BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

'Biblical archaeology' involves the recovery and scientific investigation of the material remains of past cultures that can illuminate the periods and descriptions in the Bible. As with the historical records from any other civilization, the manuscripts must be compared to other accounts from contemporary societies in Europe, Mesopotamia, and Africa; additionally, records from neighbors must be compared with them. The scientific techniques employed are those of archaeology in general including excavations as well as chance discoveries.
Biblical archaeology has turned up more evidence about Judaism and Christianity than any other middle-eastern religion.

Definition

"The purpose of Biblical archaeology is the clarification and illumination of the Biblical text and content through archaeological investigation of the Biblical world," wrote J.K. Eakins in an essay (1977) in ''Benchmarks in Time and Culture'' [1].
Bryant G. Wood wrote, "The purpose of Biblical archaeology is to enhance our comprehension of the Bible, and so its greatest achievement, in my view, has been the extraordinary illumination of the... time of the Israelite monarchy" (in ''Biblical Archaeology Review'', May-June, 1995, p. 33).
In a statement of a more nuanced opinion of Biblical archaeology, Robert I.Bradshaw notes, "It is virtually universally agreed that the purpose of biblical archaeology is not to 'prove' the Bible, however ...in as much as archaeology sheds light on that history it is important to biblical studies". [2]
The American archaeologist William Dever contributed to the article "Archaeology" in ''The Anchor Bible Dictionary'' (see Anchor Bible Series). There he assessed several negative effects of the close relationship that has existed between Syro-Palestinian archaeology and the Biblical archaeology of the Holy Land, which have especially caused American archaeologists in this field to lag behind the new "processual archaeology" in the region, generally considered: "Underlying much of the skepticism in our own field [about the adaptation of the concepts and methods of the "new archaeology"], one suspects, was the assumption (albeit unspoken, or even unconscious) that ancient Palestine, especially Israel in the biblical period, was unique—somehow 'superhistorical' not governed by the normal principles of cultural evolution," and he claims "...the 'new archaeology' of the 1970s-1980s became passé before we had even caught up with it" ^[1](p 357).
Dever finds that Syro-Palestinian archaeology in American institutions has been treated as a subdiscipline of Biblical studies. American archaeologists in this region were expected to try "to provide historical validation for episodes in the biblical tradition." According to Dever, "[t]he most naïve [misconception about Syro-Palestinian archaeology] is that the rationale and purpose of "biblical archaeology" (and, by extrapolation, Syro-Palestinian archaeology) is simply to elucidate the Bible, or the lands of the Bible" ^[1](p 358)
Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology, William G. Dever writes:

Until about a generation ago Biblical achaeologists spoke confidently about William Foxwell Albright's "archaeological revolution". It would assuredly enhance our understanding and appreciation of the Bible and its timeless message-which was thought to be absolutely essential to our cherished Western culture condition.
The Bible and the "Christian West," as formerly conceived, are fighting for their lives. Not only has modern archaeology not helped to confirm the earlier tradition, it appears to some to be part of the process to undermine it. This is a not-so-well kept secret among professional archaeologists.

The failure of the "archaeological revolution" means tryng to occupy the beleaguered middle ground, neither extreme skeptics or naive credulists. The clock cannot be turned back to the time when archaeology allegedly "proved the Bible." Archaeology as it is practiced today must be able to challenge, as well as confirm, the Bible stories. Some things described there really did happen, but others did not.
The Biblical narratives about Abraham, Moses, Joshua and Solomon probably reflect some historical memories of people and places, but the "larger than life" portraits of the Bible are unrealistic and contradicted by the archaeological evidence. Some of Israel's ancestors probably did come out of Egyptian slavery, but there was no military conquest of Canaan, and many, if not most, of the Israelites throughout the Monarchy were polytheists. Monotheism may have been an ideal of Bible writers.
Archaeology cannot not decide what the supposed events described in the Bible mean. That decision is left up to each individual. Archaeology cannot decide this question; it can only sharpen our focus.^[3](Dever, 2006)

Milestones prior to 1914

Biblical Archaeology began after publication by Edward Robinson (American professor of Biblical literature; 1794-1863) of his travels through Palestine during the first half of the 19th century (a time when the oldest complete Hebrew scripture only dated to the Middle Ages), which highlighted similarities between modern Arabic place-names and Biblical city names.
The Palestine Exploration Fund sponsored detailed surveys led by Charles Warren during the late 1860s (initially financed by Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts in 1864 to improve Jerusalem's sanitary conditions), which culminated with the formal publication of "The Survey of Western Palestine" from 1871-1877.
The highlight of this period was Warren's work around the Temple Mount of Jerusalem, where he discovered the foundation stones of Herod's Temple, the first Israelite inscriptions on several jar handles with LMLK seals, and water shafts under the City of David.

★ 1890 Sir W.M.F. Petrie noticed strata exposed by waterflow adjacent to Tell el-Hesi (originally believed to be Biblical Lachish, now probably Eglon) and popularized details of pottery groups excavated therefrom. F.J. Bliss continued digging there in 1891-2.
Subsequent highlights of major sites mentioned in the Bible where excavations spanned more than one season:

★ 1898-1900 Frederick J. Bliss and R.A.S. Macalister excavated 4 major sites in the Shephelah region of Israel:

★
★ Tell es-Safi (probably Biblical Gath)

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★ Tell Zakariya (probably Biblical Azekah)

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★ Tell ej-Judeideh (possibly Biblical Moresheth-Gath or Libnah)

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★ Tell Sandahannah (probably Biblical Mareshah)

★ 1902-3, 1907-9 R.A.S. Macalister excavated Gezer, where the oldest Hebrew inscription (Gezer Calendar) was found on the surface

★ 1902-4 Ernest Sellin excavated Taanach

★ 1903-5 Gottlieb Schumacher excavated Megiddo

★ 1905-7 Herman Kohl, Ernest Sellin, and Carl Watzinger surveyed ancient synagogues in Galilee

★ 1907-9 Ernest Sellin and Carl Watzinger excavated Shechem

★ 1908, 1910-1 David G. Lyon, Clarence S. Fisher, and George A. Reisner excavated Samaria

★ 1911-3 Duncan Mackenzie excavated Beth Shemesh

Milestones during 1914 - 1945

Following World War I, during the British Mandate of Palestine, antiquities laws were established for Palestinian territory along with a Department of Antiquities (later to become the modern Israel Antiquities Authority) and the Palestine Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem (now named the Rockefeller Museum).
John Garstang was instrumental in these accomplishments. W.F. Albright dominated the scholarship of this period and had long-lasting influence on Biblical historians based on his analysis of Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery.

★ 1921-3, 1925-8, 1930-3 Clarence S. Fisher, Alan Rowe, and Gerald M. Fitzgerald excavated Beth Shean

★ 1922-3 William F. Albright excavated Tell el-Ful (probably Biblical Gibeah)

★ 1925-39 Clarence S. Fisher, P.L.O. Guy, and Gordon Loud excavated Megiddo

★ 1926, 1928, 1930, 1932 William F. Albright excavated Tell Beit Mirsim (possibly Biblical Eglon or Debir--Kirjath Sepher)

★ 1926-7, 1929, 1932, 1935 William F. Bade excavated Mizpah

★ 1928-33 Elihu Grant excavated Beth Shemesh

★ 1930-6 John Garstang excavated Jericho

★ 1931-3, 1935 John W. Crowfoot excavated Samaria

★ 1932-38 James L. Starkey excavated Lachish (the excavation terminated when he was killed by bandits near Hebron while on his way to the opening ceremonies of the Palestine Archaeological Museum)

★ 1936-40 Benjamin Mazar excavated Beth She'arim

Milestones during 1945 - 1967

In 1945 the Nag Hammadi library -- a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts (also known as the "Gnostic Gospels") -- was discovered near the town of Nag Hammadi. Twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local peasant. Some of these documents, such as the Gospel of Thomas, were specifically rejected by Eusebius and others in the early Catholic Church from inclusion in the New Testament.
The Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient copies of the Hebrew Bible manuscripts do not qualify as artifacts representing something mentioned in the Bible, although they are an important testimony to the antiquity of the texts, and the reliable manner in which they were preserved through the centuries.
The first seven scrolls had initially appeared on the antiquities market, but when their enormous importance was recognized, archaeologists eventually found their source in a series of caves above the Dead Sea, and subsequent searches located thousands of similar fragments.
Following the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 and the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948, Biblical Archaeology gained new momentum. The science of archaeology had been digested and refined by new excavators who conducted numerous surveys of smaller sites during the second half of the 20th century, and re-excavations at major sites using modernized techniques.

★ 1948-50, 1952-5 Jacob Kaplan excavated Jaffa

★ 1954, 1959-62 Yohanan Aharoni excavated Ramat Rahel

★ 1955-8, 1968 Yigael Yadin excavated Hazor

★ 1956-7, 1959-60, 1962 James B. Pritchard excavated Gibeon

★ 1961-7 Kathleen Kenyon excavated Jerusalem (City of David)

★ 1962-7 Yohanan Aharoni and Ruth Amiran excavated Arad

★ 1962-3, 1965-72 Moshe Dothan excavated Ashdod

★ 1963-5 Yigael Yadin excavated Masada

★ 1964-74 G. Ernest Wright, William G. Dever, and Joe Seger excavated Gezer

★
★ This was the first Palestinian excavation to operate as a school by granting academic/college credit.

Milestones after 1967

Following the capture of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount during the Six-day War, archeologists conducted more extensive excavations within the city limits of modern Jerusalem.
One highlight in particular came from Ketef Hinnom just southwest of the Old City: two small silver scrolls uniquely preserve Biblical texts older than the Dead Sea Scrolls. Both of these amulets contain the Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers; one also contains a quote found in parallel verses of Exodus (20:6) and Deuteronomy (5:10 and 7:9). The same verses appear again even later in Daniel (9:4) and Nehemiah (1:5).

★ 1968-78 Benjamin Mazar excavated Jerusalem (southwest corner of the Temple Mount)

★ 1969-76 Yohanan Aharoni and Ze'ev Herzog excavated Beersheba

★ 1969-82 Nahman Avigad excavated Jerusalem (Jewish Quarter)

★ 1973-94 David Ussishkin excavated Lachish

★ 1975-82 Avraham Biran excavated Aroer

★ 1977-9, 1981-9 Amihai Mazar and George L. Kelm excavated Timnah

★ 1978-85 Yigal Shiloh excavated Jerusalem (City of David)

★ 1979-80 Gabriel Barkay excavated Ketef Hinnom

★ 1979, 1981-2, 1984-7, 1990-1, 1993-2000 David Livingston excavated Khirbet Nisya

★ 1981-2, 1984-8, 1990, 1992-6 Trude Dothan and Seymour Gitin excavated Ekron

★ 1989-96 Amihai Mazar excavated Tel Beit-Shean

★ 1996-2002, 2004-2005 Aren Maeir excavated Tell es-Safi (probably Biblical Gath)

★ 1997- Amihai Mazar excavated Tel Rehov

★ 1999-2001, 2005 Ron Tappy excavated Tel Zayit (Zeitah)

★ 2005 Oded Lipschits excavated Ramat Rahel

★ 2005 Amir Gorzalczany and Gerald Finkielsztejn excavated Nahal Tut

Confirmed Biblical structures

★ Gibeon pool (at el-Jib)

★ Hezekiah's tunnel under Jerusalem

★ Jericho's walls. John Garstang's excavation in the 1930s dated Jericho's destruction to around 1400 BC which accords with a 15th century Exodus as proposed by modern Christian Bible scholars, but Kathleen Kenyon's excavation in the 1950s redated it to around 1550 BC, a date that most archeologists support and which accords instead with a dating of the Exodus to the time of the Hyksos expulsion - the view of Josephus and the early Church fathers. In 1990 Bryant Wood critiqued Kenyon's work after her field notes became fully available. Observing ambiguities and relying on the only available carbon dating of the burn layer, which yielded a date of 1410 BC plus or minus 40 years, Wood dated the destruction to this time, confirming Garstang. Unfortunately, this carbon date was itself the result of faulty calibration. In 1995, Hendrik J. Bruins and Johannes van der Plicht used high-precision radiocarbon dating for eighteen samples from Jericho, including six samples of charred cereal grains from the burn layer, and overall dated the destruction to an average 1562 BC plus or minus 38 years.(Radiocarbon Vol. 37, Number 2, 1995.). [3] [4]

★ Lachish siege ramp of Sennacherib

★ Pool of Siloam (unearthed in 2004)

★ Second Temple pre-Herodian Walls. The outline of the walls of the square platform that predates the Herodian expansion and, therefore, dates either form the reconstruciton in the Perisian period under Ezra and Nehemiah or is a survival of the pre-exilic first Temple have been located on the surface of the present platform. The northwestern corner was visible (until it was concealed recently by the waqf) as the lowest step in a flight of stairs that parallets the eastern wall of the Mount, the north eastern corner as a protruding stone, the south eastern corner as a slight alteration in the angel of the eastern wall where the older platform joins the Herodian expansion. The courses of stone that form the center of the eastern wall are also pre-Herodian, and match the stone masonry of the north west corner of the original platform, now a concealed bottom step. (Leen and Kathleen Ritmeyer, Secrets of Jerusalem's Temple Mount,Biblical Archaeology Society, Washington D.C., 2006)

★ Second Temple (confirmed by Western/Wailing wall constructed by Herod the Great)

★ Shechem temple (spanning the late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age) corresponding to the "House of (the god) Baalberith" in Judges 9

★ 19 tumuli located west of Jerusalem, undoubtedly dating to the Judean monarchy, but possibly representing sites of memorial ceremonies for the kings as mentioned in 2 Chronicles 16:14, 21:19, 32:33, and the book of Jeremiah 34:5

★ Gezer Walls and City Gate. Verification of the site comes from Hebrew inscriptions found engraved on rocks, several hundred meters from the tel. These inscriptions from the 1st century BCE read "boundary of Gezer."

Artifacts from documented excavations

★ Arad ostraca (#18 mentions the Temple in Jerusalem)

★ Azariah bulla (seal impression) found in 1978 during Yigal Shiloh’s excavation of old Jerusalem. The inscription consists of two lines of writing separated by two parallel lines. It reads “Belonging to Azaryahu, son of Hilkiyahu.” The impression does not mention the title of the owner. Yigal Shiloh, “A Group of Hebrew Bullae From the City of David,” Israel Exploration Journal 36 (1986), pp. 16-38

★ Balaam texts (ink/paint on plaster found at Deir 'Alla in Jordan that parallels Numbers chapters 22-24)

★ Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, which depicts Jehu, son of Omri, and also mentions Hazael of Aram/Damascus/Syria (2 Kings 8-10)

★ Caiaphas (Qafa) family ossuaries (discovered in 1990 at the Jerusalem Peace Forest)

★ Ebla (Tell Mardikh) cuneiform archives. These include a king of Ebla named Ebrum, who some identify as the Biblical patriarch Eber (or Heber), after whom the Hebrews were named. Also reported are references to people with Semitic names and gods similar to those in the Bible. They are also rumored to contain references to the same five cities mentioned in the book of Genesis: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela/Zoar in the same order as in Genesis 14. The government of Syria continues to withhold complete publication of the texts, and this story remains a rumor. Quoting Paolo Matthiae:

The tablets cover a thousand years before Abraham, and a thousand years, even in the fourth millennium before Christ, was a very, very long time. They tell us much, but what they don't tell us - what they can't tell us - is whether the Bible is true or not. They have nothing to do with the Bible, at least not directly, and what we have here is not a biblical expedition. If we have tablets with legends similar to those of the Bible it means only that such legends existed round here long before the Bible." ( C. Bermant and M. Weitzman, Ebla: A Revelation In Archaeology, Op. Cit., p. 2.)

★ Ekron inscription (discovered in 1993 at Tel Miqne)

★ Gath ostracon

★
★ Found by A. Maeir while excavating Tell es-Safi in 2005

★
★ Incised with nine letters representing two names (אלות ולת) etymologically related to Goliath (גלית)

★ ''GBON'' (גבען) jar handles recovered from the Gibeon pool

★
★ Some inscribed "Hananiah" may have been associated with the person mentioned in Jeremiah 28:1

★
★ Other incised names on Gibeon jar handles: Amariah, Azariah, Domla, Geder, Hananiah, Neri, Shebuel

★ ''Gemariah the son of Shaphan'' seal impression stamped on bulla

★
★ Found during Yigal Shiloh's excavations of Jerusalem in 1983, it probably belonged to the person recorded in Jeremiah 36:10

★ Herod's tomb at Herodium

★ "House of David" inscription on Tel Dan Stele

★
★ It consists of three fragments: the first and largest was discovered in 1993, and two smaller fragments were discovered in 1994.)

★ Izbet Sartah ostracon; 2 fragments excavated in 1976

★
★ 5 incised lines of 80-83 letters (readings of epigraphers vary), the last line being an abecedary

★
★ Found in the silo of an unfortified village (possibly Biblical Ebenezer 2 miles east of Philistine Aphek) occupied from 1200-1000 BC

★
★ See Chapter 3 of ''In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language'' (Hoffman 2004) for the linguistic importance of the Hebrew.

★
★ See plates in ''The Text of the Old Testament'' (Wurthwein 1995) for a facsimile of the ostracon

★ ''Jaazaniah, servant of the king'' (ליאזניהו עבד המלך) striated agate seal with ''fighting cock'' icon

★
★ Found in Tomb 19 at Tell en-Nasbeh (probably Biblical Mizpah)

★
★ Possibly belonged to an army captain at Mizpah mentioned in 2 Kings 25:23

★ ''Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Shobi'' (יהוכל בן שלמיהו בן שבי) seal impression stamped on bulla

★
★ Found during Eilat Mazar's excavations of an alleged palace of King David in 2005, it probably belonged to the person recorded in Jeremiah 37:3 and 38:1 (photo published in the August 6, 2005 edition of the Taipei Times)

★ Lachish ostraca

★
★ Most of these terse texts, discovered in the 1930s, depict conditions during the end of the 7th century BC shortly before the Chaldean conquest.

★
★ Letter #3 mentions a warning from ''the prophet''.

★
★ Letter #4 names Lachish and Azekah as among the last places being conquered as recorded in Jeremiah 34:7.

★
★ Letter #6 describes a conspiracy reminiscent of Jeremiah 38:19 and 39:9 using phraseology nearly identical to 38:4.

★ Lachish reliefs from Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh (depicting his conquest of it)

★ Nabonidus cylinder

★
★ A cuneiform inscription found at the Temple of Shamash in Sippara that names Belshazzar as the son of the last king of Babylon

★
★ Daniel chapters 5, 7, and 8 name Belshazzar as a king, but that was probably due to Aramaic convention (e.g., the bilingual inscription on the statue of Haddayishi from Gozan calls him a "governor" in the Akkadian language but "king" in Aramaic); also note that Belshazzar offers third place in his kingdom as a prize rather than second

★ Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet from Sippar that names an official of Nebuchadrezzar II from Jeremiah 39:3

★ Pim weights

★
★ First specimen found by R.A.S. Macalister at Gezer; many others found since

★
★ Inscribed with a previously unknown word that facilitated a better translation of 1Samuel 13:21

★ Pontius Pilate inscription found in secondary use in a stairway of the Roman theater in Caesarea

★
★ "The prefect of Judaea, Pontius Pilate, erected the Tiberium (in honor of Tiberius Caesar)"

★
★ Actual text of 3-line inscription (eroded portion in brackets is speculative but undisputed):
: TIBERIEUM
: [PON]TIUS PILATUS
: [PRAEF]ECTUS IUDA[EA]E

★ Sargon II's Conquest of Samaria inscription (ANET 284) found by P.E. Botta at Khorsabad in 1843: "I besieged and conquered Samaria, led away as booty 27,290 inhabitants of it. ... The town I rebuilt better than it was before and settled therein people from countries which I myself had conquered." (2 Kings 17:23-24)

★ [Son of] Immer (ליהו [בן] אמר[?]) seal impression stamped on bulla

★
★ Found September 27, 2005, while sifting debris discarded from the Temple Mount of Jerusalem in 1999

★
★ May be related to a priest serving in Solomon's Temple per Jeremiah 20:1

★ Tiglath-Pileser III's inscriptions found by A.H. Layard at Nimrud:

★
★ ANET 282: "I received the tribute of ... Jehoahaz of Judah" (incident not mentioned in the Bible)

★
★ ANET 283: "As for Menahem I overwhelmed him ... I placed Hoshea as king over them." (alternate perspective in 2 Kings 15:19 and 17:3)

★ Zayit Stone

★
★ Limestone boulder incised with a Paleo-Hebrew abecedary and remnants of several other inscriptions found at Zeitah (Tel Zayit) ''in-situ'' in a stratum dated to the 10th century BC

Artifacts not from excavations, but with undisputed provenance

Items in this list mostly come from 19th-century surveys, and undocumented collections whose provenance is not relevant due to the genuine nature of their content. In other words, they were discovered at a time when knowledge was so limited that they could not have been faked.

★ Elephantine papyri

★
★ Date to the Persian period, from an archive of Jews living in Egypt.

★
★ One was written by someone in Jerusalem named Hananiah, who may have been the person mentioned in Nehemiah 7:2

★ Hanan's signet ring. Owned by a Paris collector, this valuable ring has been known to the scholarly world since 1984. The seal’s origin is unknown, but the shape of the letters indicate that it was used during the seventh century B.C. The seal is inscribed in three lines, each line separated by two parallel straight lines. The band is almost 1/10 of an inch in diameter, suggesting that it was designed for a man’s finger. The inscription reads: “Belonging to Hanan, son of Hilqiyahu, the priest.”
This Hilqiyahu is better known to us as Hilkiah, the high priest during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah in the last part of the seventh century B.C. The ending yahu is a theophoric (divine) element often found in ancient Hebrew names in Judah; the names in the Northern Kingdom carried yah as an ending. It seems that this Hilqiyahu was the same high priest who discovered the scroll of Torah in the temple that triggered religious reform in Judah (see 2 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 34).
1 Chronicles 6:13 and 9:11 indicate that Azariah, not Hanan, succeeded Hilkiah. The explanation could be that Azariah succeeded his father as high priest, while his younger brother Hanan functioned as a priest, just as the inscription on the seal suggests.

★ Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III found by J.E. Taylor (British Consul at Diyarbekir) in 1861, which mentions "2,000 chariots, 10,000 foot soldiers of Ahab the Israelite" (incident not mentioned in the Bible)

★ Nazareth Inscription

★
★ Marble tablet with "Edict of Caesar" proscribing capital punishment for tomb-breakers, datable to the first century A.D., and allegedly acquired by the Frohner Collection in 1878 from Nazareth.

★ Merneptah stela

★
★ Contains the earliest known reference by Egyptians to Israelites in the land of Canaan.

★ Mesha stele

★
★ A Moabite inscription discovered at Dhiban, Jordan, in 1868 that mentions an Israelite king, Omri. It also records ''vessels of YHWH'' as tribute.

★ Siloam inscription

★
★ Originally situated near the center of the Hezekiah tunnel, where two teams of excavators tunneling toward one another met.

★
★ Robinson documented the tunnel in 1838, but the inscription was not discovered until 1880. It was removed from Jerusalem the same year, and is presently in the Archaeological Museum at Istanbul.

Artifacts with unknown, disputed, or disproved provenance

Items in this list mostly come from private collections via the antiquities market, but also from chance finds prior to the establishment of antiquities laws. Their authenticity is highly controversial and in some cases has been demonstrated to be fraudulent.

★ Ark of the Covenant

★
★ The Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Axum, Ethiopia claims to possess it; local tradition maintains that it was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I following a visit to his father King Solomon.

★ Artifacts originating from the antiquities dealer, Oded Golan. In December 2004 he was indicted by the Israeli police, together with several accomplices, for forging the following artifacts:

★
★ The James Ossuary inscribed ''James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus'' suspected of being forged on a genuine ancient ossuary.

★
★ The Joash tablet (Jehoash inscription) recording repairs to the Temple in Jerusalem suspected of being forged on a genuine ancient stone panel.

★
★ Various ostraca mentioning the Temple or place names from the Bible.

★
★ A seven-nozzle stone lamp, bearing decorations of a Temple menorah and the seven species

★
★ A stone seal with gold rim, attributed to King Manasseh of Judah.

★
★ A quartz bowl bearing an inscription in ancient Egyptian, indicating that the Minister of the Army of King Shishek conquered the ancient city of Meggido.

★
★ An ivory pomegranate inscribed ''Property of the priests of the temple…'' forged on a genuine ancient piece of ivory.

★
★ A pottery jug bearing an inscription claiming that it was given as a contribution to the Temple.

★
★ Numerous bullae including ones which mention Biblical figures including King Hezekiah of Judah, the scribe Baruch and the prophet Isaiah.

★ Shroud of Turin

★
★ Critics claim it contains a painted image of Jesus forged in the Middle Ages; others maintain the image was formed by some energetic process that darkened the fibers (such as a flash of light the instant the resurrection occurred). Radiocarbon dating seemed to limit its origin to the Middle Ages, but some analysts suggest the tests were erroneously performed using samples taken from patches sewn onto the ancient cloth during the Middle Ages, or contaminated from fires it was exposed to. Other analysts suggest that the dating results are skewed by limestone residue which is present on the shroud.

★ Stone of Scone, also known as Jacob's Pillar

★
★ For centuries, this rock has been an integral compenent of coronation ceremonies for kings in the British isles. It is believed to be the rock upon which Jacob (later renamed Israel) received a vision, and a crack in it may have resulted from Moses striking it to bring forth water. None of this can be proven, and attempts to link it to Palestine via Jeremiah lack foundation.

★ Veil of Veronica

★
★ A cloth with an image of a bearded man on it. The faithful believe the cloth was used by Veronica to wipe sweat from the face of Jesus along the Via Dolorosa on the way to Calvary. Critics say it appears to be a man-made image.

Footnotes

1. The Anchor Bible Dictionary, , William G., Dever, , ,
2. The Anchor Bible Dictionary, , William G., Dever, , ,
3. The Western Cultural Tradition Is at Risk, , William G., Dever, Biblical Archaeology Review, 2006

External links

★ Resources > Archaeology Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

★ Robert I Bradshaw, "Archaeology & the Patriarchs": introductory survey with a full bibliography of accessible material in English

★ Biblical Archaeology Resources - A large collection of resources related to Biblical Archeology.

★ The Biblical Archaeology Society

★ CenturyOne Foundation

★ Archaeology and the Bible - Christian Answers

★ Introduction to Biblical Archaeology

★ The Palestine Exploration Fund

★ All About Archaeology: Bible Archaeology: "Our mission is to lead people to Jesus..."

★ D.W. Wellington and N. King, University of Texas, "Archaeology of the Bible"

★ Digmaster Archaeology Database: An online database of artifacts

★ Know Why You Believe - Does Archaeology help?

★ DVD: ''The Bible vs. The Book of Mormon'' (A comparison of biblical and Book of Mormon archaeology)

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BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

Definition

Milestones prior to 1914

Milestones during 1914 - 1945

Milestones during 1945 - 1967

Milestones after 1967

Confirmed Biblical structures

Artifacts from documented excavations

Artifacts not from excavations, but with undisputed provenance

Artifacts with unknown, disputed, or disproved provenance

Footnotes

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