The Reliability of the Bible II Biblical Archaeology Seidel Abel Boanerges I. Introduction to Biblical Archaeology The term archaeology comes from two Greek words archaios and logos meaning the study of ancient things. Archaeology is a field of anthropology and history that draws upon an investigation of current material human remains in order to understand past customs, cultures and civilisations. Remains could include coins, jewellery, bones, graves, buildings, literature, weapons, inscriptions etc. Biblical Archaeology is a field within Archaeology whose primary goal is the excavation of areas associated with Bible and its societies, cultures and surrounding lands. Today, nearly 100 biblical figures, dozens of biblical cities, over 60 historical details in the Gospel of John, 80 historical details in the Book of Acts have been confirmed as historical through archaeological and historical research. For an apologist, biblical archaeology has been a fantastic tool defending the message of the Christian faith. Biblical archaeology is an art and a science. Though it has scientific principles by which excavate, but the findings or evaluations are drawn upon human interpretations which usually improves with experience and knowledge. Biblical archaeology has its limitations. Although it deals with artefacts, features, measurements and tangible data, it also involves many interpretive judgments and probabilities. II. Archaeology of the Old Testament Archaeology of the Old Testament offers us many benefits such as the ability to clarify and illuminate past events, understand customs and cultures, and historically confirm people and places mentioned in the scriptures. There are greater number of artefacts that correspond to the Old Testament than the New Testament. This is because the Old Testament has a longer history and offers more data in terms of the number of places to process and evaluate. Here are some of them. 1. The Epic of Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia that is often regarded as the earliest surviving great work of literature. In 1950s, 12 fragments were discovered in Megiddo which date back to 2600 B.C. Fragment XI contains the Mesopotamia flood story or also known as the Gilgamesh flood tradition. 1
As George Smith, a scholar of the British Museum was translating these fragments, he discovered a storyline of a great flood that resembled at many points to the biblical account of Noah s flood recorded in the Book of Genesis. It talks about a god (Ea) warns Utnapishtim (the Babylonian Noah) to build a ship with pitch inside and out and to bring animals and family aboard, all of humanity is killed in the flood and the boat rests on Mount Nisir in Kurdistan. Then the waters subside and dry land appears and the last of the three birds sent did not return. There are several other similar flood stories in various civilisations such as Chinese, Jewish, Greek, Sumerian and Indian. 2. The Tower of Babel We read the story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9. It states that the people of Shinar were building a huge tower and spoke one language, but their language was confused by God. Most scholars believed that this was a mythical account, but the discovery of the Mesopotamian documents of Ziggurats and their locations in 1922 and 1934 by Sir Leonard Woolley proved them wrong. The timing and multiple remains throughout the Mesopotamian region confirm there actually existed towers of the sort mentioned in Genesis 11. There were at least 30 ziggurat tower remains found throughout Mesopotamia, the oldest of which was located at Eridu dating to the late 5000 mid 4000 B.C. Ziggurats are built in an ascending stair-stepped pyramid structure like the Egyptian pyramids and included at the top a temple or shire for the god or gods. The building materials described in Genesis are consistent with those used to build the ziggurats. Genesis 11 talks about thoroughly burnt bricks instead of stone and bitumen for mortar. The confusion of languages is also reflected in the Mesopotamian literature. For example, the 4000 B.C Sumerian legend known as Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta appear to contain a unified language and the subsequent diversifying of language by the gods. 2
3. Evidence for the House of David The Tel Dan Stele The Tel Dan Stele is a broken stele discovered in 1993 94 by Avraham Biran during excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel. It consists of several fragments making up part of a triumphal inscription in Aramaic, left most probably by Hazael of Aram-Damascus, Syrian king in the late 9th century B.C. On this stele (inscribed stone), Hazael boasts of his victories over Omri, the king of Israel and his ally Jehu, the king of the House of David. It commemorates Hazael s campaign against Jehu (2 Kings 10:32-33) and it is possible that Dan was part of the territory that Jehu lost. The words House of David in this stele is the first extra biblical mention of the House of David. The presence of this dynastic title House of David on an inscription written by an enemy of Israel in the context of Israelite kings speaks volumes in support of the Davidic dynasty and its presence. The Mesha Stele In 1868, F.A Klein discovered a 9th century B.C monument called as Mesha Stele and bought it for $400. It is currently housed at the Louvre Museum in France. It was originally set up around 840 B.C. by King Mesha of Moab. Mesha tells how Chemosh, the god of Moab, had been angry with his people and had allowed them to be subjugated to Israel, but at length Chemosh returned and assisted Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and restore the lands of Moab (2 Kings 3:4). Another value of the stone is seen in the damaged portion of line 31 of the inscription. It reveals the House of David phrase which is again a remarkable extra biblical reference to the Davidic dynasty. 3
4. Siege of Lachish The Assyrian King, Sennacherib set out to subjugate Judah and on his way to Jerusalem he came across Lachish, the second most important among the Jewish cities in 701. B.C. The Jewish military force was insignificant compared to the professional and massive Assyrian army. The city was captured by the Assyrians, its inhabitants led into captivity and the leaders of Lachish tortured to death. The Lachish relief pictured here narrates the story of Sennacherib giving permission to slaughter the city of Lachish. 5. King Hezekiah 19 th and 20 th century research in Jerusalem and Nineveh confirms the historicity of the Judean king Hezekiah (726-697 B.C). The Assyrian King, Sennacherib after destroying Lachish set out to siege Jerusalem. Hezekiah s preparations for Assyrian Attack A 13 year excavation that began in 1969 in Jerusalem by Israeli archaeologist, Nahman Avigad led to an outer defensive wall built by Hezekiah. This wall is called as the Broad Wall. It is a massive defensive structure which is seven meters thick. The unbroken length of wall uncovered by Avigad's dig runs 65 metres long and is preserved in places to a height of 3.3 metres. In order to address the city s need for water, Hezekiah had to figure a way to route the water from Gihon Spring outside the city wall to the people within Jerusalem. It was one fantastic engineering where he stopped the water up the spring and dug a tunnel to reroute the flow of water to the Pool of Siloam (2 Kings 20:20). This tunnel called Siloam Tunnel or Hezekiah s Tunnel was discovered in 1838 by Edward Robinson. The Bible records that Hezekiah s efforts to fortify the walls and bring water to the people of Jerusalem were successful. Senacherib s siege of Jerusalem failed where 185,000 Assyrian troops were killed overnight by the angel of the Lord (2 Kings 19:35-37; Isaiah 37:36-38). 4
III. Archaeology of the New Testament The truth is that New Testament archaeology has significantly lagged behind in research compared to Old Testament archaeology because those early Christians left few remains and artefacts behind. They were not kings or rulers or pharaohs and most of them did not live in mansions or palaces. 1. Documentary References to Jesus Antiquities of the Jews: Flavius Josephus (A.D. 90-95), a Jewish historian was the spokesperson and translator for Emperor Titus. His work Antiquities of the Jews contains an account of history of the Jewish people. It contains several statements about Christ. Here is a quote, Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day. Antiquities, 18:3:3. Annals: Tacitus, Roman Historian (A.D. 115) records about Jesus. Nero fastened the guilt [of the burning of Rome] and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus. Annals, 15:44 The Death of Peregrine: Lucian, Greek Writer (2nd Century A.D) records about Jesus. The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property. The Death of Peregrine 11-13 5
2. The Megiddo Mosaic Inscription In 2005, prisoners at the security prison located in Megiddo accidently unearthed an ancient church floor mosaic whose Greek inscription mentions the God Jesus Christ. The phrase the God Jesus Christ has been overlined (instead of traditional underlining) for emphasis and confirms the notion that early Christians affirmed the deity of Christ. This mosaic floor with its inscription has been dated to 3 rd Century A.D. 3. The James Ossuary Ossuaries (lime stone box) were used in Israel from about the 2 nd century B.C until the fall of Jerusalem in A.D 70. The existence of the James ossuary was announced at an October 21, 2002 co-hosted by the Discovery Channel and the Biblical Archaeology Society. The owner of the ossuary is Oded Golan, an Israeli engineer and antiquities collector. The inscription is considered significant because, if genuine, it might provide archaeological evidence for Jesus Christ. This James Ossuary has an Aramaic inscription which reads Ya'akov bar-yosef akhui diyeshua ( James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus ). In 2003, The Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) determined that the inscriptions were forged at a much later date. The trial lasted seven years before Judge acquitted Golan of the forgery charges but convicted of illegal trading in antiquities. The judge said this acquittal does not mean that the inscription on the ossuary is authentic or that it was written 2,000 years ago. 4. Herod, Pilate and Caiaphas Herod: Most Christians are familiar with Herod who wanted to kill baby Jesus when he was born in Bethlehem. Today we have remains Herod s city also known as Herodium was a cone shaped man made fortress internal tunnels to access the inner city structures. The ruins of the Herodium are located in the cone atop Herod s fortress. 6
Pilate: Pontius Pilate is one of the most well known figures of ancient history under whose authority Jesus suffered punishment. Though we have literary evidence for Pilate, no physical evidence existed until 1961 when archaeologist Antonio Frova discovered an inscription on a stone dated to A.D 26-27. The inscription reads Tiberium, Pontius Pilate, Perfect of Judea. It is currently in Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Caiaphas: Caiaphas was the high priest in Jerusalem the year Jesus died. He served between A.D 18-36. The Gospel accounts refer to him as Caiaphas, but his full title is Joseph, son of Caiaphas. In 1990, while a work crew was building a road south of Abu Tor in southeast Jerusalem, the family tomb of Caiaphas was discovered. In the tomb archaeologists found an ornate ossuary with the inscription Joseph, son of Caiaphas in Aramaic. 5. Tomb of Lazarus On the east side of Mount of Olives is the traditionally recognised tomb of Lazarus (John 11:38-44). It appears that by the 2 nd century A.D the location had been identified with Lazarus. The church historian Eusebius says that the city was renamed Place of Lazarus and that the tomb was being shown in his (Eusebius) day. Currently, there is a mosque built over the site preventing access through the traditional entrance although and alternative entrance was created. 6. Jacob s Well Located in ancient Samaria within an unfinished Greek orthodox church is Jacob s Well (bir yáqub) which is mentioned by historian Eusebius in the 4 th century A.D as well as by John in John 4:5,6,12. The well had been dug to over 200 feet deep in the 7 th century A.D and today it still produces fresh, cool water fed from underground. It lies a short distance from Mount Gerizim and the ruins of the Samaritan temple. 7
7. Coins of the Bible Throughout the New Testament various coins are mentioned in association with basic transactions and teaching illustrations. Various coins have been found at various archaeological excavations. These include the widow s mite, the Tyre shekel (The coin in the fish's mouth mentioned in Matthew 17 is usually thought to be a Tyrian shekel) and the denarius etc. Some coins contain inscriptions of rulers such as Herod Antipas, Herod Agrippa, Emperor Claudius and Caesar Augustus. The New Testament and its writers have proven themselves to be historically reliable, as seen by the many extra biblical sources and artefacts. In the view of ever growing body of archaeological data, it may be asserted with confidence that New Testament is historically reliable. Bibliography Benjamin, Don C., Stones and Stories: An Introduction to Archaeology and the Bible, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010. Cline, Eric H., Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Frend, William H.C., The Archaeology of Early Christianity: A History, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996. Hoffmeier, James K., Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition, New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Holden, Joseph M. and Norman Geisler, The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture, Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2013. Kaiser, Walter C. and Duane Garrett, ed. Archaeological Study Bible: An Illustrated Walk Through Biblical History and Culture. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006. 8
Questions for Reflection: 1. Name two or three new aspects that you learnt in today s lecture. a. b. c. 2. Please discuss how these new aspects inform or impact your faith now? 9