BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
Anonymous
(Investigator 219, 2024 November)
INTRODUCTION
My method to investigate the Bible is: "Test what is testable by consulting scientific texts and discoveries."
In archaeology, for example, the Bible has been progressively confirmed
in point after point for about two centuries. New discoveries are
adding to this two-century trend even now in the 2020s:
Patriarchal Currency
A study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science concluded
that silver pieces were used as currency in the biblical world in the
first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Previously it was believed that
silver currency came into use in the Iron Age about 1200–586 BCE.
The new research indicates that the use of silver for commerce came at
least 500 years earlier, close to the time of Abraham who, according to
Genesis, purchased real-estate to use as a burial plot and paid with
silver:
“Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in
the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according
to the weights current among the merchants.” (Genesis 23:16)
Scarlet Worm
A valuable ancient red dye known in the Bible as “scarlet worm,” has
been identified from a 3800-year-old, one-square-inch, textile found in
2016 in a cave west of the Dead Sea. In the Bible "worm" is an overall
term for various insects and scarlet worm is mentioned 25 times.
The dye was used to color costly or holy fabrics including the
religious garments of Aaron (brother of Moses) and the other priests
and the curtains in the tabernacle (Israel's tent of worship).
(Exodus 39:1)
“You shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen
and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with
cherubim skillfully worked into them… You shall make a screen for the
entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns… embroidered
with needlework.” ( Exodus 26:1, 36; 28:6, 33; 39:1)
In Isaiah 1:18 the eye-catching brilliance of scarlet worm represents
the conspicuous levels of evil that God is prepared to forgive. It may
also have been the dye that colored the robe Jesus wore before his
crucifixion. (Matthew 27:27-29)
Israeli Garrisons in Edom
In late 2023 the Israel Antiquities Authority hosted archaeologist Dr.
Tali Erickson-Gini who presented evidence online for the existence of
David-era (about 1000 BCE) outposts in the land of Edom (south of the
Dead Sea).
Her evidence supports II Samuel 8:14 which says: "He put garrisons in
Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became
David's servants." (II Samuel 8:14)
Outposts (or forts) mentioned by Erickson-Gini included Ein Hatzeva and Har Eldad where remains were dated to about 1000 BCE.
Gezer Stratum 8 — 10th Century BCE or 9th Century?
From the 1950s archaeologists associated Gezer Stratum 8, which
included a six-chambered gate, with Solomon in the 10th century BCE:
This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted
to build the house of the LORD and his own house, the Millo and the
wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer ... so Solomon rebuilt Gezer."
(I Kings 9:15-17)
In the 1990s came the "minimalists" — archaeologists and their
supporters who argued that little or nothing reported in the Bible
prior to the Babylonian exile occurred. Finkelstein and Silberman in
their book The Bible Unearthed write: "archaeology has provided enough
evidence to support a new contention that the historical core of the
Pentateuch and the Deuteronomistic History was substantially shaped in
the seventh century BCE."
Faust (2023) writes:
"Until about 25 years ago, the history of ancient Israel was largely
based on a critical reading of the biblical narrative. Although parts
of the narrative were agreed to be non-historical, and some were
disputed, the major components of the story – from the tribal social
organization of the period of the Judges onward – were seen as mostly
historical. The minimalists challenge of the 1990s and the subsequent
debates had a major impact on the discipline, and altered the
discourse, leading to the separation of the literary, biblical Israel,
from the historical Israel. At the heart of this development is the
relationship between the biblical text and archaeological record, and
in particular, the degree of historicity contained in the former and
the way in which the latter mirrors specific sociocultural realities."
In the 1990s the revisionist "low chronology" minimalist
archaeologists, who regarded Solomon's empire-sized kingdom as myth,
dated Gezer Stratum 8 to about a century after Solomon, which
eliminated the evidence for Solomon's reign.
But the debate goes on. New radio-carbon dates published in 2023
came up again with the 10th century BCE, that is Solomon's
lifetime, for Stratum 8!
Temple Mount Moat
The Staff of the Times of Israel reported in July 2024:
Archaeologists have solved a 150-year-old mystery in the City of David,
discovering a massive moat that was used to fortify and protect the
Temple Mount and the king’s palace in biblical-era Jerusalem ... a moat
that split the City of David in half, separating the palace and Temple
Mount from ... southern residential part of the city...
The moat was 30 meters wide and nine deep and is understood to be the
"Millo" mentioned in I Kings 11:27: "Solomon built the Millo, and
closed up the gap in the wall of the city of his father David."
Assyrian Camps Found
In the journal Near Eastern Archaeology Stephen Compton describes how
he located ancient Assyrian military camps, archaeologically confirming
a gigantic military invasion that climaxed at Jerusalem. (II Kings 19;
II Chronicles 32:21; Isaiah 37)
At its height Assyria was the world's strongest military power. It
dominated the near east from Persia to Sudan and gained notoriety for
brutality sometimes torturing and mutilating enemies in thousands.
In 701 BC King Sennacherib invaded Judah, captured its fortified cities
(Isaiah 36:1) and surrounded Jerusalem. An Assyrian herald declared to
the Jews the hopelessness of their situation:
"Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered its land out of the
hand of the king of Assyria... Who among all the gods of the countries
have delivered their countries out of my hand, that the LORD should
deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?" (II Kings 18)
Something mysterious then happened, speculated about by historians, reported in the Bible as follows:
"And ... the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000
in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next
morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria
broke camp and withdrew " (Kings 19:35)
Sennacherib’s southwest palace at Nineveh (Iraq) was discovered by
Austen Henry Layard in 1847. The palace contained 3km of stone
corridors with panels and carvings on the walls including a detailed
war scene of Sennacherib’s conquest of Lachish, the last city captured
with Jerusalem next.
Compton found that the carvings show military camps as large circles.
He matched aerial photographs of Lachish taken in 1910 to battle scenes
depicted on the palace walls of Nineveh to locate Assyrian military
camps.
Isaiah 10:28-32 lists the camps and cities along Sennacherib's invasion
route to Jerusalem including the lost town of Nob which with Compton's
method could potentially, therefore, be discovered.
Discussion
In Investigator #47 and #50 I tried to determine the number of places
and people named in the Old Testament that are archaeologically
confirmed.
My provisional counts came to:
• 897 geographical locations are named; 311 are archaeologically confirmed, 228 tentatively confirmed;
• 2889 people are named, 50 have historical support.
In Investigator #61 the corroborated people increased to 62. And today
in the 2020s the archaeological corroboration of biblical geography,
people and history still continues.
One genuine biblical archaeologist whose career and discoveries are noteworthy is Eilat Mazar — see references.
Due to the trend of ever more getting confirmed the "minimalist"
archaeologists, like many other Bible critics, may eventually (in
layman's speech) "bite the dust".
Awe-inspiring Bible-validating trends are occurring also in other
scientific disciplines such as biology, astronomy, psychology, etc.
These results and trends are the nearest we can get to scientifically
"proving the Bible".
References:
Armstrong Institute Staff
https://armstronginstitute.org/980-top-10-biblical-archaeology-discoveries-of-2023
Assyrian camps
Compton, S.C. June 4, 2024
https://popular-archaeology.com/article/first-ever-discovery-of-ancient-assyrian-military-camps-includes-biblical-site/
Investigator Magazine
The God Of The Prophets Versus The Assyrian Empire, # 71
Jerusalem Post Staff
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/lost-assyrian-camp-uncovered-could-it-prove-the-biblical-siege-of-jerusalem/
Edom Outposts
Erickson-Gini, T. King David-Era Outpost Discovered in Southern Israel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkA-G_Dk5aA
Faust, A. 2023 Between the Biblical Story and History: Writing an
Archaeological History of Ancient Israel. In Keimer, K.H. and Pierce,
G.A. (editors), The Ancient Israelite World, Routledge, pp. 67-82.
History of Jews in Israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_and_Judaism_in_the_land_of_Israel#
Israel Antiquities Authority website
https://www.iaa.org.il/en/
Jerusalem moat
https://biblicalarchaeologicalreport.com/2024/07/31/top-three-reports-in-biblical-archaeology-july-2024/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-find-fortifying-moat-in-city-of-david-solving-150-year-mystery/
Mazar, E.
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/the-discovery-of-king-solomons-wall-a-personal-account/
https://armstronginstitute.org/53-discoveries-of-eilat-mazar-the-ophel
Scarlet worm dye
https://www.jns.org/3800-year-old-biblical-scarlet-textile-found-in-judea/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/31192421/fabric-scarlet-worm-bible-israel-cave-skulls/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/tiny-3000-year-old-textile-found-in-israel-was-dyed-with-biblical-scarlet-worm/
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