The places marked tentative in the list are tentative because:

1. In some cases there are two or three archaeological sites in close proximity and it is uncertain which is the one named in the Bible.

2. In some cases only one site is known but archaeologists disagree whether it is the one named in the Old Testament.

All the definites and most of the tentatives are actual places and locations we can go to and see. Bible names repeated by other writers such as Josephus, but without physical remains, are mostly excluded from my list.

For example the Moabite Stone, written by King Mesha of Moab, was discovered in 1868. The Stone includes the names of about 20 places also named in the Old Testament. Of these 20, three are not on my list. Simply being recorded by King Mesha, without physical remains, did not qualify them for my list.

The list of 539 names was put together from Bible dictionaries, Bible encyclopedias, and archaeological books and journals. A recent copy of Archaeological Diggings, for example, described a visit to Endor – where King Saul of Israel consulted a “witch”.  Endor is included in the list.

With over 300 Old Testament locations now validated, and over 200 more with tentative identification, skeptics face the possibility that more and more will be confirmed.  We’re dealing with an ongoing and long-term trend. Skeptics should wonder whether the score will eventually be 100%! I would reason inductively and actually predict an eventual 100% score!

"Induction is so sensitive to background information that we'd need to be very careful. We'd need to know what's been done so far and what are the trends. Without knowing a great deal more about it your prediction is a big inductive leap."

"It strikes me as unlikely that all 2,900 will be confirmed. In my opinion most of the persons would be identified early and then successes would peter out.  We'd want to know more about each particular case. I'd be very skeptical."

In ancient times there were no atlases and even maps were rudimentary and inaccurate.

Letter to the Editor

(Investigator 61, 1998)

BIBLE CITIES

…skeptics face the possibility that more and more will be confirmed. … I would reason inductively and actually predict an eventual 100% score! (p. 20)

Recently two more came to my attention.

Abel-meholah was the hometown of Elisha the prophet:

Abel-meholah has now been identified with much confidence with Tell Abu Sus on the bank of the Jordan, 15 km, south of Beth-shean.
(The Land of the Bible 1979 Y Aharoni  p. 313)

From being excluded Abel-meholah should now be in the tentative list.

The magazine Archaeology (1998 January/February) says:

 Ekron Identity Confirmed. (pp. 30-31)

Ekron should now switch from my tentative list to the “confirmed” list.

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