Sarai’s initiation for Abram to take Hagar to raise off-spring as her own (Genesis 16:1-3)

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The Exodus

Liberals, including Jewish ones, deny the Exodus ever took place - just a compilation of old legends and distorted memories of what had happened

But Exodus is of primary theological importance in the Bible - crucial part of God’s plan for man’s redemption

No direct evidence so far, but several indirect evidences show the Bible account is true to the times

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The Exodus

Examples of indirect evidence

Writer has first-hand knowledge of Egyptian court life and practices

Foreigners from Canaan did enter and live in Egypt

Egypt oppressed and enslaved a large foreign workforce for several dynasties

Egypt did suffer from plagues - Tel-el-Amarna texts and Ipuwer papyrus recorded plague of blood, cattle disease, fire phenomena, strange darkness

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The Exodus

Evidence of mass movement of people and very large campsites in the Sinai

Explains why the Exodus route did not take the straightforward northern route toward Canaan - because there were several fortresses belonging to the Philistines and Egyptians

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The Hittite Nation

Often mentioned in the Bible (eg Joshua 1:4, 2 Kings 7:6)

But evidence of the existence of the Hittite nation never discovered - hence doubted

In 1906 Hugh Winckler excavated the Hittite capital of Boghazkoy and discovered thousands of Hittite texts

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The Conquest

Minimalists allege the Israelite conquest of Canaan led by Joshua never occurred

Canaan was taken over by peaceful infiltration after a long period of uneasy coexistence

Canaan taken over by a peasant revolt involving a liberation movement of the oppressed who became the Israelites

Above theories reached because archaeologists have found little evidence of a conquest of the land

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The Conquest

Important Bible facts about the Conquest

Joshua led Israel to conquer Canaan and the conquest was completed according to all that God had promised (Joshua 21:43-45)

It was a slow and long process (Deuteronomy 7:22-23, Joshua 11:18,23, 13:1)

It did not leave a trail of violent destruction - very few cities were destroyed (Joshua 11:13)

It involved a reluctant people (Joshua 18:3)

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The Conquest

Israel gradually lost control of the land because of their unfaithfulness to God, leading to uneasy coexistence with the native people of the land (Judges 1:1-3:6)

Hence, there was no blitzkrieg conquest

Archaeological evidences of such will be absent - in fact, absence of such data confirms the Bible version

Evidences must be interpreted with above facts - otherwise will lead to false theories

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The Conquest

Bible chronology establishes the conquest of Canaan to be in the 15th century BC

Minimalists allege the conquest took place in 13th century BC

A number of evidences supporting the Bible chronology

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The Conquest

Merneptah Stela

Discovered in 1896

Origin ~1210 BC

Poetic praises of king Merneptah of Egypt

Mentions “Israel” by name

Classifies Israel in same category as Hittites, implying by 1200 BC Israel was already an established power in the region equal to the Hittites

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The Conquest

Amarna Tablets

Discovered in 1887

Origin ~1400-1370 BC

Collection of letters of international correspondence (380 tablets)

Reveals political/military situation during that period

Include letters requesting for Egyptian assistance against the “Habiru” (=Hebrew?) invaders

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King David

Critical figure in the Bible - Jesus called “Son of David”

Liberals claim that David never existed because evidence of his existence has not been found - David was simply a myth to describe the ideal king for Israel

Possible reasons for lack of direct evidence: Israel’s records were written on papyrus which do not

preserve well Several sites which would most probably contain direct

evidences are politically sensitive and hence inaccessible

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King David

Evidence discovered in 1993

Aramaic inscriptions on a Syrian monument contain these words: “House of David”, referring to the defeat of a king of the Davidic dynasty

Hence, existence of David must be historical to have a dynasty after him

Moabite Stone also found to contain these letters: “House of D……” - could this also be David?

All the data is not in yet!

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King Solomon

The existence of Solomon’s reign and his thousands of horses (1 Kings 10:26-29)

From excavations in Meggido

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King Omri

The Moabite Stone origin dated around 850 BC in the reign of king Mesha of Moab

Found in 1868 by a German missionary

Records the king being subjected to the Israelites

Mention of Omri as commander of the Israelite army (see 1 Kings 16:16)

Confirms the Moabite rebellion after Ahab’s death (2 Kings 3:4-5)

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King Jehoash

The ten lines of Phoenician script describes King Jehoash's orders “to buy quarry stones and timber and copper and labour to carry out the duty with the faith” in repairing the First Temple

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King Sargon

Mentioned once in the Bible in Isaiah 20:1

Existence doubted for many years

Discovered in 1843 in excavations in Mesopotamia when his entire palace was unearthed

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King Belshazzar

Bible speaks of king Belshazzar (Daniel 5:22, 7:1, 8:1)

But Belshazzar failed to appear in any historical record

Until 1876 when Sir Henry Rawlinson discovered 2000 tablets concerning Babylon - Belshazzar became king in the absence of his father Nabonidus

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The Captivity & Exile of Judah

Babylonian Chronicles discovered in 1956 record capture of Jerusalem in 597 BC and history of period

Ezekiel’s dating of events by the years of king Jehoiachin’s captivity (Ezekiel 1:1, 8:1)

In 1930, record discovered mentioning Jehoiachin as a prisoner

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The Restoration of Judah

The time of Nehemiah’s return and Sanballat and Tobiah as his enemies (Nehemiah 2:1,10,19, 4:1-3,7-8, 6:1ff)

The drachma coin of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:70)

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From theNew Testament

Period

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Historicity of Jesus Christ

Josephus referred not only to the Person of Jesus Christ and His character, but also to the circumstances surrounding His crucifixion under Pilate - and His resurrection three days later

Tacitus also referred to Jesus as a historical Person

Jesus Christ referred to in other secular literature

Answers the question “Did Christ exist?”

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Historicity of Jesus Christ

But question remains: does Jesus Christ of the New Testament exist?

Referring to Jesus Christ, Rudolph Bultmann claimed: “All that remains of Jesus is an eschatological call to decision; the picture of His person and work has disappeared.”

Jesus Seminar aims to separate “Christ of faith” from the “Christ of fact”

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Historicity of Jesus Christ

Archaeology can provide some answers: if record of New Testament is also accurate like the Old Testament record, then there is much less reason to doubt the entire record

Archaeology has unearthed numerous evidences that support the accuracy of the New Testament record - too numerous to name

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Archaeological Evidences

The census at the time of Christ’s birth (Luke 2:1-3)

King Herod of the Gospels (Herod the Great ostraca, 1996)

Jacob’s well (John 4:5-6)

Pool of Siloam (John 9:1-41) (1897)

Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15) (1903)

Jewish sects in the NT period (Dead Sea Scrolls, 1947-1993)

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Archaeological Evidences

Herod’s Temple and winter palace (Luke 1:9, Matthew 2:4)

Crucifixion at means of capital punishment (Remains of crucifixion, 1968)

Historicity of Pontius Pilate (Pilate Inscription, 1961)

Caiaphas, the High Priest at the trial of Jesus (Caiaphas Ossuary, 1990)

Destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 (Arch of Titus & Vespasian-Titan Inscription, 1970)

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Book of Acts

Sergius Paulus as the pro-consul of Paphos (Acts 13:6-7)

The relationship between Iconium, Lystra and Derbe (Acts 14:6)

The district of Macedonia (Acts 16:12)

The magistrates of Philippi (Acts 16:20)

The altar to the “unknown God” in Athens (Acts 17:23)

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Book of Acts

Place where Paul stood before Gallio (Acts 18:12-17) (Bema Seat, 1935-37)

Artemis’ temple, statues and altar (Acts 19:27-28, 35)

The Ephesian theatre and Golden House of Nero (Acts 19:29, 25:10, 1 Peter 2:13)

Name and title of city treasurer of Corinth (Romans 16:23) (Eratus Inscription, 1929-1947)

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Archaeological

Evidences of Miracles

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Authenticity of the Miraculous

Archaeological evidences cannot prove the miracle of Bible prophecies

But can provide authentication of the historicity of events

Apply to miraculous events

Also apply to prophecies

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Examples of Miraculous Events

A few examples of historical miraculous events with archaeological evidences:

The massive destruction by fire of the cities of the plain including Sodom and Gomorrah

Jericho’s tumbling walls Based on discoveries in the 1950’s by minimalists

Kathleen Kenyon, and reinterpreted by Archaeologist Bryant Wood

Hezekiah’s narrow escape from Assyrian destruction

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The Walls of Jericho

Did the walls come tumbling down?

The evidences:

Jericho had impressive defence system

A retaining wall and embankment - but no wall!

Large deposit of bricks outside the retaining wall forming a sloping incline down to the ground level - consistent with expectations if wall had collapsed - outwards!

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The Walls of Jericho

Wall fell before city was set on fire

Unusually large quantity of stored grain - why was store not pillaged before city destroyed? (see Joshua 6:18)

City fell shortly after the harvest (see Joshua 3:15)

Example of consistency when evidences are interpreted with Bible facts as key

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Hezekiah’s Narrow Escape

The Assyrians under king Sargon II had destroyed Israel (2 Chronicles 30:25)

Successor, Sennecherib, continued path of brutal conquest and threatened Judah

Inscriptions discovered boasts of Sennacherib laying waste to large districts of Judah

Yet, Hezekiah, a king who was faithful to God, led Judah to rebel against the Assyrian oppression (2 Kings 18:7)

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Hezekiah’s Narrow Escape

Assyrians laid seige on Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:17)

Hezekiah took defensive measures against a very powerful enemy

Diverted water resources (2 Chronicles 32:2-4,30) Built up the fortifications of Jerusalem in haste

using stones from houses (2 Chronicles 32:5, Isaiah 22:10)

Archaeological evidences that all the above are historical events

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Hezekiah’s Narrow Escape

All desperate measures against the might of the Assyrians - Hezekiah turned to God (2 Chronicles 32:20)

God promised to deliver Hezekiah and Judah (2 Kings 19:7ff)

Will cause Sennacherib to return suddenly to his own land

Will make him perish in his own land Jerusalem will not fall to his hands

Bible records fulfillment of God’s promise (2 Kings 19:35-37)

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Hezekiah’s Narrow Escape

History records:

Assyrian record (The Taylor Prism) confirms Hezekiah did rebel against Sennacherib Sennacherib led successful punitive campaigns

against Judah Recorded a siege of Jerusalem - but no mention of

its capture, implying either a stalemate or defeat

Sennacherib was assassinated by one of his sons in 681 BC (The Babylonian Chronicle)

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Bible Prophecies

Archaeology has special role to provide evidences for divine prophecies

Provides evidences of historical events prophesied in the Bible

Provides evidences of the period of origin of the books of prophecy in the Bible - as answer to skeptics who claim they were written “ex post facto”

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Examples of Prophecies

A few examples of fulfilled prophecies witharchaeological evidences:

the destruction of Israel

the destruction and restoration of Judah

the destruction of Tyre

the 4 world empires preceding the coming of the Messiah

the coming of Christ

the destruction of the Temple in AD 70

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Archaeology

and Bible Criticism

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Dating the Books

Accurate and detailed knowledge of conditions, background and setting of the period described in the books and confirmed by archaeology

Political condition Cultural, architectural, customs Knowledge of individual personalities

Comparative study against writings of the same period

Words, phrases and language used Style of writing

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J-E-D-P

“Documentary hypothesis” (Graf-Wellhausen theory) rejects Moses as author of the five Law books

Claims books were compiled by variety of authors who wrote documents referred to as “J”, “E”, “D” and “P”, and compilation later reshuffled by editors

Claims Pentateuch essentially a work of post-exile period - not 15th century BC

Theory has been taught for >100 years

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J-E-D-P

No scrap of archaeological evidence to support J-E-D-P theory

On contrary, has been disproved for decades but continues to be taught as truth - so as to retain the paradigm that the Bible is or human and not divine origin

In 1979, words from Numbers 6:24-26 found in a silver amulet dating to time of Jeremiah in 600 BC

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Dating the Books

Psalms of David is a 10th century BC workLiberals assert most Psalms composed

after the ExileUgarit tablets from the 14th century BC

contain poetry with style, forms and expressions similar to the Psalms

Hence, Psalms belong to time around 14th century BC - not post-exile

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Dating the Books

Book of Isaiah and Jeremiah are 8th century BC and late 7th century BC works respectively

Books of Daniel and Ezekiel are 6th century BC works

Above find verification in the Dead Sea Scrolls

If books are late works, they would not have been included in the Dead Sea Scrolls by the conservative Qumran community

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Dating the Books

The Synoptic Gospels

Theories of form criticism claim that the Gospels were invented and written down 100-150 years after the apostles passed away

However, historical details in the Gospels, confirmed by Bible Archaeology, show authors had intimate knowledge of the times - hence, date of origin cannot be far removed from the period they are concerned with

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The Dead Sea Scrolls

Described as the most revolutionary archaeological finding ever made

Expected by critics to produce a radical revision of the Bible

Result is the opposite - they verified the reliability and stability of the Old Testament in the modern versions

“Accidental” discovery of scrolls involve very fortuitous circumstances

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The Dead Sea Scrolls

Value in dating the books

Critics assigned late dates (2nd century BC) to books like Chronicles, Ecclesiastes, many of the Psalms, Daniel, but Scrolls provide evidence to refute such claims

Qumran community is extremely conservative - will not include recent books into their collection if they were not widely accepted as part of the Old Testament Canon

Critics accept much of the data except for Daniel, although evidence is of similar nature as for the other books. Why?

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The Dead Sea Scrolls

“The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls

has made a contribution toward

confirming the integrity of the biblical text

and its own claim to predictive prophecy.”

(Dr J Randall Price)

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Scholastic Hypocrisy

Liberal critical scholarship guilty of hypocrisy

When archaeology appears not to confirm the Bible record, liberals will allege that the Bible is in error

When archaeology confirms the Bible, liberals avoid the finding

Stance taken in order to preserve their liberal views of the Bible