Is the Bible Historically Accurate?

Is the Bible Historically Accurate?

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1974-is-the-bible-historically-accurate

53 People in the Bible Confirmed Archaeologically
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/50-people-in-the-bible-confirmed-archaeologically/?fbclid=IwAR1Sj018VEX1oQuH_7exbCLOr4xskCi1uICNHkzoCV5YFkDtmfCtaQuBZbs

 There are 3 essential tests that researchers use to ascertain historical reliability. The Bible stands up strongly to these tests, if not more strongly than any other historical document recorded:

Internal Test: Examining linguistic, cultural, and literary context can clear away apparent contradictions in the Bible. For example, some claim that the genealogies of Christ are contradictory. Not so: Matthew lists Joseph’s family line, and Luke lists Mary’s.

External Test: Nelson Glueck, a Jewish archaeologist says, “… it may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact detail statements in the Bible.”

Bibliographic Test: Bibliographic Test: The document must contain eyewitness accounts, there must be a short amount of time between copy and original, and several copies must be made. Pass. Even many non-Christian historians who were not sympathetic to Christianity such as Flavius Josephus, Thallus and Phlegon lend support to Biblical facts.

The Bible’s Power and Influence
In some countries today, the Bible is forbidden. Bringing a Bible into Saudi Arabia, for example, or North Korea, or China, or Libya, or Burma — along with many other countries — can result in expulsion for the westerner or arrest and torture if you’re native to the country. It wasn’t that long ago that the Bible was banned in communist Eastern Europe, too; a good friend of mine was involved in Bible smuggling into places like Romania and Hungary during the 1970s and 80s and can tell hair-raising stories of near arrests and fortunate escapes.
Banned in many countries, yet desperately sought by persecuted Christians. The best selling, most widely studied piece of literature, whose influence is unquestionable, whatever you think of the book. Much of our art, law, philosophy, music and literature have drawn upon the Bible.
Yet this potency and influence aside, many people today want to ignore, rubbish, or reject the Bible. “How can you trust the Bible?” sceptics often ask. “New Atheist” writers like Richard Dawkins regularly attack the Bible, calling those who believe in it, “died in the wool faith-heads”.
Three Initial Thoughts
So how might we answer the sceptic? How can Christians show that is rational and reasonable to trust the Bible and take seriously what it says? There are numerous ways one might approach this question but this evening, I want to focus on a historical approach, as that’s my own academic background. But before that, let me start by making three general comments.
First, when somebody says “why trust the Bible?” I sometimes respond “why not trust the Bible?” One can only really doubt something if one has something more solid to believe in. Unless you merely want to be a sceptic. Whilst that’s very fashionable, it’s hard to be a consistent sceptic. Why not be sceptical about your scepticism?
Second, lots of people have bought into popular assumptions and myths about the Bible. So if somebody suggests the Bible is unreliable, ask them to be specific. How exactly? If they claim it’s full of myths, ask them which one they had in mind? Encourage them to read the Bible for themselves before passing judgement on it.
Third, there’s a lot of chronological snobbery about these days. Just because something is old or ancient, doesn’t make it false. Indeed, ancient-icity doesn’t tell us anything about whether something is true or false. Something can be ancient and true. Likewise something can be bang up to date and false.


The Internal Evidence for the Historicity of the New Testament

THE POPULAR HANDBOOK OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE, pg.142

In addition to the strong external evidence for the reliability of the Gospels, there is also very good internal evidence. In fact, if one knew nothing about the Bible or Christianity but discovered a New Testament in an antique book sale, he could get a strong sense of its credibility just by reading it. Here are several reasons why:

1. The writers did not try to harmonize their accounts, which shows they were not in collusion but were independent witnesses 
2. The New Testament retained texts that placed Jesus in a bad light. Someone trying to prove that Jesus was God would not have done this.
3. The writers also included difficult passages in the text (which a fraudulent author would not have done).
4. They wrote self-incriminating stories (fraudulent authors do not invent bad stories about themselves).
5. They distinguished Jesus’ words from their own (showing they were reporting, not creating, His words).
6. They did not deny their testimony under persecution or the threat of death (which weeds out the insincere).

The cumulative weight of the multiple and independent lines of testimony is overwhelming support for the historicity of the New Testament. No other book in the world has anything close to this much evidence for its authenticity.

The Historian and the Bible
Those comments aside, why trust the Bible? Well, first, many people are not aware that most historians take the Bible, especially the New Testament, very seriously indeed. The Bible has been subjected to extremely vigorous literary and historical criticism, probably more than any other ancient work, and it’s emerged unscathed. Hans Kung put it nicely:

Lay people are usually unaware that the scrupulous scholarly work achieved by modern biblical criticism … represented by scrupulous academic work over about 300 years, belongs among the greatest intellectual achievements of the human race. Has any of the great world religions outside of the Jewish-Christian tradition investigated its own foundations and its own history so thoroughly and impartially? None of them has remotely approached this. The Bible is far and away the most studied book in world literature.

In other words, the Bible doesn’t need defending or protecting from historical criticism — Christians haven’t shut themselves off from academic questions — far from it. Indeed, as the 19th century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon once quipped: “Defend the Bible? I’d sooner defend a lion!”
When one approaches the Bible from a historical perspective, one can approach it much as one would any other ancient work. Broadly speaking, there are three tests a historian can utilise to determine the veracity of an ancient document. The bibliographic test, the internal test, and the external test. Let’s briefly look at each of these and how they apply to the Bible.
The Bibliographic Test
The bibliographic test looks at the ancient manuscripts of the Bible and asks whether the text of the Bible we have today is the same as the original? The simple answer is “yes”. There are thousands upon thousands of ancient manuscripts of the Bible, dating from the early second century down to the middle ages. When you compare what we have for the Bible with, say, what we have in terms of manuscripts for other important works of antiquity — Plato or Thucydides — it’s striking. For the Bible, we have 5,000 Greek manuscripts, hundreds of papyri, almost 350 Syriac copies (most dating to the 400s). On top of this, virtually the entire New Testament could be reproduced from quotations in the early church fathers; 32,000 such quotations exist before the Council of Nicaea in AD325, for example.
Many of these manuscripts are staggeringly early. For example, the John Rylands fragment (P52) dates to around AD120. Codex Sinaiticus dates to about 350AD and contains virtually all of the New Testament — I remember visiting the British Library a few years ago and staring at this beautiful object, just a few centimetres away from me behind a pane of glass. One felt that one was in touch with history.
Why are these manuscripts important? Because they enable us to be confident that the text of the Bible we have today is extremely accurate and close to the original. Historian and textual critic Ben Witherington has remarked that critical scholarship is about 99% certain of all of the New Testament text now — indeed, that we’re closer to the original text of the New Testament now than anytime since the first couple of centuries, so good is the scholarship.
The Internal Test
What about the historian’s second test, the internal test? This test asks whether we can determine whether the document we have before us was written by eyewitnesses. When it comes to the Bible, especially to the New Testament, things get very interesting.
First, we have multiple witnesses. Many people who are unfamiliar with the Bible tend to think of it as one book — but, of course, the Bible contains multiple books — it’s more like a library than a book. So, when we come to the New Testament, for example, we have multiple authors writing about the life of Jesus. Critical scholars would count at least six — Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul and probably also “Q”, a collection of sayings of Jesus that Matthew and Luke referred to.
Furthermore, these sources are all very early. Most scholars date the Gospels to the 60s, 70s and 80s AD, although some argue that Mark, especially, is much earlier. British New Testament scholar James Crossley — who, I’d note, is not a Christian — believes Mark was written in the late 30s or early 40s — that’s within a decade of Jesus. Another very early witness is Paul, who is writing his letters between AD48 and AD65, well within the lifetimes of the eyewitnesses. Why is this important?
Because one thing historians get very excited about is multiple attestation and early dating.
To return to the Gospels, though, for a moment. Not merely are they very early, but it’s now fairly universally accepted in critical scholarship that the Gospel writers were trying to write history; in terms of genre, the Gospels are biographies. The seminal work that demonstrated this was a book called What Are the Gospels? by Richard Burridge. Interestingly, Burridge set out to disprove that the gospels are biographies but the evidence caused him to change his mind. Historian David Aune sums up the implications of this:

[Bios, ancient biography] was firmly rooted in historical fact rather than literary fiction. Thus while the Evangelists clearly had an important theological agenda, the very fact that they chose to adapt Greco-Roman biographical conventions to tell the story of Jesus indicated that they were centrally concerned to communicate what they really thought happened.”

There’s a further point here, too. If one wants to reject the Gospels as history, then one is still left with the problem of explaining the early church. It had to come from somewhere and if Jesus’ life and career didn’t play out as the Gospels claim, one has to explain where. As German historian Martin Dibelius put it: you have to posit an X big enough to explain the Y of the early church. The best explanation remains that given in the Gospels: that Jesus existed and something very remarkable happened to him.
The External Test
Finally, there’s the external evidence for the Bible, in particular archaeology. Time and time again, archaeology has confirmed that the writers of the biblical texts knew what they were talking about. Along with the writings of non-Christian historians from the first century, men like the Jewish historian, Josephus, archaeology endorses the biblical text at many points. As Millar Burrows, former professor of archaeology at Yale wrote:

On the whole … archaeological work has unquestionably strengthened confidence in the reliability of the Scriptural record. More than one archaeologist has found his respect for the Bible increased by the experience of excavation in Palestine. Archaeology has in many cases refuted the views of modern critics.

Let me give you a few fascinating examples. First, two examples from Luke. In Acts 17:6-8, Luke uses the Greek word politarchs to describe the city officials in Thessalonica. That word doesn’t appear in classical Greek literature so for many years, critics accused Luke of making a mistake. Then archaeologists discovered a first-century arch in the town that used this very term — showing that the term was in use for government officials at the very time Luke was writing. It was a similar phenomena with Acts 18:12, where Luke uses the term “proconsul” to describe a gentleman called Gallio. That word didn’t appear either in classical literature so, again, scholars questioned Luke’s accuracy. Then an inscription was found at Delphi, dating to AD51, using the same term — and amazingly, to describe the very same official, Gallio. Once again Luke was proven to be a very accurate historian.
It’s a similar story with the other Gospel writers. For example, in John 5:1-2, the fourth Gospel writer speaks of “a pool in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, called in Hebrew ‘Bethesda’, which has five porticoes”. Until the 20th century, there was no evidence outside of John’s Gospel for such a place and, again, critics questioned John’s reliability. Then in the 1930s, the pool was uncovered by archaeologists — complete with four colonnades around the edges and one across the middle.
One more example will suffice and it’s perhaps the most intriguing — the so-called “James Ossuary”. According to the Gospels — and to the Jewish historian, Josephus, James was the brother of Jesus and was killed in AD62. In 2002, a mid-first century bone box or ossuary was discovered in Jerusalem, bearing the Aramaic inscription “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”. There is very strong evidence that the box and its inscription are authentic. Ed Keall, of the Royal Ontario Museum here in Toronto, has said “we stand by our opinion that the James Ossuary is not a forgery”. As New Testament historian Ben Witherington put it:

If, as seems probable, the ossuary found in the vicinity of Jerusalem and dated to about AD 63 is indeed the burial box of James, the brother of Jesus, this inscription is the most important extra-biblical evidence of its kind.

If we had more time, numerous other examples could be listed. The key point is this: archaeology doesn’t prove the New Testament is true. But what it does do is endorse the narratives. It shows that the biblical writings are historical and geographical in character — and thus deserve to be weighed and treated as seriously as an other texts from antiquity.

Conclusions
In the short time available to us, we’ve only been able to scratch the surface of what is a fascinating and rich area of study. But I hope in this brief survey I’ve been able to show that there are very good reasons to trust the Bible. And thus very good reasons to approach it with an open mind, willing to take what it says seriously and weigh its claims seriously.
So why read the Bible? Because from a historian’s perspective, we have good reason to trust it. Why read the Bible? Because only by reading it can you draw your own conclusions, rather than uncritically swallow somebody else’s second-hand-scepticism. Why read the Bible? Because through the pages of the four biographies in the New Testament, the gospels, one encounters a historical figure — Jesus of Nazareth — whose powerful personality continues to resonate and impact lives two thousand years on.

In find of biblical proportions, seal of Prophet Isaiah said found in Jerusalem
22 February 2018
The hand of the Prophet Isaiah himself may have created an 8th century BCE seal impression discovered in First Temple remains near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, according to Hebrew University archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar.
“We appear to have discovered a seal impression, which may have belonged to the prophet Isaiah, in a scientific, archaeological excavation,” said Mazar this week in a press release announcing the breathtaking discovery.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-find-of-biblical-proportions-proof-of-prophet-isaiah-believed-unearthed/



Contrary to the tradition of the Catholic Church, an ossuary (stone bone box) has been found which strongly indicates that Peter was buried in Jerusalem. And that’s not all!

Fascinating.
***

Excerpt:

... “In all the controversy over whether or not the Talpiot “Jesus Family Tomb” might have been that of Jesus of Nazareth, there is another ossuary about which few outside the academic world have ever heard. Rather than stirring worldwide headlines and passionate debate, it has largely gone unnoticed, since it is not a part of the Israeli State Collection. It is presently on display in a small Franciscan museum along the Via Dolorosa that is open only odd hours during the week. As far as I know, it has not drawn the attention of Christian pilgrims.
The ossuary was found in 1953 on the Mt. of Olives by the Franciscan Fr. Bagatti. It was part of in a fascinating necropolis of over a five hundred burial tombs that some scholars have identified, in whole or in part, with the early pre-70 CE Jewish-Christian community–that is, Jewish followers of Jesus who lived, died, and were buried as good Jews. This ossuary is inscribed: Shimon bar Jonah, or in English, “Simon son of Jonah,” the name of the apostle Simon Peter (Matthew 16:17). This name is attested nowhere else, neither in inscriptions nor in literature. Further, the Simon, son of Jonah, the ossuary was found just meters away from a tomb just outside of Bethany containing a single ossuary with two individuals: Mary and Martha, and nearby another, inscribed Lazarus. I discuss these briefly in my book, The Jesus Dynasty (pp. 235-237), but a fuller treatment, accessible to the non-specialist, is available in Jack Fingegan’s The Archaeology of the New Testament (Princeton: Princeton University Press, reprt 1979), pp. 359-375.
With permission, I reproduce this edited version of an article on this ossuary written in 1960 by F. Paul Peterson just when the discovery of the cemetery complex with its interesting clusters of names had caused a stir in certain quarters of the Protestant Christian world. For the most part the ossuary was marginalized and forgotten and the “standard defense” became operative–these names are common, they could have belonged to any Mary, Martha, Lazarus, or Simon son of Jonah we could identify from historical records. Indeed, there must have been another family, with those very names, buried very near “another” Simon bar Jonah. There seems to be a great aversion to ever thinking anything could be found that would directly connect to names of people we read about in our gospels.”

This link is an Informative and intriguing article describing the investigation authenticating this ossuary. There are a few delightful, notable examples of Catholics, even the Pope, squirming with this news!

http://www.sevenstarhand.org/Shimon_bar_Jonah/

***
This article has some more interesting information regarding the fact that many other ossuaries were found in the same area, providing very strong evidence that these were genuine early Christians.

http://www.leaderu.com/theology/burialcave.html

http://www.rzim.eu/why-trust-the-bible

There are many lines of evidence that confirm the veracity of the Bible, and its young-earth timeline. Here a few examples:

The fossil record, and soft tissue, confirm the narrative of the Bible of young earth, and Noah's worldwide flood.
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1767-carbon-14-dated-dinosaur-bones-non-permineralized-fossils-and-soft-tissue-like-proteins-are-evidence-for-young-fossils

The remains of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat are further hard, empirical evidence of Noah's flood, and the precise and true narrative in Genesis.
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t2940-noah-s-ark-has-been-found-with-high-probability-on-mount-ararat

The human mitochondrial DNA tree has three nodes. Thus, everyone alive today carries one of three unique ancestral maternal sequences. This fits Genesis’ claim that all humans who exist today are descended from one of the wives of Noah’s sons. Three trends in the data suggest that the wives of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth best explain this finding.
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t3071-human-origins-created-or-evolved#9168

There is, against often made claims from uninformed unbelievers, evidence that the Exodus of the Jews from Aegypt is a historical event:
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1718-evidence-that-the-exodus-of-the-hebrews-from-aegypt-is-a-historical-event

Many of the places mentioned in the Old Testament have been found and confirmed by archaeology:
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1974-is-the-bible-historically-accurate

The shroud of Turin EXTRAORDINARY evidence of Christ's resurrection. The biblical narratives related to the passion and death of Jesus confirm the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. And the Shroud of Turin confirms the authenticity of the Gospels.
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1688-shroud-of-turin

“Critics have claimed that the Bible contains all kinds of factual errors. Is the Bible trustworthy when it speaks of historical matters?”
The Bible contains two kinds of information. Some of it can be checked; some of it cannot. For example, it is not possible to “check” scientifically the accuracy of Genesis 1:1 — “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” While the affirmation is not in any way inconsistent with available scientific data, at the same time the statement is one of pre-human history and therefore does not lend itself to empirical investigation.
On the other hand, the Scriptures contain hundreds of references that arise out of the background of human history. These may be tested for accuracy. If it is the case that the Bible is demonstrated to be precise in thousands of historical details, it is not unreasonable to conclude that its information in other matters is equally correct.
In fact, one of the most amazing features of the Bible is its uncanny reliability in the smallest of details. Let us note a few examples of biblical precision.
(1) During His personal ministry, Jesus once passed through the region of Samaria. Near Sychar, the Lord stopped for a brief rest at Jacob’s well. He engaged a Samaritan woman in conversation, during which He suggested that He could provide the woman with water that could perpetually quench her thirst. Misunderstanding the nature of the Master’s instruction, the woman, alluding to Jacob’s well, declared: “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep” (Jn. 4:11). The statement is quite correct, for even now, some twenty centuries later, Jacob’s well is approximately 80 feet deep — the equivalent of an eight-story building!
(2) Reflect upon another example. In Acts 10 there is the account of Peter’s visit in the city of Joppa. Luke declared that Peter was staying in the home of Simon, a tanner of animal hides. Then the historian said, almost as an afterthought, “whose house is by the seaside” (Acts 10:6). Hugh J. Schonfield, author of the infamous book, The Passover Plot (and certainly no friend of Christianity), has commented on this passage as follows:

“This is an interesting factual detail, because the tanners used sea water in the process of converting hides into leather. The skins were soaked in the sea and then treated with lime before the hair was scraped of” (The Bible Was Right, New York: The New American Library, 1959, p. 98).

(3) Consider another interesting case of Bible precision. When Paul was en route to Rome for trial, the ship upon which he sailed became involved in a terrible storm. When it eventually became apparent that the vessel was in a very dangerous circumstance, the crew cast the ship’s anchors into the water. At the same time, they “loosed the rudder bands, hoisted up the foresail, and aimed the ship towards the beach” (Acts 27:40 ).
There is an interesting and subtle point in the Greek text that is not apparent in the King James Version. The original language actually says that they “loosed the bands of the rudders” (plural – see ). This is amazingly precise, for in ancient times, ships actually possessed two paddle-rudders, not a single rudder as with modern vessels. In 1969, a submerged ancient ship was discovered in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Cyprus. An examination of the ruins gave evidence of dual rudder-oars by which the boat was steered (see National Geographic, November 1974), thus demonstrating the remarkable accuracy of Luke’s record.
The Bible can be tested — historically, geographically, scientifically, etc. And it always passes the test. Its incredible accuracy can be explained only in light of its divine inspiration.

https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/690-is-the-bible-historically-accurate

TOWER OF BABEL STELE

http://www.schoyencollection.com/history-collection-introduction/babylonian-history-collection/tower-babel-stele-ms-2063

The ziggurat in Babylon was originally built around the time of Hammurabi 1792-1750 BC. The restoration and enlargement began under Nabopolassar, and was finished after 43 years of work under Nebuchadnezzar II, 604-562 BC.

9 archaeology finds that confirm the New Testament

https://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2017/March-2017/9-archaeology-finds-that-confirm-the-New-Testament

The Internal Evidence for the Historicity of the New Testament

THE POPULAR HANDBOOK OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE, pg.142

In addition to the strong external evidence for the reliability of the Gospels, there is also very good internal evidence. In fact, if one knew nothing about the Bible or Christianity but discovered a New Testament in an antique book sale, he could get a strong sense of its credibility just by reading it. Here are several reasons why:

1. The writers did not try to harmonize their accounts, which shows they were not in collusion but were independent witnesses 
2. The New Testament retained texts that placed Jesus in a bad light. Someone trying to prove that Jesus was God would not have done this.
3. The writers also included difficult passages in the text (which a fraudulent author would not have done).
4. They wrote self-incriminating stories (fraudulent authors do not invent bad stories about themselves).
5. They distinguished Jesus’ words from their own (showing they were reporting, not creating, His words).
6. They did not deny their testimony under persecution or the threat of death (which weeds out the insincere).

The cumulative weight of the multiple and independent lines of testimony is overwhelming support for the historicity of the New Testament. No other book in the world has anything close to this much evidence for its authenticity.

Jerusalem reference found on ancient wine ledger

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) seized the 2,700-year-old papyrus from thieves who had taken it from a desert cave near the Dead Sea.
Two lines in Hebrew detail the shipment of wine from the king's household.
"From the king's maidservant, from Na'arat, jars of wine, to Jerusalem," it reads.
"The document represents extremely rare evidence of the existence of an organized administration in the Kingdom of Judah," said Dr Eitan Klein of the IAA.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/december-web-only/biblical-archaeology-top-ten-discoveries-of-2016.html?start=1

Archaeologists link remains of destroyed palace to reign of King Solomon

A MONUMENTAL palace from the era of Israel’s King Solomon has been uncovered in the ancient royal city of Gezer, sparking new hope of evidence for the elusive biblical king.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/archaeologists-link-remains-of-destroyed-palace-to-reign-of-king-solomon/news-story/3240eb29a19f8b09e5377c72f15ab0d1

Archaeological Evidence Which Proves the Bible is True

https://planetzion.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/archaeological-evidence-which-proves-the-bible-is-true/

Professor Adam Zertal, chairman of Archaeology Department of the University of Haifa, found this altar on April 6, 1980 on Mt. Ebal while doing an archaeological survey of the area. He was once an atheist, when asked about his find he replied, “We discovered this place, all covered with stones, in April 1980. At that time I never dreamt that we were dealing with the altar, because I was taught in Tel Aviv University – the center of anti-Biblical tendencies, where I learned that Biblical theories are untrue, and that Biblical accounts were written later, and the like. I didn’t even know of the story of the Joshua’s altar. But we surveyed every meter of the site, and in the course of nine years of excavation, we discovered a very old structure with no parallels to anything we had seen before. It was 9 by 7 meters, and 4 meters high, with two stone ramps, and a kind of veranda, known as the ‘sovev,’ around.” This altar is described to us in the following scriptures:

Joshua 8:30, 31
Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal,
As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.

Deuteronomy 27:4, 5
Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister.
And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them.

Exodus 20:25, 26
And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

Adam quickly changed his beliefs and became a Christian a few years after he fully realized what he had found. Adam says that there is actually two altars on the same site, the one visible dates back around 1250 B.C. based on the pottery found, which puts it at the time of Deborah of Judges 4, during the period of the Judges. Beneath this altar, Adam found a circular altar made from unhewn stone about 6.5 feet across. This circular altar has been dated to be about 1405 B.C. which puts it just about 40 years after the time of the Exodus, which took place around 1446 BC. This circular altar has been found with the remains of kosher animals and thus eliminates any idea of it being a pagan altar. The date of 1405 B.C. was determined by the discovery of an Egyptian scarab of Tuthmose III (the scarab shown to the left in the picture below), dated to around the time of the Exodus. The scarab to the right below is actually quite rare, only five known parallels exist- one from Egypt, three from Israel and one from Cyprus. These two Egyptian scarabs found at the site are quite telling as they indirectly confirm the Exodus story exactly as the Bible says, because Mt. Ebal was one of the first settlements of the Israelites once they left Egypt, finally crossed the river Jordan and came into the promised land.

Frank Paine states convincingly that the Exodus from Egypt was 1639 BC (Not around 1446)
The 2,000 years from Adam to Abram

Solar Years BC Years of Scripture Event Age Scripture Reference
4075 Creation and fall of Adam Gen. 1-3
4028 49 Abel born at 1st Jubilee Gen. 4: 2
3995 82 Abel's death Adam 82 yrs Gen. 4: 8
3949 130 Seth born Adam 130 yrs Gen. 5: 3
3847 235 Enosh born Seth 105 yrs Gen. 5: 6
3760 325 Cainan born Enosh 90 yrs Gen. 5: 9
3692 395 Mahalaleel born Cainan 70 yrs Gen. 5: 12
3629 460 Jared born Mahalaleel 65 yrs Gen. 5: 15
3472 622 Enoch born Jared 162 yrs Gen. 5: 18
3409 687 Methuselah born Enoch 65 yrs Gen. 5: 21
3228 874 Lamech born Methuselah 187 yrs Gen. 5: 25
3052 1056 Noah born Lamech 182 yrs Gen. 5: 28
2565 1558 Shem born Noah 502 yrs Gen.11: 10
2470 1656 The Flood Noah 600 yrs Gen. 7: 11
2468 1658 Arphaxad born Shem 100 yrs Gen.11: 10
2434 1693 Salah born Arphaxad 35 yrs Gen.11: 12
2405 1723 Eber born Salah 30 yrs Gen.11: 14
2372 1757 Peleg born Eber 34 yrs Gen.11: 16
2343 1787 Reu born Peleg 30 yrs Gen.11: 18
2312 1819 Serug born Reu 32 yrs Gen.11: 20
2283 1849 Nahor born Serug 30 yrs Gen.11: 22
2255 1878 Terah born Nahor 29 yrs Gen.11: 24
2129 2008 Abram born Terah 130 yrs Gen.11: 32 & 12: 4

The 500 years from Abram to the Exodus

Solar Year BC Years of Scripture
Event
Age/Comment Scripture Reference
2129 2008 Abram born Terah 130 yrs Gen.11:32,12:4
2056 2083 Abram leaves Haran Abram 75 yrs Gen.12:1-4
2047 2093 Abram marries Hagar Ishmael conceived Gen.16:3
2046 2094 Ishmael born Abram 86 yrs Gen.16:16
2032 2108 Isaac born Abram 100 yrs Gen.21:5,17:17
2027 2113 Isaac weaned Ishmael cast out Gen.21: 8 & 14
1996 2145 Sarah's death Sarah 127 yrs Gen.23: 1
1993 2148 Marriage of Isaac Isaac 40 yrs Gen.25:20
1974 2168 Esau & Jacob born Isaac 60 yrs Gen.25:26
1848 2298 Jacob & his sons enter Egypt Jacob 130 yrs Gen.47: 9
1639 2513 The Exodus of Israel from Egypt Exodus 12:41

Israelites in Biblical Dan Worshipped Idols – and Yahweh Too, Archaeologists Discover
Oct 31, 2018

Finds in the northern biblical city of Dan suggest that even if King Jeroboam pushed worship of golden calves and goat demons to spite Jerusalem, there was a big YHWH temple

The Ten Tribes living in the Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century B.C.E. practiced a mixed religion, but contrary to the conventional wisdom among biblical scholars, their main deity was Yahweh after all, not the Canaanite god El and his envoys, golden calves and goat-shaped demons.
New excavations headed by Dr. David Ilan and Dr. Yifat Thareani of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem discovered that Dan also housed Arameans and Phoenicians as well as Israelites. But the gigantic sanctuary, originally found over four decades ago, has the hallmarks of Yahwistic practice, not pagan ritual.
"Dan was ruled by Aram Damascus circa 830-770 B.C.E. We know this from both the Bible and from the Tel Dan inscription," says Ilan. "The Aramaeans practiced their cult at Dan too. The question is whether Israelite worship was carried out concurrently during this time. We still aren’t sure but this is one of our research questions."

Mainly based on the biblical narrative, scholars had thought that Yahweh became the main god in Israel only after that kingdom's obliteration by the Assyrians in 720 B.C.E. But new analysis of epigraphic, archaeological and textual evidence in Tel Dan, a key center of worship in the northern kingdom, strongly indicates that the people were worshipping Yahweh in an organized manner as early as the 9th century B.C.E.

At the time, some 2,700 years ago, the land was split between the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south, which were rivals, occasionally bitter ones. Israel's capital was Samaria but its religious centers were Bethel and Dan, while Judah's capital and religious center was Jerusalem.


A theoretical map of the region around 830 BCE. Moab is shown in purple on this map, between the Arnon and Zered rivers.

While the priests in Israel and Judah may have devoted themselves to the "one god," evidence of the people's unrepentent polytheism is rife.
"So he put out of business the foreign-god priests, whom the kings of Judah had appointed to make sacrificial smoke on the high places in the cities of Judah and the surroundings of Jerusalem, as well as those making sacrificial smoke to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations of the zodiac, and to all the army of the heavens" - 2 Kings 23:5
However, according to the biblical story, in the north, rivalry between the two kingdoms led to a sharp deviation from the path toward monotheism.

Competing with Jerusalem
It seems that Jeroboam, the first king of Israel from around 922 B.C.E. to 901 B.C.E. (the dates are arguable) had a beef with Rehoboam, son of Solomon and king of Judah.
The priests and Levites sided with Rehoboam; fearful that his people would too, Jeroboam deliberately drove them to idol worship in the Kingdom of Israel's main cities, Bethel and Dan.


Artist's reconstruction of the temple at Dan: It looks a lot like what Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem is believed to look like

On Jeroboam's predilection for paganism ("the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods" – Chronicles 13.8 ), the Bible says:

"The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord when he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made." 2 Chronicles 14-15

On why Jeroboam would push idolatry, the Bible says:

"If this people continues to go up to offer sacrifices at the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, the heart of this people will also return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah… the king made two golden calves and said to the people: It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here is your God, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." – Kings 12

God's severe view of Jeroboam's faithlessness is described in the Book of Kings 13:1-5 which evocatively describes his punishment: a withered hand.
Mainly based on all this, some modern scholars have been assuming that a key distinction between Israel and Judah lay in fundamental beliefs: that the priests and people of the north, Israel, worshipped El and pagan idols while the Judahite kingdom was faithful to Yahweh.

It's starting to look like the biblical account was heavily biased.



Heraldic symbol of Dan or the ruler of Dan in the 8th century BCE. Nelson Glueck / School of Biblical Archaeology

First of all, Chronicles apparently dates to the 4th – 2th century B.C.E., so it was written hundreds of years after the events described. Also, it would have been written by scribes in Jerusalem, the capital of Judah. The ethics of writing history accurately did not exist then, and they may have had an interest in trashing their long-dead brethren of Israel. True, the writer acknowledges
Now the new analysis of the evidence excavated under the late Avraham Biran at Tel Dan indicates that in fact, both kingdoms worshipped Yahweh, as well as pagan idols.

Aerial view of Tell Dan. Nelson Glueck / School of Biblical Archaeology

Immadiyaw was here
It is the preponderance of evidence that suggests Yahwistic worship in Dan, the archaeologists explain.

Heraldic symbol of Dan or the ruler of Dan in the 8th century BCE. Nelson Glueck / School of Biblical Archaeology
Suggestive finds include seal impressions with Yahwistic names, temple architecture, and artifacts typical of Yahwistic temple rituals. They also found massive evidence of animal sacrifice at the Tel Dan temple, of species associated with Yahwistic worship at the First Temple in Jerusalem.

“The significance of what we have in the Tel Dan temple is probably greater than most people realize,” says Jonathan Greer, associate professor of Old Testament at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and Tel Dan staff member who has recently reevaluated some of the evidence.

The first clue to the northern kingdom's bent lies in the inhabitant’s very names.
Yahwistic names were spelled differently by geography, due to differences in the dialects of north and south. In the south, the Yahwistic element was spelled “yahu” (yod-heh-vav), whereas in the north, it was spelled “yaw” (yod-vav) due to the contraction of the diphthong—both are shortened forms of YHWH.

Seal impression with names that include the element yaw [yod-vav – a shortened form of YHWH] invoking the name of their protective deity abound at Dan. For example, stamped seals dating to the 9th and 8th century BCE, carrying the names Immidayaw and Zechariyaw have been found.

If the primary tutelary deity they were worshipping was El, the personal name would have included the element El, and been Immanue-el and not Immida-yaw (meaning "YHWH is with me").
Of the two seal impressions with the name Immadiyaw, one was on the handle of a jar in a structure about 15 meters north of the altar room. Immadiyaw may have been an officiating functionary at the sanctuary, the archaeologists suggest.

The spelling Immadiyaw is typical of the north; this same name spelled the southern way (Immadiyahu) was found on an ostracon from Horvat Uza in the Negev, Greer says, adding that it was almost certainly a completely different man.

Immadiyaw parallels a similar name with an El theophoric, Immanu-el (Emmanuel), “God is with us,” Greer also adds.
Another jar found in the royal storerooms was stamped with the name Zechariyaw (meaning "Yahweh remembers"). Some wonder if this might be King Zechariah of 2 Kings 14:29.

The third potential Yahwistic name was on a sherd, in an 8th century B.C.E. context, with an inscription that read “[belonging to] Amoz...” but the sherd breaks right after the z. The name could have been “Amaziah,” another Yahwistic name (Amoz is short for Amaziah, just as Ben is short for Benjamin).

Rival temple in Dan
The city of Dan goes back at least 6,000 years. In the biblical period, Dan apparently posed competition to Jerusalem as a center for worship.
The main discoveries at Tel Dan, also known as Tel Qadi, date back to 1966, when Biran found the sanctuary ruins. His excavations unearthed a large platform, small altars that were flat-topped and four-horned, seven-spouted oil lamps, perforated incense cups, and cult stands.

Until the recent discoveries, the thinking had been that the sanctuary in Dan was used by idol-worshippers, because the Danites under Jeroboam were supposed to be pagan. But for one thing, the architecture of the sacred precinct is in keeping with biblical descriptions of Solomon’s Temple, including the proportions of the precinct and construction techniques.
The archaeologists found a massive altar base, a huge 4.75 meters square, with one of the altar's four horns. They estimate that the altar itself stood 3 meters high (the altar in Solomon's Temple is said to have been 4.5 meters high).


Aerial of temple precinct at Tel Dan showing side chambers, temple platform, and central altar locations

In view of the altar's height, some means of approach was essential. In fact Biran found two intact staircases, one facing the right-hand side of the precinct and the other the entrance (though the dating is still under investigation).
The position of the staircases or ramps corresponds with the Bible's directives to priests when making burnt offerings at the altar. After slaughtering the animal, they would approach the altar from the right to arrange and burn the carcass (Leviticus 1:5,11; 4:4; 15:24). Then they would descend toward the entrance to deposit the ashes (Leviticus 1:16; 6:3).
If anything, it seems that the position of approaches in the Jerusalem temple deviated from the biblical dictate. The approach to the Jerusalem altar was from the left, as some scholars reconstruct from later examples.


Replica of the shovels used to remove ashes from the altar 

Possibly the tradition of approaching the altar from the right was actually a northern Yahwistic tradition that ended up in the Bible, though most people assume the Temple traditions were created by southern Yahwists, centered in Jerusalem.

The altar kit
Another discovery that shrieks of Yahwistic worship in Dan, as described in the Bible, was the discovery of an "altar kit" in one of the rooms.
Excavators under Biran uncovered a bronze bowl, a pair of identical shovels, a long-handled shovel like those that held incense, a sunken pot filled with burned animal remains, and a long iron handle that may have come from a fork.

"What is remarkable is that these five elements—a bowl, pair of shovels, incense pan, ash pot, and fork—are listed, often as a group, in descriptions of sacrificial paraphernalia in the Bible such as in Exodus 27:3. We just don't get this sort of thing in archaeology too often (if ever!), where we read a list of items in the Bible that should be in an 'altar kit,' then dig them up right next to each other beside an altar like this," says Greer.

"Build an altar of acacia wood...Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze. Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots to remove the ashes, and its shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans" - Exodus 27:1-3


The temple utensils. The copper equipment was made in the form of cans and shovels for the ashes, forks for handling the flesh, and fire holders.

“Archaeological finds in the northern biblical city of Dan look like they came straight out the Bible's ritual checklist”, says Ilan.


Metal bowl for catching the blood of the sacrificial animal. 


If the archaeologists are right about what it is, the bowl is extraordinary - the only example ever found of a “blood bowl” (mizraq) in excavation.
By extension the bowl is potentially the earliest evidence for specialized rituals involving blood in Yahwistic worship. The sanctity of the blood was heavily emphasized in ancient Israel, and animal sacrifices, particularly those offered on the Day of Atonement, were typically in atonement for sin. The priests would pour the blood of sacrificed animals at the base of the altar and dab it on the altar horns (Leviticus 9:9). The high priest in Israel would also take a token portion of the blood into the Most Holy of the earthly sanctuary (Leviticus 16:14).


In the priests' quarters, right-sided portions: Meat-bearing elements from right hindlimbs and forelimbs of sheep and goats outnumbered those from the left side of animals. 

Tell-tale toe bones and turtledoves
Another discovery was thousands upon thousands of animal bones, found in the temple precinct. Many were in concentrated deposits, allowing the archaeologists to compare the area of deposits as well as the type of animal remains.

They found a striking difference between the bone deposits in the western chamber, where the altar kit was found, and the room where the priests officiated.
“My analysis of a series of concentrated animal bone deposits revealed several patterns of non-random distribution," explains Greer. . "The strongest was that, looking at the bones from meat-bearing portions of hindlimbs and forelimbs from sheep and goats, I noticed that there were far more right-sided portions in the western chambers, an area associated with priests.
"This called to mind the biblical prescriptions for priests to receive right-sided portions as their priestly due from certain sacrifices such as in Leviticus 7:32-33."

Israelites' offerings to Yahweh included bulls, rams, male goats, turtledoves, and young pigeons (Leviticus 1:3,5,10,14), The offerer laid his hand on the animal's head (Leviticus 1:4). The animal was then slaughtered and the blood, representing life, was sprinkled upon the burnt offering altar (Leviticus 1:5.11). The carcass would then be skinned and cut up into its parts, its intestines and shanks would be washed, and the head and other body parts were all placed on the altar (the officiating priests received portions).

Furthermore, 88% of the toe bones (three small bones that extend into the hoof sheep or goats) that the archaeologists found were in the western chamber, which could be because of the payment of skins from the burnt offering to the officiating priests. Hooves would have been left attached to the hides.


Animal bones found at Tel Dan in the context of the temple, including the toe bones

Pagan at heart
Evidence of "non-orthodox" religious perspectives can be found all over ancient Israel and Judah, especially pertaining to the incorporation of the veneration of Asherah (or “the asherah”), a Canaanite goddess of fertility.
The bible is scathing. 2 Kings 23:5, 8 mentions "high places in the cities of Judah and the surroundings of Jerusalem ... from Geba [northern border] as far as Beer-sheba [southern border]."
At these high places, the Israelites made "sacrificial smoke to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations of the zodiac and to all the army of the heavens." They had houses for "male temple prostitutes . . . in the house of Yahweh" and offered their children "through the fire to Molech."—2 Kings 23:4-10

But at Dan, these high places were likely dedicated to Yahweh.

Archaeologists have found hundreds of figurines in Jerusalem and Judah, mainly in the ruins of private homes. Most were depictions of a nude female with exaggerated breasts. Scholars identify these figurines with the fertility goddesses Ashtoreth and Asherah, talismans to help conception and childbirth. In Tel Dan, a so-called "Judahite Pillar Figurine" was found next to the main platform.
One can sympathize with the angry desperation of the embattled prophets, who clearly felt their "orthodox" position was a minority opinion.
But cumulative evidence indicates that whether or not Jeroboam discouraged Yahweh worship while deifying golden bovines and demon goats, in Dan, at least some people also worshipped Yahweh.
The seal impressions with Yahwistic names, the architecture, the artifacts, and the bones argue the case. Add the biblical descriptions of Tel Dan as an important pilgrimage site rivaling Jerusalem, and the prophets, regarding whom Yahwistic worship is assumed.

"It may suggest a more robust and comprehensive Yahwism in the northern kingdom, 'from Dan to Bethel,' if not in the whole of ancient Israel, 'from Dan to Beersheva'. We are used to thinking of the kingdoms as completely separate and writing the north off as a kingdom of idol worshipers due to a cursory read of the biblical accounts," Greer says.
"It is a shame that most tourist groups head to the sacred precinct at Dan to illustrate the idolatry of Jeroboam’s golden calf rather than as our best parallel to the First Temple, with evidence from animal bones, architecture, epigraphy, and artifacts to boot," he adds.

In fact, the finds at Dan correlate so strongly to biblical texts, even more so – possibly – than the finds in Jerusalem, that a thought is begged, Greer says. Perhaps it was the Israelites of Dan in the north, not the Judahites in Jerusalem, who were the source of some Judaic traditions.

https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium.MAGAZINE-israelites-in-biblical-dan-worshipped-idols-and-yahweh-too-1.6612851?=&ts=_1543096864426

More:
https://patternsofevidence.com/blog/2018/11/24/evidence-worship-israels-god/?fbclid=IwAR1VctT6YzjQ5yaEvEC7t91xdAzV6AICeMCTGq6AE9C7lZBASPM0biW2lJI

Isaiah the Prophet, Man or Biblical Myth: The Archaeological Evidence

Finding seal marks ostensibly from Isaiah the Prophet and Hezekiah within mere feet of each other in Jerusalem is intriguing; so are other seals of other non-visionary Isaiahs found in Israel from that time

A 2,700-year-old seal impression on clay unearthed in Jerusalem this February piqued enormous interest, after its finder, the leading Jerusalem archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, said it may have been the personal seal of Isaiah the Prophet himself. Biblical scholars have been quarreling ever since.


The seal of Prophet Isaiah? It definitely says the name Isaiah, and has the first three of the four letters in the Hebrew word for Prophet 

The ancient Hebrew script, engraved with a sharp point, says Yeshayahu NBY, Mazar deciphered.

Yeshayahu is the Hebrew form of Isaiah: that much is clear. The question is about the three letters following the name: nun-bet-yod, "NBY".


King Hezekiah of Judah's seal. Note the pagan element of the winged sun and the ankh: The symbols may show that the seal was created late in the king's life and shows Assyrian influenceOuria Tadmor 

That could spell the start of the four-letter Hebrew word navi, meaning "prophet," if we assume that there was a fourth letter, aleph, which broke off. Mazar thinks that could well be the case, and that they may have found proof that Isaiah the Prophet, contemporary King Hezekiah, really existed. But as with so many artifacts from antiquity, the truth is far from categorical.

Finding Isaiah

In antiquity, seals were used as signatures to mark ownership, authenticity, or agreement. The name of the person would often be followed by the name of the person’s father, ancestral location, or profession. Finding a personal name alone was the exception.

Unfortunately, the clay bulla (seal impression) that Mazar found was damaged. The second word is broken off after three letters, NBY (or NVY: the letters B and V are the same in Hebrew).
To be the word "prophet," the missing fourth letter would have to be an aleph. But who knows if it was? That is just one reason many take issue with interpreting NBY as "prophet," Nadav Na'aman, professor of Jewish history at Tel Aviv University, tells Haaretz.

Alan Millard, professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages at Liverpool University, is also skeptical, for another reason. The word “prophet” would not have followed the personal name without the definite article "the" (ha in Hebrew), Millard argues. So, if it belonged to the prophet, the bulla should have read "Yeshayahu HaNavi" - i.e. HNBY.

“There are other Hebrew seals or impressions which have a profession after the owners’ names and they all have the definite article (HSPR, meaning “the scribe”, for instance)," Millard points out.
Mazar herself agrees that rather than designating occupation, the "NBY" could have been part or all of a personal name. Unless we find more impressions of this seal, we will never know.

Isaiah the son
For his part, Na'aman suggests that the second word, NBY, could be a Middle East patronymic. In other words, he postulates that the impression originally read "Isaiah (son of) NBY" – for instance, possibly "Isaiah son of Nebai" – another name from biblical sources.

Dr. Eilat Mazar, displaying the seal of King HezekiahEmil salman

If Naaman is right, the Hebrew word for "son of," ben (BN), is missing. Millard disagrees, feeling that the seal would have plenty of space to add the letters "BN" for "son of".
What can be said is that the name "Nebai" existed in biblical times and meant "from the city of Nob", which was a priestly town not far from Jerusalem, though we aren't sure today where exactly it was.
The Book of Nehemiah describes how the children of Israel confessed their sins to the Lord, praised him, enumerated his achievements (for instance, "You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws" – Nehemiah 9:13). The Israelites then entered into a covenant with the Lord that was written out and sealed by the princes, Levites and priests. Among the many, many names mentioned as having signatory rights on that occasion was one "Nebai," listed among the leaders of the people (Nehemiah 10:19).
By the way, if this Isaiah really was the son of this Nebai, then he wasn’t the prophet, if only on the grounds that the prophet said his father was named Amoz.
Incredibly, archaeologists have found four sets of seal impressions featuring the name Nebai, but three are non-provenanced – meaning, the researchers can't be sure where they originated.

The fourth was unearthed in Lachish, and the impression gained is that Nebai is indeed a personal name. (The four seal impressions are described in "Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals," originally written by Nahman Avigad and revised by Benjamin Sass: Nos. 227, 379, 530 and 693, and see p. 513.)

Lastly, this wasn't the first time that archaeologists found the name "Isaiah" outside the context of the Bible in a contemporary inscription. The Avigad-Sass "Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals" lists three seals (Nos. 212, 213, and 214) belonging to men named Isaiah, complete with patronymics: the three had different fathers, none of whom was Amoz.
What can be said that the Hebrew script on Mazar's seal impression is typical of the 8th century B.C.E., the period Isaiah was supposed to have lived.
With the last word not said, who then was Isaiah the Prophet, anyway?

Who was Isaiah?
Millard for one sees no reason to doubt that Isaiah was a real person who lived in the reigns of Sargon II, then Sennacherib – that being the Assyrian king who marched through Judah, conquering 46 of King Hezekiah's fortified cities, but who mysteriously withdrew after reaching Jerusalem just as victory over the cowed Judahite king seemed assured.


Assyrian soldiers in battle: They swept over the land of Israel, vanquishing 46 of Hezekiah's cities - but suddenly, dolded the siege of Jerusalem and left Getty Images IL

Millard's indicator lies in how Sargon's name is spelled in the Book of Isaiah.

Isaiah was a contemporary of Sargon II, who ruled from 722 to 705 B.C.E. (Isaiah 20:1-2), the prophet himself says in the biblical narrative.
In Isaiah 20:1, the Assyrian king's name is spelled SRGN, which is the Aramaic version. The Assyrians spoke Aramaic (a language very like Hebrew, originally spoken by the Aramaeans that would eventually become the international language for trade in Assyria and Babylon too).


The oldest-known testimony to the Jewish Exile in Babylon in 587 B.C.E., naming names. Ardon Bar Hama, Cindy and David Sofer Collection

We know the Assyrians spelled Sargon the same way, SRGN, from an Aramaic seal imprint found at Khorsabad, the site of the king's new palace near Nineveh, Millard explains.
If the Book of Isaiah was a later artifact, written or revised during the Jews' Babylonian exile, Sargon would presumably have been written the Babylonian way – "SHRKN."

Scourge of kings

In the first verse of his book, Isaiah introduces himself as “Isaiah son of Amoz” and tells us that he served as a prophet “during the reigns of Uzziah Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah” (Isaiah 1:1).


Seal found in Omrit, which seems to date to the time of Sargon II. Tel-Hai College

If so, this means that Isaiah was active no less than 46 years, probably beginning his career at the end of Uzziah's reign around 743 B.C.E.
According to the Bible, this was a period of international tension and inner turmoil. Political unrest was rife, bribery tainted the courts, and hypocrisy was tearing the religious fabric of society. Even some Judahite kings persisted with pagan worship, not caviling at human sacrifice:

"Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals. He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire" (2 Chronicles 28:1-3; and the list of Ahaz's sins goes on. Judah is punished for Ahaz's sins.)
There are other elaborations of pagan worship by the Judahic kings in 2 Kings 16:5-8 and Isaiah 7:1-12, for example.

Isaiah, who seemed to have been quite outspoken even to kings, did not spare them his rhetoric, calling the rulers of Judah “dictators of Sodom” (Isaiah 1:10).


Ancient figurines believed to represent devotion to gods other than YHWH in ancient Israel.Yaron Kaminsky

Secular records and archaeological finds in Judah and Jerusalem support Isaiah’s account of the religious and political affairs in Judah at the time, by and large.
Archaeologists have found hundreds of terracotta pagan figurines in Jerusalem and Judah, mainly in the ruins of private homes. Most were nude females with exaggerated breasts, which some scholars identify with fertility goddesses such as Asherah - talismans aiding in conception and childbirth. (Others argue that they bear no signs of divinity.)
At some "high places," so-called bamah, a sort of open-air altar dedicated to sacrifices to Yahweh, archaeologist have found inscriptions saying, “I bless you by Yahweh of Samaria and by his Asherah,” and another says, “I bless you by Yahweh of Teman and by his Asherah!” Namely, YHWH, God of the Jews.

No toady Isaiah

Although Isaiah may not have been popular with all of the kings of Judah, he seemed to have got along with some, not that he was necessarily a bearer of cheer. When King Hezekiah fell gravely ill, Isaiah came to him and told him he was going to die (Isaiah 38:1).
King Hezekiah, who ruled from around 727 to 686/7 B.C.E., was one of the more important kings of Judah, and he seems to have tolerated the influence of the opinionated prophet. Nothing less than the king's own seal imprint seems to have been found in 2009, during Mazar's excavations in Jerusalem. In fact the recent “Isaiah seal" was found just a few feet from the Hezekiah seal mark.


City of David: The seals ostensibly of King Hezekiah and Prophet Isaiah were found within 10 feet of one another. Olivier Fitoussi

(Several examples of bullae imprinted by seals bearing Hezekiah’s name appeared on the antiquities market before Mazar found the one in situ in Jerusalem. There was more than one seal inscribed ‘Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah’: the seals were probably delegated to high officials. We know Assyrian kings’ seals were so used.)

The discovery of the "Isaiah seal" so nearby the king's does not prove the theory that the "Isaiah seal" was the seal impression of Isaiah the Prophet himself, who was an adviser to the king, as Mazar herself observes. But it is intriguing.


Portrait de Lord George Byron (1778-1824)

During Hezekiah's reign, the kingdom was invaded by King Sennacherib of Assyria, an event described in detail (Isaiah 36-37) and corroborated by the extra-biblical account inscribed in the Annals of Sennacherib Prism, the Rassam Cylinder and also Histories, written by the 5th century B.C.E. Greek Herodotus. Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem was so dramatic that it was still inspiring writers eons later, including Dante and Lord Byron:
“The Assyrians came down like the wolf on the fold, and his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, when the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee" – Lord Byron

Isaiah the scribe?

Not only did Isaiah seem to have been close to the kings of Judah, having access to Ahaz and Hezekiah: he also seemed to have had training in scribal skills.
Isaiah was evidently familiar with the way scribes worked in 8th -century B.C.E. Judah, such as using wax-covered wooden tablets as instant notebooks, and only later copying the text onto papyrus or leather (which may have been more common, as papyrus had to be imported from Egypt): "Now come, write it upon a tablet with them, and inscribe it even in a book..." (Isaiah 30:.


Assyrian god 

“Isaiah was a member of the upper class in Judah and could well have been able to write and read,” says Millard. In fact he is convinced that writing was widespread in Israel and Judah in the 8th and 7th centuries B.C.E. The sheer number of sites with texts, the quantity of short texts and the multitude of seals and impressions bearing their owners' names should dispel any notion that writing was rare, Millard argues.


Writing on pottery, known as ostraca, unearthed in a fort in Arad, Israel, and dated to about 600 B.C.E., shortly before Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem 

It bears adding that a lot of historians and archaeologists do not agree that reading and writing were commonplace 3,000 years ago, but many do. If the Judahite scribes were doing menial legal and administrative duties such as making lists, setting out legal deals and writing letters – Millard for one thinks it reasonable to expect some to have spent time writing other texts, as was done in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Hebrew compositions found on ancient ostraca (pottery fragments) and walls (they had graffiti then too) prove that somebody at least was writing things other than laundry lists and praise to the king. One ostracon found in the Israeli desert outpost of Arad bears part of a literary text. Another from the fort at Horvat Uzza is of literary nature, possibly a sapient work by a local author.
Elsewhere, at Kuntillet Ajrud in the Sinai, lines of a prophetic verse written on wall plaster have been dated to the early 8th century B.C.E.

Isaiah may not have been a professional scribe per se, but some scholars assume that he was well versed, not only delivering his prophecies orally but writing them down. Na'aman however begs to note that there are no other examples of prophets who delivered their prophecy in a written form.

Drawing from Kuntillet Ajrud, an Israelite outpost in Southern Negev, 8th century B.C.E. Alamy

“Jeremiah is the only prophet in the days of the Kings who is recorded as having his prophecies written down,” Millard adds.

Revelation: Predicting the Messiah

Whether Isaiah is fact or figment is a matter of interest to both Jews and Christians, since among other things Isaiah foretold a number of details about the coming of the Messiah.
It is a paragraph by Isaiah that has become one of the most controversial passages in the Old Testament. As the King James Version translates Isaiah 7:14: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son."
More modern translations take issue with the translation of the Hebrew word alma as "virgin," arguing that it merely means "young woman".
Isaiah also foretold that the Messiah would be a descendent of David (Isaiah 11:1-5). He predicted that the Messiah would not be accepted by the majority of Israel and instead be a “stone of stumbling” to them (Isaiah 8:14,15).
In the book of Isaiah, the Messiah prophetically says: “My back I gave to the strikersmy face did not conceal from humiliating things and spit” (Isaiah 50:6). He even gave details of the Messiah's death, foretelling: “He will make his burial place even with the wicked ones, and with the rich class in death” (Isaiah 53:9).
Finally Isaiah spoke of the meaning of the Messiah's death:
“The righteous one, my servant, will bring a righteous standing to many people; and their errors he himself will bear” (Isaiah 53:8,11).
Many Christians today identify the Messiah with Jesus Christ, and view Isaiah's prophecies regarding the Messiah as fulfilled by the works and life of Jesus Christ.

Victory by rodent

For Jews, Isaiahic prophecies of Exile and Restoration attest to his divine inspiration. He foretold that Assyria would not dethrone the kings of Judah and destroy Jerusalem – but Babylon would.
When Assyria "flooded" Judah "up to the neck", Isaiah gave King Hezekiah the comforting message that the Assyrian forces wouldn't take Jerusalem (Isaiah 8:7,.
Ultimately, the prophet was right. Assyrian accounts describe how Sennacherib surrounded, besieged and conquered 46 of Hezekiah's fortified walled cities, and seized 200,150 people and all kinds of domestic animals as spoils of war. Sennacherib mockingly describes how he trapped Hezekiah:

“Himself [Hezekiah] I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage”.
The Assyrian leader imposed a heavy tribute of 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver and all kind of luxury items – as well as the king's daughters, palace women and singers. The annals tell how Hezekiah dispatched messengers to deliver the tribute.

But just as victory seemed to be at hand, Sennacherib suddenly lifted the siege and did not depose Hezekiah from the Judahite throne.
Even the ancients puzzled over why the Assyrians did not capture Jerusalem despite his reputation for mercilessness.
Could Assyrian ambitions have been tamed by the mouse? The Greek historian Herodotus tells us, based on tales told him by Egyptian priests:
“During the night a horde of field mice gnawed quivers and their bows and the handles of shields, with the result that many [Assyrian soldiers] were killed, fleeing unarmed the next day” – Herodotus 2.141.
Mice were a symbol of pestilence in the ancient world, and may have been employed here allegorically. But Herodotus' story is that mouse attack devastated the Assyrians outside Jerusalem and the rest is, well, perhaps history.
Or, perhaps the Assyrian forces were decimated by a pestilence carried by rodent. Or something else.
Ultimately, however, Jerusalem was captured by the Persian king Cyrus in 587 B.C.E. – an event also predicted by the prophet (Isaiah 45:1,2).

How many Isaiahs were there?

The issue of prophecy is one thing that has caused many scholars to question the authorship of the Book of Isaiah.


A fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls at an Israel Antiquities Authority conservation laboratory in Jerusalem, October 19, 2010. 

In the 12th century, the Jewish commentator Abraham ibn Ezra suggested that the second half of the book, from Chapter 40, was written by somebody else who lived during the post-Isaiah period of the Babylonian exile.
Today many scholars believe that as many as three Deutero-Isaiahs may have contributed later than the 6th century B.C.E., during or after the exile. That would explain the "prophecies" of Judah's desolation.
It bears adding that in the Isaiah manuscript among the roughly 2,200-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls, Chapter 40 begins on the last line of a column and ends in the next column. There is no sign of change in writer or division in the book at that point.

Then there is the testimony of first-century Jewish-Roman historian Flavius Josephus, who not only indicates that the prophecies in Isaiah pertaining to Cyrus were written in the 8th century B.C.E. – but also says that Cyrus was aware of these prophecies.

“These things Cyrus knew,” Josephus writes, “from reading the book of prophecy which Isaiah had left behind two hundred and ten years earlier.”
According to Josephus, knowledge of these prophecies may even have contributed to Cyrus’ willingness to send the Jews back to their homeland. As Josephus writes: Cyrus was “seized by a strong desire and ambition to do what had been written.” (Jewish Antiquities, Book XI, chapter 1, paragraph 2).

“I have no difficulty in positing a single author for the Book of Isaiah on grounds of faith. If we allow that books might be revised, then that could account for the otherwise awkward appearance of the name Cyrus,” Millard explains.
Was Isaiah a historic figure with prophetic powers? The authors of the Gospels thought so, crediting Isaiah with writing the book, and so did Josephus, and Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira, the Jerusalemite sage who wrote in the 2nd century B.C.E.

These writers may not have been contemporary, but they weren't 850 years in delay, basing their assumptions on medieval manuscripts from the 12th century C.E., as some modern biblical scholars today tend to do.
Did the clay bulla found in Jerusalem belong to Isaiah the prophet of the 8th century B.C.E.? As he himself exclaimed in his book, “Here I am, Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8 ). Who knows, maybe that did happen, and we will find solid evidence of his existence one day.

Huge if True: The Archaeological Case for Goliath
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-huge-if-true-the-archaeological-case-for-goliath-1.6568421?fbclid=IwAR2EojVRoidCaj2En5RJovjmAk9d9LaSKDFYoefeLsR-pf4Dztx90JISjJ4

The Merneptah Stele

Why was the Merneptah Stele a significant archaeological discovery? Merneptah was a Pharaoh who ruled over Egypt in the late 13th century B.C. The son of Ramesses the Great (Ramesses II), Merneptah was the fourth Pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty.

The “Merneptah Stele” is the name given to a stone slab engraved with a description of Merneptah’s military victories in Africa and the Near East. It was discovered by renowned British archaeologist Flinders Petrie at Thebes in 1896.

The Merneptah Stele is significant to biblical archaeologists because it is the earliest extra-biblical reference to the nation of Israel yet to be discovered. The mention of Israel is very short; it simply says, “Israel is laid waste, its seed is not.” Nevertheless, despite its brevity, the reference is very telling. It indicates that at the time the inscription was engraved, the nation of Israel was significant enough to be included by name among the other major city-states which were defeated by Merneptah in the late 13th century B.C. This implies that Israel was a major player in the region during the late 13th century, serving to corroborate to a degree the biblical narrative.

Because it remains the earliest known extra-biblical reference to the nation of Israel, the Merneptah Stele is also commonly known as the Israel Stele, or the Israel Stela (stela being another way to say and write stele). It is currently housed in the Cairo Museum in Cairo, Egypt.

The Merneptah Stele, which dates to about 1230 BC, was discovered in Thebes, Egypt in the late 1800’s. The Inscription contains a hymn and a list of the Pharaoh's military victories. The Nation of Israel is on the list of conquests, which scholars believe is the earliest reference to Israel outside the Bible.

https://www.allaboutarchaeology.org/merneptah-stele-faq.htm

New Evidence: Bible's Tower of Babel was Real

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/may/new-evidence-bibles-tower-of-babel-was-real?fbclid=IwAR3_HLyGYWkTbw9brpmYWiRKzHGoWycFjf-jwZwnk_hvM8LezdHFvyLOHdA

An ancient tablet provides the first ever image of the tower of Babel and offers a "very strong piece of evidence" that it was a real building. That's according to Dr. Andrew George, professor of Babylonian at SOAS University of London. His work is featured in a new episode of "Secrets" on the Smithsonian Channel.

The 6th century B.C. tablet was discovered in Babylon more than 100 years ago. Because it was privately owned, linguists have not been able to study it until now.

George was able to interpret the text and found that its account of the tower's construction is identical to the biblical story.

But George also believes that the text shows that the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II built the tower and that's where scholars disagree.

Bodie Hodge, a researcher with Answers in Genesis, told Christian News Network that he agrees that the tablet confirms the biblical tower and agrees that it dates back to 600 B.C. He thinks the Smithsonian and George are in error, however, in believing that the tablet shows that Nebuchadnezzar built it. "The Tower of Babel was built actually well before Nebuchadnezzar," he said, "It would have been built about 900 years before."

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/12/jesus-tomb-archaeology/

Could this be the biggest find since the Dead Sea Scrolls? Seventy metal books found in cave in Jordan could change our view of Biblical history
By FIONA MACRAE FOR THE DAILY MAIL  BST, 30 March 2011

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1371290/70-metal-books-Jordan-cave-change-view-Biblical-history.html#ixzz1I3lqqgDb

For scholars of faith and history, it is a treasure trove too precious for price. This ancient collection of 70 tiny books, their lead pages bound with wire, could unlock some of the secrets of the earliest days of Christianity. Academics are divided as to their authenticity but say that if verified, they could prove as pivotal as the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. On pages not much bigger than a credit card, are images, symbols and words that appear to refer to the Messiah and, possibly even, to the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Adding to the intrigue, many of the books are sealed, prompting academics to speculate they are actually the lost collection of codices mentioned in the Bible’s Book Of Revelation.

The books were discovered five years ago in a cave in a remote part of Jordan to which Christian refugees are known to have fled after the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. Important documents from the same period have previously been found there. Initial metallurgical tests indicate that some of the books could date from the first century AD. This estimate is based on the form of corrosion which has taken place, which experts believe would be impossible to achieve artificially. If the dating is verified, the books would be among the earliest Christian documents, predating the writings of St Paul. The prospect that they could contain contemporary accounts of the final years of Jesus’s life has excited scholars – although their enthusiasm is tempered by the fact that experts have previously been fooled by sophisticated fakes.

David Elkington, a British scholar of ancient religious history and archeology, and one of the few to have examined the books, says they could be ‘the major discovery of Christian history’. ‘It is a breathtaking thought that we have held these objects that might have been held by the early saints of the Church,’ he said. But the mysteries between their ancient pages are not the books’ only riddle. Today, their whereabouts are also something of a mystery. After their discovery by a Jordanian Bedouin, the hoard was subsequently acquired by an Israeli Bedouin, who is said to have illegally smuggled them across the border into Israel, where they remain.

However, the Jordanian Government is now working at the highest levels to repatriate and safeguard the collection. Philip Davies, emeritus professor of biblical studies at Sheffield University, said there was powerful evidence that the books have a Christian origin in plates cast into a picture map of the holy city of Jerusalem. As soon as I saw that, I was dumbstruck,’ he said. ‘That struck me as so obviously a Christian image. There is a cross in the foreground, and behind it is what has to be the tomb [of Jesus], a small building with an opening, and behind that the walls of the city. ‘There are walls depicted on other pages of these books too and they almost certainly refer to Jerusalem. It is a Christian crucifixion taking place outside the city walls.’

The British team leading the work on the discovery fears that the present Israeli ‘keeper’ may be looking to sell some of the books on to the black market, or worse – destroy them. But the man who holds the books denies the charge and claims they have been in his family for 100 years. Dr Margaret Barker, a former president of the Society for Old Testament Study, said: ‘The Book of Revelation tells of a sealed book that was opened only by the Messiah. ‘Other texts from the period tell of sealed books of wisdom and of a secret tradition passed on by Jesus to his closest disciples. That is the context for this discovery.’ Professor Davies said: ‘The possibility of a Hebrew-Christian origin is certainly suggested by the imagery and, if so, these codices are likely to bring dramatic new light to our understanding of a very significant but so far little understood period of history.’ Mr Elkington, who is leading British efforts to have the books returned to Jordan, said: ‘It is vital that the collection can be recovered intact and secured in the best possible circumstances, both for the benefit of its owners and for a potentially fascinated international audience.’ *British scientists have uncovered up to eight million mummified dogs, thought to have been sacrificed to Anubis, the god of the dead, 2500 years ago after excavating tunnels in the ancient Eygptian city of Saqqara









DAVID AND JENNIFER ELKINGTON — DISCOVERING THE LEAD CODICES, The Book of Seven Seals and The Secret Teachings of Jesus — 2014

https://medium.com/@JacquesCoulardeau/the-lead-codices-and-their-mystery-8f7434cc0ae6

The ruins of Nineveh mentioned in the book of Jonah in the Bible.

Jonah's Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire and was the home of King Sennacherib, King of Assyria, during the Biblical reign of King Hezekiah (יְחִזְקִיָּהוּ) and the lifetime of Judean prophet Isaiah (ישעיה). ... According to the Bible (Isaiah 10:5–19).

Significance
(705-681 BCE), among the most famous Assyrian kings and closely associated with the city. Nineveh is mentioned in the Bible, most notably in The Book of Jonah, where it is associated with sin and vice. The city was destroyed in 612 BCE by a coalition led by Babylonians and Medes which toppled the Assyrian Empire.

This footage is of the excavations - Ancient Ruins of Nineveh. The Excavations were led by Reginald Campbell Thompson (1876-1941), a British Assyriologist, epigrapher and archaeologist who had been excavating in Iraq since 1904.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efNw9Qe1XRE&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1rBtiLSyYNWMIX6uo9MfijuHswK-duwmgnyIJ_JkMcz8Lu1jLGgBCX0AM

King Ahab: An Archaeological Biography

https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2020/05/15/king-ahab-an-archaeological-biography/?fbclid=IwAR0811I1x9Ph-oFc_ljhuDAq7_mRubksry3DBAfFdwx1-Y5TTRa9aJqWJRE

CAVE OF ST. PAUL (EPHESUS, TURKEY)

Early Christian wall paintings found in the Cave of St. Paul, in the vicinity of Ephesus, Turkey, are being restored. The Cave of St. Paul, which was a place of pilgrimage for Christians until recent times, is on the northern slope of Bülbül Dag (Nightingale Mountain). The House of Mother Mary, consecrated as a place of worship by the Vatican and visited for religious services by Pope Paul VI in 1967 and Pope John Paul II in 1979, is on the mountain's south side.

The cave was discovered in 1906. It consists of a corridor leading to a 15 by 2 m room, 2.5m high, that was cut into the rock. The room's floor, originally level, was subsequently covered with material from later periods, raising it 20 cm. In the corridor there are two niches, 0.5m above the ground and blackened with soot. There are layers of plaster on the niche to the right of the entrance, going down to the floor, as there are on the corridor walls. The last layer has early twentieth-century graffiti--such as "the hidden of Mother of God" and "Paul help your servant"--written on it in charcoal and chalk.

Karl Herold, head of the restoration department for the Austrian Archaeological Institute excavations in Ephesus, was working on the cave walls when he noticed that there were paintings underneath the plaster. Removing it, Herold uncovered pictures of Mary, St. Paul, and St. Theoklia, a female disciple, together with some ancient inscriptions.

St. Paul of Tarsus visited Rome four times from A.D. 44 to 62 to spread the message of Christianity and, while traveling through Anatolia, stopped twice at Ephesus. He caused violent protests when he preached sermons in monotheistic Jewish synagogues in order to spread the word of Christianity in polytheistic Ephesus. St. Paul was killed on his fourth visit to Rome. St. Theoklia, who accompanied him on some of his journeys, later died in Antioch, modern Antakya.

The paintings of St. Paul and St. Theoklia date from the sixth century, and show them side-by-side for the first time. The depiction of St. Paul is the first one that has been discovered in Ephesus. The painting of Mary has been damaged during the course of time. Various pictures and inscriptions were added to the Cave of St. Paul up to the eleventh century. Later, it was turned into a chapel and became a place of pilgrimage for Christians. Immediately to the east of it is a cave from the Byzantine period, which was made with an entry room leading to two separate areas.

https://archive.archaeology.org/online/news/stpaul.html

Can We Trust the Book of Daniel?

https://watchjerusalem.co.il/797-can-we-trust-the-book-of-daniel

Daniel’s description of life in Babylon and Persia has proved to be remarkably accurate. Archaeological discoveries are constantly confirming his accounts. For example, Daniel’s descriptions of Nebuchadnezzar’s building programs, boastfulness, hasty threats and possibly even a love for cedar trees (Daniel 4) have all been confirmed archaeologically.

Amid this debate, one thing is certain: The historical events documented in the book of Daniel occurred. Many events in this book are powerfully corroborated by ancient texts and archaeological evidence. So the crucial question is: On which side of those events was Daniel written? This book is either powerful proof of divine revelation, or it is an outright fake. How can we know which is true?

The book of Daniel contains about 20 native Assyrian and Babylonian words. If the book of Daniel was written in the second century as skeptics claim, this would be unusual, considering the Babylonian Empire fell 400 years earlier.

Additionally, the book of Daniel contains specific phraseology—for example, the phrase “Lord of heaven”—pointing to an early date of writing. This phrase was not used during the Maccabean period because at that time it was associated with the pagan god Zeus.

Analyzing it word for word, the book of Daniel as a whole was written in a somewhat older linguistic style, with more archaic terms, than the books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther—books that are widely accepted as dating to the fifth century b.c.e. This fits, then, with the traditional dating of Daniel: the sixth century b.c.e.

Numerous ancient sources, including the annals of Cyrus the Great, corroborate Daniel’s account of the fall of Babylon in 539 b.c.e. Many other historic details have also been verified, such as the binding nature of the laws of the Medes and Persians. In Persia, even a king couldn’t take back his own laws (Daniel 6; Esther 8: 8 ).
This was not the case in Babylon, where kings could haphazardly change laws (e.g. Daniel 3:28).

Archaeology has revealed an event similar to that recorded in Daniel 6, in which a Persian king decreed that a man be executed, then the man was found to be innocent—yet executed anyway. Even upon discovering the error, the king himself could not reverse his command—such was the binding nature of Medo-Persian law. According to historian John C. Whitcomb: “Ancient history substantiates this difference between Babylon, where the law was subject to the king, and Medo-Persia, where the king was subject to the law.”

PLACES PAUL KNEW & VISITED

- CYPRUS
Cyprus is one of those Bible sites that has long been neglected within the Bible Archaeology field. It played an important part in the ancient world of the Bible. The Bible describes it as described as an important source of gold, copper, Cyprus trees & ivory. It is one of the last places to see Dwarf Elephants and some suggest the ivory mentioned in the Bible (Ezekiel 27:6) may have come from their remains - however, I suspect it was more likely to have been extensive trading networks that supplied this ivory.
Salamis was the first port of call for Paul & Cypriot-born Barnabas. There they proclaimed Jesus in the Synagogue (Acts 13:1-5) before traversing the length of the island preaching the Gospel (Acts 13:4-6). They finally arrived at Paphos where the Proconsul of Cyprus, Sergius Paulus asks to hear what they have to say. His private sorceror, who remarkably was named "Jesus", seeks to hinder the Proconsul's reception of Saul's words. He fails spectacularly and Sergius Paulus is converted. Whilst he was almost certainly not Paul's first convert, he is remarkable for being the first named convert.
[Do read the whole story for yourself, in Acts 13.]
Amazingly about 1,830 years after these events, in 1877, another Consul, this time appointed by the USA, found a marble inscription which seems to speak of Proconsul Sergius Paulus. This inscription is now housed in New York’s Metropolitan Art Museum (cf. top-left pic). It dates to the right period and is related to the period Saul visited Cyprus and speaks of a "Quintus Sergius". This man is thought by many to be the actual Sergius Paulus who came to faith under Saul's preaching.
Some might doubt that this inscription speaks of the Proconsul mentioned in Acts 13. However, another inscription was also found on Cyprus, this time dating to the period after Saul's visit (54CE). This one speaks specifically of "the Proconsul Paulus". The accuracy of the Bible confirmed again!
A boundary stone from Rome names "L. Sergius Paullus" as one of the curators of the Tiber River (cf. lower-right pic). This suggests that Sergius Paulus was demoted from the position of Proconsul to that of a minor civic role of responsible for managing the city’s riverbanks. It has been suggested that the this inscription shows his conversion to Christianity could be an explanation for such a demotion.
It was whilst he was in Paphos that the New Testament first identifies "Saul" as "Paul" (Acts 13:9). After preaching in both Alexandria & Rome, tradition holds that Barnabas was stoned to death at Salamis, circa in 61CE.

- ANTIOCH PISIDIA
The region of Pisidia's geographical and strategic position, "off the beaten path", made it difficult to control and maintain peace.  A people named the Homonadesians settled in the Taurus Mountains between the regions of Pisidia & Pamphylia (to the south) and caused problems for Rome.  After various attempts at dealing with the Homonadesians, Rome resorted to colonizing the region using retired legionaries as a solution to this failure by the local governors.  To support this solution logistically, Rome constructed a road called "Via Sebaste", which curved around the area centred at Antioch.
(The Climax Pass in yesterday's post was part of this Via Sebaste.)
Our upper panoramic picture shows the city's Augustus Temple.  This temple was built on the sacred area that is located at the highest point of the city.  The foundation of the building is carved from the natural rock. Emperor Augustus, after establishing the military colony here, honored the city with the title of "Caesareia" in 25 BC.  Antioch went on to become the capital of the region and a rich metropolis during the Roman Period.
Just what, apart from the Holy Spirit, would have prompted Paul & Barnabas to visit such an out of the way city?  The answer to this may lie in an inscription, now displayed at the Yalvac Museum (cf. lower-right pic).  This inscription quite clearly shows "Paulli" and "Sergii".  It seems the family of Sergius Paulii had large estates in the vicinity of Antioch Pisidia.  You will remember that the first named convert of Paul was the Proconsul of Cyprus, Sergius Paulus.  Is it possible that this new convert asked Paul & Barnabas to seek out his family in the Pisidian region and share the Gospel he had responded to with them?
Paul's sermon in Antioch's Synagogue caused a great stir among the city's population and a great crowd gathered to hear Paul speak on the following Sabbath.  Acts 13 tells us that this led to the Jews being "filled with jealousy" (v.44) and stirring up a move to have Paul & Barnabas (cf. Act 13:50-52) expelled.  Later they returned to Antioch and appointed elders for the Christian community there (cf. Acts 14:21-23).  Paul was to visit the region in his second and third missionary journeys.  In 2Timothy 3:11 Paul speaks of the "persecutions and sufferings" at Antioch.

- JERUSALEM
In Acts 22:3 the Apostle Paul tells us:
"I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict tradition of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are this day."
From this, we learn that Paul moved to Jerusalem to study in the prestigious theological school of Gamaliel.
GAMALIEL
Gamaliel is known in the New Testament for principally two things:
1) His defence of the right of the Apostles right to proclaim what they saw as the reality of Jesus (Acts 5:33-39);
2) Paul studied in Jerusalem, sitting at the feet of Gamaliel" ((Acts 22:3).
Gamaliel was renowned for his devotion to Torah-learning and he encouraged the same in his whole household. The following story is taken from Lamentations Rabbah, one of the oldest works of midrash:
"A member of the household in the establishment of Rabban Gamaliel had the habit of taking a basket carrying forty seahs of grain and bring it to the baker. He (Gamaliel) said to him, "All this wonderful strength is in you, and you are not engaged in the Torah?"
When he got involved in the Torah, he would begin to take thirty, then twenty, then twelve, then eight seahs, and when he had completed a book, even a basket of only a single seah he could not carry. And some say that he could not even carry his own hat, but others had to take it off him, for he could not do it. That is in line with this verse: "encrusted with sapphires" [for study of the Torah drains the strength of people]."
(Lamentations Rabbah, 74:12)
The above story shows, that for Gamaliel, virtue is not to be found in physical strength, rather physical weakness which suggested someone who had devoted themselves completely to Torah-learning.
It is plain, from the Mishnaic references to Gamaliel, that despite his standing he was not averse to refering to even higher authorities in his judgements i.e. the the "Chamber of Hewn Stone".[E.g. Mishnah Tractate Pe'ah 2:5-6, concerning leaving part of a harvest-field for the poor.]
This "Chamber of Hewn Stone" was the meeting place of the full, "Great Sanhedrin". Paul would have been very familiar with this meeting place of the great Sanhedrin and probably witnessed man debates within this chamber.
Various authorities place this chamber either to the north of the Temple or to its south. In the Mishnah Middot 5.4 it is described as one of the chambers of the Temple Court:
“Those [chambers] on the south were the Wood Chamber, the Golah Chamber and the Chamber of Hewn Stone.”
The green arrow in our picture points to the three chambers on the south side of the Temple enclosure. Which of these three chambers was the "Chamber of Hewn Stone", we cannot be sure.
PAUL & GAMALIEL
Even scholars who express doubt as to the historicity of Acts and Paul's "sitting at the feet of Gamaliel", readily admit that there are many affinities between Paul's manner of teaching and that of Gamaliel (as found in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud).
[E.g. "Paul and Gamaliel", by Bruce D. Chilton & Jacob Neusner.]

- TARSUS
The ancient, Roman city of Tarsus was the Apostle Paul's birthplace and where he was partly educated (Acts 22:3). It is part of the modern metropolitan area of Mersin, on the coast of south-central Turkey. Adana-Mersin is now Turkey's fourth largest urban area in Turkey, having a population of 3 million people. It is also famous as being the place where Cleopatra & Mark Antony first met, in 41BCE.
It is located about 9 miles from the coast of the Mediterranean, on the mouth of the Berdan (Cydnus in antiquity) river. This river empties into the Mediterranean, making Tarsus an important junction for important international land and sea routes.
With a history dating back more than 5,000 years, Tarsus has been an important stop for traders and a focal point for many civilizations including the Roman Empire. The small amount of archaeology that has been possible, shows evidence for its being inhabited in the Neolithic and Hittite (1,400-1,200 BCE) artefacts were found here. Evidence for its destruction by the Sea Peoples, around 1,200 BCE was also discovered. The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser (c. 850 BCE) mentions Tarsus as one of the cities captured. Alexander the Great saved the city from destruction by the Persians (333 BCE). In 67 BCE it became the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia.
The Apostle Paul proudly asserts in Acts21:39 that he was born in Tarsus. The city that Paul would have known is buried under the modern town, thus little archaeological work has been possible. However, a small Roman theatre has been excavated and the foundations of a huge Roman temple have been discovered. The ancient Cydnus River is now silted up and its inland harbor-lake is a marsh. However, Tarsus remains an important point on the main road between the east and the west.
Picture #1 shows the one ancient gate still standing in modern-day Tarsus, "Cleopatra's Gate". The gate was named after the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII, due to the tradition that her first liaison with Mark Anthony happened near this spot. It is a pity that its restoration has hidden much a of its ancient remains.
Picture #2 shows a view of part of the excavations at Tarsus; the road is about 23 feet wide and dates to the 2nd century BC. The columns on the right of the road were part of a colonnade, probably dating the 3rd/4thcentury AD. With a history dating back more than 5,000 years, Tarsus has been an important stop for traders and a focal point for many civilizations including the Roman Empire.
PAUL’s ROMAN CITIZENSHIP
Rome made Tarsus capital over its province of Cilicia. In 42BC Antony, who controlled the eastern provinces, declared Tarsus a “free city”. Due to this, Jewish citizens of Tarsus began to receive Roman citizenship.
The lower picture (#3) shows an example of a bronze citizenship tablet. This one records that the Emperor Antoninus Pius (in 149AD) had granted Roman citizenship and the right to legal marriage to a discharged veterans of foreign birth who had served for twenty-five years in auxiliary units. Such veterans were given a copy of the law inscribed on two bronze tablets fastened together with wires and officially sealed.
In Acts 22 Paul claims his rights as a freeborn Roman citizen. We do not know how Paul’s family became Roman citizens but it may have been due to being citizens of Tarsus.

PLACES JESUS KNEW & VISITED

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1974-is-the-bible-historically-accurate#7995

GOLGOTHA
Many people wonder why the traditional site of the death & burial of Jesus, the Holy Sepulchre (lower-right pic), is within the walls of the city of Jerusalem.  This question is prompted by the description in Hebrews, which says:
"And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood." (Hebrews 13:12)
Truth is, whilst the Holy Sepulchre is within the walls of the present Old City of Jerusalem, the site it stands on was in fact outside of the 1st-century city walls of Jerusalem (cf. arrow & upper-left pic.).  These walls were destroyed in 70 CE, as a result of the Roman siege during the first Jewish revolt against Rome.   At that time the walls were almost completely destroyed and would remain in ruins for some six decades.  In fact, Jerusalem would be left without protective walls for about two centuries.
The pagan Roman city, Aelia Capitolina, built after 130CE by Emperor Hadrian, was at first left without protective walls.  Eventually, about 200 years after they had been destroyed, new walls were erected around the city.  This was probably during the reign of Emperor Diocletian sometime around the year 300CE.  These walls were extensively renewed by the Empress Aelia Eudocia during her banishment to Jerusalem (443-460).   It was these walls that were eventually to enclose the area of the Holy Sepulchre, the most likely spot for the death & burial of Jesus.
Whilst the Holy Sepulchre might be the most likely spot for the death & burial of Jesus, it is also probably the worst place for understanding those events!  (Truthfully, the author doesn't like the building at all!)  However, not far away is a much more helpful place for understanding what happened at Calvary, it is called "The Garden Tomb".  In the lower-left picture we see something which amply shows the reason for the Garden Tomb existing, next to it there seems to be the face of a skull in the rock face.  ("Golgotha" is presumed to mean "place of the skull".)
Our upper-left picture shows a close-up of the Holyland Second Temple Jerusalem model.  The picture shows the spot where the Holy Sepulchre now stands.  It is thought to have been a stone quarry outside the city walls at that time.  Just above the area of Golgotha can be seen the Antonia Fortress, where Jesus may have been scourged.  It sits to the right of the Temple Mound, just in view upper-right.

GETHSEMANE & KIDRON VALLEY
Today we cross back over the Kidron Valley, as Jesus did on the night following His final Passover Meal, before His arrest and crucifixion.  The description in John reads:
"When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered.  Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples." (John 18:1,2)
As we cross over the Kidron Valley we notice that there is now no brook or stream.  This is due to the "Brook of the Kidron" having been channeled underground at this point.  In the time of Jesus, this "brook" ran freely through the Kidron Valley.  As we have mentioned previously, at Passover time and at Tabernacles it could become a raging torrent of water, due to the "former" & "latter rains", in Fall & Spring.  Nowadays, there is no bridge over the Kidron.  However, there are one or two pictures (neither of which are brilliant) of such a bridge dating back to the end of the 19th century - our lower picture is one of these.

The "Garden of Gethsemane" seems to have been a grove of Olive trees, probably stretching along the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives opposite what is now called the Golden Gate.  "Gethsemane" seems to come from the Aramaic word for "oil press", "gat-shenim".  It is quite likely that this was the traditional spot for pilgrims from Galilee to camp at festival times.

JERUSALEM
Having climbed through the village of Bethany to the summit of the Mount of Olives, Jesus would once more look upon His Father's House, the Temple.  Herod's beautification of the Temple and its surrounds meant that it dominated the skyline of Jerusalem.
Our top picture shows Second Temple Jerusalem as imagined in the Holyland model, housed in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.  We shall be looking closer at this model as we tour through Jerusalem over the next few posts.
Of course, our lower picture shows Jerusalem as it appears today.  Whilst the city Jesus knew lies at least 30 feet below present-day Jerusalem, the general layout of the present Old City remains very much similar to that of the first century.  The Temple mound dominates the city and everything is best understood in relation to the Temple.
The Mount of Olives is point from which we are viewing Jerusalem.  It was from the Mount of Olives that Jesus would begin His entry into Jerusalem for the last time in earthly ministry.  Just before this final entry, the village of Bethphage, on the summit of the Mount of Olives, had officially been included as Jerusalem in an attempt at better accommodating the tens of thousands of pilgrims at festival time.  Along the base of the Mount of Olives was the area we have come to know as "The Garden of Gethsemane".  This area seems to have been the favored camping ground of pilgrims from the Galilee.

BETHABARA / BETHANY BEYOND THE JORDAN
Just over 6 miles east from the ancient tell of Jericho, on the other side of the Jordan river, lies the site of what is now known as “Bethany beyond the Jordan”.  This site lies along a small tributary of the Jordan River, fed by five springs, called Wadi Gharrar.  The Jordan river could be very dangerous during the rainy seasons and a site like this just a short distance from the main river made it very suitable as a site for immersion/baptism.
Whether we should call this site “Bethabara”  or “Bethany” might be open to question.  The name “Bethabara”, found in the King James Bible, was favoured by the third century scholar Origen.  He wrote in his commentary on the Gospel of John:
"’These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.’ We are aware of the reading which is found in almost all the copies, "These things were done in Bethany." This appears, moreover, to have been the reading at an earlier time; and in Heracleon we read "Bethany." We are convinced, however, that we should not read "Bethany," but "Bethabara."
Here, Origen admits that the earliest manuscripts of John’s Gospel had “Bethany”.  However, he liked to use the background meaning of names in the Bible to support his doctrines.  In this case he determined that “Bethany” meant "House of obedience", whilst he considered “Bethabara” to mean “House of preparation".  He was convinced that the later meaning best suited the site of the immersion/baptism of Jesus.  Today we suspect “Bethabara” means “place of crossing", denoting a forging place on a river.  “Bethany” is now considered to mean “House of depression/misery".
Whichever name we decide is correct, the question remains where this site is to be found.  On the sixth century Madaba map Bethabara is shown as being on the west side of the Jordan.  It has the title (#5), “???aßa?? t? t?? ????? ??????? t?? ßapt?sµat??”, meaning “Bethabara, the place of St. John's baptising”.  In John’s Gospel we are told that this Bethabara/Bethany was, “beyond the Jordan”.  Without any doubt, the Madaba map does not place this site “beyond the Jordan”.  One reason for Christian pilgrims preferring a site west of the Jordan could very well have been a feeling that it is was safer – that has often been the case throughout history.  
[River Jordan is #4 on map and the Dead Sea is marked #1]
On the eastern side of the Jordan we find a place titled (#2), "Aenon where now is Sapsaphas".  Sapsaphas means “place of Willows”, and this site was also an important pilgrimage site commemorating the Baptism of Jesus.  In fact, a number of churches, chapels & monastic sites were built around here.  A close inspection of the Madaba map shows (#3) what seems to be a fording place across the Jordan.  This would very much match the understanding of the meaning of “Bethabara” being “place of crossing”.  You can also see in the bottom picture how appropriate the name "Sapsaphas" is.
Whilst the Jordanian authorities are encouraging Christian visitors & pilgrims to this site, they are also conscious of seeking to preserve its natural nature.  Hence, our lowest picture shows the thickets still remaining here along the banks of a River Jordan much reduced since Bible times.  Zechariah11:3 speaks of the thickets along Jordan’s banks as “the pride of Jordan”, with lions roaring.  Just over a century ago, in the 19th century, visitors to this area reported the presence of lions, tigers, bears, hyenas, jackals, and otters.  All these wild animals could find refuge and shelter in this area.  Jeremiah spoke of lions coming up from these thickets in his prophecies – see Jeremiah 49:19 & 50:44.
Some have sought to place Bethebara/Bethany much further north at Beisan /Abarah.  However, the description in John 11 suggests that is much too far away.  John 10:40 tells us Jesus was, “beyond Jordan (at) the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode."  Mary & Martha send a message to Jesus that Lazarus is on the point of death.  To reach the nearer site opposite Jericho, would take at least one day.  We are told that Jesus remained where He was for two more days before leaving for Bethany, again at least a one day journey.  That all adds up to a minimum of four days.  When Jesus asks for the stone to be removed from the tomb Mary exclaims, “Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days."  This fits well with the site where Jesus was being this Bethabara/Bethany beyond the Jordan.  In fact, John tells us Jesus says, “Let us go into Judaea again."  This is further evidence for the site being on the east bank of the Jordan, outside of Judaea in Peraea.  If the site had been further north the events could not have fitted the four or five days mentioned in John’s account.
Between 1999 & 2002 archaeological work was carried out in this area and a number of pools suitable for immersion/baptism were found.

BANIAS-CAESAREA PHILIPPI
Water and its sources were always important to the Romans.  Many of their temples and ritual centers were built around these places.  Thus, at Banias, opposite this gaping cave in our upper picture, (or Panion after the pagan god Pan) Dr. Maoz believes King Herod built a temple in 19BCE.
Herod's son, Philip, built an administrative center here, changing its name to Caesarea Phillipi in honor of Ceasar & himself!  However, it wasn't until 53/54CE that Agrippa II transformed the area into a city.  The Gospels are very careful to always speak of Yeshua ministering in the "region" or "villages" of this area.
This cave was probably the one spoken of by Eusebius (4th century AD) where a popular pagan ritual occurred.  In this ritual, a slaughtered animal would be thrown into the water of this grotto. If it sank the sacrifice had been accepted by the gods.  If it floated the offering had been rejected.
Many believe that it was of this cave/grotto that Yeshua spoke when He said, "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matt 16:18)

THE REGION OF TYRE & SIDON
In Mark chapter 7, we find Jesus visiting the region of Tyre & Sidon.  He seems to have wanted to use the opportunity to rest, as "He entered into a house and didn't want anyone to know it, but he couldn't escape notice." (7:24)  It is quite likely He was staying in the home of one of the Jewish population in the area.
It was here that Jesus was confronted by a Greek woman, born in Syro-Phoenicia, whose daughter was demon possessed.  After some discussion, Jesus heals the little girl.
A major route led from Tiberius, on the western shore of the Kinneret, to Acco on the Mediterranean coast - Acco is just above the Carmel range and is called "Ptolemais" in our picture (circled in yellow).  From Acco, a major road led directly to Tyre & Sidon.  This made the initial journey about 60 miles.  In Mark's account, Jesus seems to have left "the region of Tyre" and gone "through Sidon".  (Sidon is about 22 miles from Tyre.)  Mark then tells us He came to the Sea of Galilee via the Decapolis region.  That means He would have traveled the road to Caesarea Philippi and then taken the road to Bethsaida, on the northern shore of the Kinneret.
Our upper picture shows a portion of the 4th century CE Roman road map.  It is called the "Tabula Peutingeriana" (Peutinger Map), after the person who found it in a monastery, Conrad Peutinger.  He published the map in 1507, which is actually a 13th-century copy of an older version of this map.  Our section shows the northern portion of Israel & Syria.  I have highlighted those places of particular interest to this post.
Our lower picture shows Roman remains on the Promontory of Tyre, sometimes called the "Ladder of Tyre".  The mainland can just about be seen in the distance through the haze.

STORMS ON THE KINNERET
I have, for some time, sought to explain the meteorology of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) in a rather simplistic manner - that is mainly because, when it comes to meteorology, I am anything but an expert!  However, my explanation seems to be supported by a 4-year study (1973-6) of the Kinneret wind system by Arieh Bitan of the Tel Aviv University.
If you spend a couple of days in Tiberias, or elsewhere near the Kinneret, do take the opportunity to enjoy an evening on the shoreline of the lake.  Just make sure you are there just before sunset and, if it is Spring or early Autumn, take a jumper or coat as there will be a sharp drop in temperature.  (There are plenty of eating places, where you can enjoy some wonderful "St.Peter's Fish".)  The reason I suggest this is to enable you to witness the extraordinary change in the nature of the lake.
What happens, it seems, is the cooler air from off the Mediterranean coast, in the west, reaches the cliffs of the Kinneret and the gravity causes it to plunge down to lake level - this is called a "Katabatic wind" effect.  This cooler wind produces some dramatic storms on the lake.  Within minutes a completely calm Kinneret can turn into a raging storm!  Our top picture shows a typical calm evening just before sunset at the old habor in Tiberias.  The lower photograph illustrates how the Kineret's water can appear just 20 minutes later!
[These two pictures were not taken anywhere near on the same evening but do illustrate the dramatic change that anyone who has been on the shores of the Kineret in in the early evening can witness.]
It must have been one of these storms that caught the Disciples on the lake (cf.  Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, & Luke 8:22-25).  I have to admit, I cannot understand why the Disciples, who were well used to working on the Kinneret, should be so surprised by this.  That storm must have been quite spectacular to have such a negative effect on these master fishermen!
_____________________
The central-inset picture shows the "Jesus Boat".  A remarkably well-preserved fishing boat from the time of Jesus - I left the people in the picture to give some scale to the boat.  The upper-inset picture shows a small part of a 1st century AD found at Magdella during the 1071-74 excavations.  This mosaic pictures the type of boat that would have been sailing on the Kineret at the time of Jesus, note how close it is in design to the so-called "Jesus Boat".
To see a computer-generated reconstruction of the Jesus Boat visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9nFwyY-vWg
THE FOLLOWING PAPER MAY BE OF INTEREST
"Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and its exceptional wind system", by Arieh Bitan, in Boundary-Layer Meteorology, December 1981, Volume 21, Issue 4, p.477–487

NAIN
Nain lies nestled below Hill of Moreh on the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley.  Our main picture looks south  towards the Hill of Moreh and we plainly see the modern village of Nein in the center.  Our lower-right inset picture was taken from a road leading into the village, looking south-east, with the Hill of Moreh in the background.  It is about 4 miles south-west of Mount Tabor and 5 miles south-east of Nazareth.
It was at Nain that Jesus performed the miracle of resurrecting a son of a widow (Luke 7:11-17). The name of the modern village, Nein, preserves the name of the village since the Roman period.
Little archaeological work has been carried out in Nein, due mainly to the Second Temple Period village lying under the modern village.  However, ceramic evidence suggests it has been occupied since the Middle Bronze Age period.
The Hill of Moreh is mentioned once in the Bible as the marking the vicinity where Gideon defeated the Midianites.  (Judges 7:1)

MAGDALA, its SYNAGOGUE & STONE
Two important New Testament sites lie on the coast of the Kineret (Sea of Galilee), around which much of Jesus' ministry took place.  These are Capernaum, Jesus' own home-town, and Magdala, from which is probably derived the name Mary the Magdalene.
Magdala comes from the Hebrew "migdal", meaning "tower".  Recent excavations at the probable site of Magdala have revealed a 1st century AD town or village.  It was certainly big enough to afford a Synagogue, remains of which have been found.
In this Synagogue was found a decorated stone, now known as the "Magdala Stone" (lower-right pic.).  This stone has detailed carvings depicting the Second Temple.  The stone seems to have stood in the center of the Magdala Synagogue.  It is not tall enough to have been used as a reading desk or podium by someone.  However, it may be the base of such a podium from which the Torah Scroll would have been read.  It is quite possible Jesus used this "Magdala Stone" as He read from the Torah Scroll.
In our montage, the red arrows point to the excavation site of Magdala.  The purple arrow, in the top picture here, points to the adopted home-town of Jesus, where He may have owned, or at least rented, a house, Capernaum.  In the upper part of the middle picture, we can see part of the modern town of Tiberius in the distance.

CHORAZIN, PLACE OF WOE
Whilst the Gospels do not record Jesus visiting Chorazin, the woes of Jesus in Mathew 11:20 ("Woe to you, Chorazin!") strongly suggests that He had visited the village.  This should be no surprise, Chorazin was just a couple of miles up the hill from the home of Jesus, Capernaum - really just, "the next village".
The ruins of Chorazin contain a Synagogue, probably built at a similar time as the one easily viewed in Capernaum (i.e. post 3rd century CE).  However, the Synagogue in Capernaum was built using expensive imported white stone, whilst that in Chorazin was built of locally available black stone.
The houses in Chorazin are preserved to such a height that we can examine how these Galileans tackled their roofing.  It can be seen in the middle-right picture, they used stone slabs in Chorazin.  It would not be a surprise if they did not do something similar in Capernaum.  Just a couple of days spent beside the Kinneret quickly show how, at evening, the air rushes down to fill the space left by the rising warm air.  This very quickly causes very strong storms upon the water.  Such winds would very quickly destroy thatched roofs of any type.
Because of the above, it seems more likely that the roofs in Capernaum also used large stone slabs.  In the story of the paralyzed man lowered through the roof of Jesus' house, in Luke 5 & Mark 2, the idea is of a tile or slab being removed, rather than "digging" through the roof.  This is quite consistent with the houses in Capernaum having similar roofs like those in Chorazin.
Of particular interest to the Bible student is the "Seat of Moses" found in Chorazin. Such a thing is mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 23:2. Scholars were unsure if this was real or symbolic. Here, at Chorazin, it was discovered to be a real seat (cf. centre-left picture). It is thought that this "Seat of Moses" was a symbol of Jewish legal authority conferred upon teachers of Jewish law. It would have been in a conspicuous place, at the head of the congregation in a Synagogue.
Some have questioned this understanding of the "Seat of Moses" by pointing out that people stood to read the scrolls (e.g. Luke 4:16).  However, it does not take much thought to realize that standing to read the Torah scrolls has nothing to do with being seated to teach.  A number of times in the Gospels we read that Jesus "sat down to teach" (e.g. Matthew 5:1; Luke 4:20 & John 8:2).

CAPERNAUM, HOME-TOWN OF JESUS
The Capernaum seen by visitors is not much bigger than a large family garden. For anyone with a trained eye, most aerial views of the surrounding fields show that Capernaum extends far beyond that which has so far been excavated. Even our limited view beyond the visitor center, in the top this picture, reveals further buildings in the fields beyond.
Capernaum was well situated, near the mouth of the Jordan river and on the main highway between Mesopotamia (& the regions beyond) and Egypt (& Africa). It is no wonder that the Romans stationed a Century of soldier's here, presumably to protect the tax & customs control. We have yet to discover where were they garrisoned? (Maybe you could find it using Google Earth?  I haven't so far!)
The salted fish from Galilee was famous over a very wide area, even on the Emperor's table! These supposedly "simple fishermen" ran businesses which exported their products far & wide. They were probably familiar with, if not speaking fluently, at least four languages - Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek & Latin. They needed to be able to understand at least these four languages to run their businesses. The Southern Jerusalemites typically considered them as dumb Northerners, that probably does not reflect the reality!  Later Jewish writings would confirm the Galileans as having a reputation for punctilious study & observance of Torah.
A big mistake made by many readers of the Gospels is to assume that when, on His last journey to Jerusalem, Jesus said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Luke 9:20), He was referring to His normal lifestyle. This maxim is generally thought to have been spoken in His third year of ministry.  If we are to take seriously the mentions of the home of Jesus in passages such as Mark 2:1 & Matthew 4:13, then we might conclude He had a home of His own.  Now, whether Jesus owned the home or rented it we cannot say.  However, it would seem that, apart from His last year of ministry, Jesus did consider Capernaum His home.
Anyone looking at the top aerial picture might wonder why a UFO has landed in this ancient village!  Truth is, it is a church that the Franciscan owners of the property have built over one particular home.  The lower picture shows the excavations of this house.  There is the typical outline of an octagonal Byzantine, Queen Helena, martyrium church.  It has been built over an earlier, 1st century CE building.  Evidence from the graffiti on the walls of this building suggests it was used as an early place for Believers to meet.  Of course, being good Catholics, the Franciscans immediately decided this must be the home of the Apostle Peter.  However, if we were early Believers, where would we prefer to meet?  In the home of Peter or the home of his (and our) Lord & Savior?  Some suspect the latter would be the case and thus feel this was the home of Jesus Himself in Capernaum.

BETHABARA / BETHANY BEYOND THE JORDAN
Just over 6 miles east from the ancient tell of Jericho, on the other side of the Jordan river, lies the site of what is now known as “Bethany beyond the Jordan”.  This site lies along a small tributary of the Jordan River, fed by five springs, called Wadi Gharrar.  The Jordan river could be very dangerous during the rainy seasons and a site like this just a short distance from the main river made it very suitable as a site for immersion/baptism (cf. centre-right pic).
Whether we should call this site “Bethabara”  or “Bethany” might be open to question.  The name “Bethabara”, found in the King James Bible, was favored by the third-century scholar Origen.  He wrote in his commentary on the Gospel of John:
"These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing."
We are aware of the reading which is found in almost all the copies, "These things were done in Bethany." This appears, moreover, to have been the reading at an earlier time; and in Heracleon we read "Bethany". We believe, however, that we should not read "Bethany", but "Bethabara."
Here, Origen admits that the earliest manuscripts of John’s Gospel had “Bethany”.  However, he liked to use the background meaning of names in the Bible to support his doctrines.  In this case, he determined that “Bethany” meant "House of obedience", whilst he considered “Bethabara” to mean “House of preparation".  He was convinced that the later meaning best suited the site of the immersion/baptism of Jesus.  Today we believe “Bethabara” means “place of crossing", denoting a forging place on a river.  “Bethany” is now considered to mean “House of depression/misery".
Whichever name we decide is correct, the question remains where this site is to be found.  On the sixth-century Madaba map, Bethabara is shown as being on the west side of the Jordan (#5).  It can be seen in the light blues lettering just below the large fish in the River Jordan.  The Greek translates as, “Bethabara, the place of St. John's baptizing”.  In John’s Gospel, we are told that this Bethabara/Bethany was, “beyond the Jordan”.  Without any doubt, the Madaba map does not place this site “beyond the Jordan”.  One reason for Christian pilgrims preferring a site west of the Jordan could very well have been a feeling that it is was safer – that has often been the case throughout history.  
[The River Jordan is #4 on the map and the Dead Sea is marked #1]
On the eastern side of the Jordan, we find a place titled (#2), "Aenon where now is Sapsaphas".  Sapsaphas means “place of Willows”, and this site was also an important pilgrimage site commemorating the Baptism of Jesus.  In fact, a number of churches, chapels & monastic sites were built around here.  A close inspection of the Madaba map shows (#3) what seems to be a fording or ferry-place across the Jordan.  This would very much match the understanding of the meaning of “Bethabara” being “place of crossing”.  You can also see in the centre-left picture how appropriate the name "Sapsaphas" is.
[Our lower picture shows what was probably the successor to the ferry marked #3 on the Madaba Map above.  This picture was taken about 100 years ago.]
Whilst the Jordanian authorities are encouraging Christian visitors & pilgrims to this site, they are also conscious of seeking to preserve its natural nature.  Hence, our middle pictures show the thickets still remaining here along the banks of a River Jordan much reduced since Bible times.  Zechariah11:3 speaks of the thickets along Jordan’s banks as “the pride of Jordan”, with lions roaring.  Just over a century ago, in the 19th century, visitors to this area reported the presence of lions, tigers, bears, hyenas, jackals, and otters.  All these wild animals could find refuge and shelter in this area.  Jeremiah spoke of lions coming up from these thickets in his prophecies – see Jeremiah 49:19 & 50:44.
Some have sought to place Bethebara/Bethany much further north at Beisan /Abarah.  However, the description in John 11 suggests that is much too far away.  John 10:40 tells us Jesus was, “beyond Jordan (at) the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode."  Mary & Martha send a message to Jesus that Lazarus is on the point of death.  To reach the nearer site opposite Jericho, would take at least one day.  We are told that Jesus remained where He was for two more days before leaving for Bethany, again at least a one day journey.  That all adds up to a minimum of four days.  When Jesus asks for the stone to be removed from the tomb Mary exclaims, “Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days."  This fits well with the site where Jesus was being this Bethabara/Bethany beyond the Jordan.  In fact, John tells us Jesus says, “Let us go into Judaea again."  This is further evidence for the site being on the east bank of the Jordan, outside of Judaea in Peraea.  If the site had been further north the events could not have fitted the four or five days mentioned in John’s account.
Between 1999 & 2002 archaeological work was carried out in this area and a number of pools suitable for immersion/baptism were found.  These suggested the area was seen as a pilgrimage site in the past, thus supporting its identification with the Biblical "Bethany beyond the Jordan"

EGYPT, PLACE OF SAFETY FOR JESUS' FAMILY
We do not know where the family of Jesus went when they fled into Egypt.  There are many non-Biblical traditions, which we shall not address.  However, we do know that Jewish people had been migrating into Egypt for many centuries.  It seems highly likely that the family of Jesus, in their flight to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-18), could have settled amongst the growing, influential Jewish community in & around Alexandria.  Certainly, there would have been many opportunities for Joseph to use his skills as a "tekton" (master of using wood & stone in buildings) in the rapidly expanding city of Alexandria.
This Jewish emigration to Egypt can be traced back Biblically to the time of Jeremiah and the fall of the first Temple (cf. Jeremiah 43).  In the three centuries leading up to the birth of Jesus, various waves of Jewish immigrants settled in Egypt - some 120,000 Jewish captives were taken to Egypt by Ptolemy I Soter.  This Jewish diaspora seems to have settled in and around Alexandria.  So much so that the Ptolemies assigned them two of the five districts of the city  This enabled them to keep their laws pure of local cultic influences.  There were other neighboring Jewish communities, such as that at present-day Kafr ed-Dawar.  At Kafr ed-Dawar we are told Jewish people served as "custodians of the river".

By the Second Temple Period, even amongst the highly educated members of the Jewish community, many could not speak, read or write in Hebrew. This meant they had no real access to the Hebrew Scriptures.  One such leader of the Alexandrian Jewish community at the time of Jesus was Philo. Although a highly educated philosopher, there is little evidence that even Philo was proficient in Hebrew.

To help slow this assimilation Jewish scholars began to translate the Tanakh (Old Testament) into Greek, beginning with the five books of Moses (Torah). One of those Greek translation of Scriptures became very popular and is known as the "Septuagint".  This is the text that the New Testament writers often quoted from (rather than the Hebrew version).  Our lower-right picture shows one of the fragments of the Septuagint found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls (8HevXIIgr) - it shows a passage from the minor Prophet of Zechariah (8:23-9:5).  You will note that it is written in Greek, apart from two words (highlighted in yellow), these are the Divine Name of God which was written in paleo-Hebrew script to remind people not to pronounce it.

Various inscriptions have been found from ancient Alexandria speaking of Synagogues and their precursor, the "proseuche".  These date back to the 3rd century BCE.  Two of these inscriptions, speaking of "proseuche", dating from around 40BCE are shown upper-left in our picture compilation.  Another Alexandrian inscription (ca. 3CE) is shown upper-right, this speaks of an "archisynagogos" (highlighted in yellow), that is a leader of a Synagogue.

Of course, one of the "Seven Wonders" of the ancient world was to be found at Alexandria, the great Pharos Lighthouse.  It was built in 280BCE and was only destroyed in the 14th century CE. It stood at the western corner of the Nile Delta at Alexandria.

Archaeology proves Luke’s history in the Bible

Many try to say today that the bible writers invented history or played fast and loose with the facts.  But how does this claim stand when checked out by archaeology?
One book that especially lends itself to archaeological verification is the Acts of the Apostles, believed by most scholars to be authored by Luke, the author of the third Gospel. Sir William Ramsay, who was one of the greatest archaeologists to have ever lived, began a study of the book of Acts as a skeptic, believing it was written in the second century and not historical. As he studied he uncovered evidence that indicated otherwise, and he had a complete reversal in his thinking about Luke’s accuracy: “Luke’s history is unsurpassed in respect of its trustworthiness.”[1] Ramsay also stated of Luke: “This author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians.”[2]
Josh McDowell lists evidences for Luke’s accuracy compiled by Roman historian Colin Hemer, a noted Roman historian: “Specialized details, which would not be known except to a contemporary researcher. . .details include exact titles of officials, identification of army units. . .correlation of dates of known kings and governors within the chronology of the narrative. . .‘undesigned coincidences’ between Acts and the Pauline Epistles. . .off-hand geographical references that bespeak familiarity with common knowledge.”[3]
McDowell notes that many times historians thought Luke was in error on some points, only to be proven wrong by an archaeological discovery. For example:
 

• Luke spoke of Philippi as a “part” or “district” of Macedonia. It was believed he erred because the Greek word meris did not mean “district.” Archaeological evidence unearthed showed, however, that “district” was the exact meaning of the Greek word meris that Luke had used.
  
  
• Luke referred to Lysanias the Tetrarch of Abilene in his Gospel. Because the only known Lysanias to historians was killed in 36 B.C., Luke was thought to be in error. Then an inscription was found bearing the name of Lysanias the Tetrarch and dated between 14 and 29 A.D., just at the right time period.
  
  
• Luke was thought to be wrong about the census taken at the time of Christ, because critics said there was no evidence of a census and that the governor called Quirinius was in power too late, 6 A.D., to be in his position at the time of Christ. They also stated that it was not required for the people to return to their birth homes. But archaeology showed that in fact these censuses were done regularly and that one was indeed taken at the time of Christ and, furthermore, that Quirinius was governor (or at least an administrator of some type, see footnote #5 below) a second time, in 7 B.C. They also found evidence on a papyrus document showing that during the censuses people were required to return to their own homes and countries.[4][5]
  
  
• Luke referred to the Philippian officials as praetors, when some scholars thought the titles should be duumvirs, but archaeological finds showed that in fact praetors was the right title for the Roman magistrates of the colony.
  
  
• Luke used the title politarchs for the Thessalonian officials, but since this title was not found in the classical literature Luke was again assumed to be wrong. Then several inscriptions were found that used the title politarchs, and five of them referred to Thessalonica.[6]
  
  

There are many more examples of these findings, where Luke was right and the critics were wrong.  Everywhere we can check the Bible’s history, it proves reliable.  The above excerpt was taken from The Bible Can Be Proven, Chapter 6 entitled “The Shovel doesn’t Lie.”

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[1] Sir William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1962, 81.
[2] Sir William Ramsay, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK, 1915, p. 222, as quoted in Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p. 63.
[3] Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1999, 65-66, his material being compiled from Colin Hemer, The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History, Eisenvrauns, Winona Lake, IN, 1990, 104-107.
[4] Ibid., McDowell, 63.
[5] Relating to the census, there is evidence a census was taken around 3–2 B.C. for the purpose of the exaltation of Augustus to the “Pater Patriae,” which was not a taxation census but a citizen registration for allegiance to the emperor. At this time Quirinius would have possibly been a procurator and put in charge when this census happened. Luke does not actually give Quirinius’s title; the Greek word translated “governor” really means a “ruler” or “administrator” at any level; and Luke also does not state that paying taxes was the reason for the census. The Greek word there simply means “registered,” not “taxed.” For an  in-depth article on this position, see http://askelm.com/star/star014.htm, The Census of Quintillus Varus, Associates for Scriptural Knowledge.
[6] McDowell, 65.

St. Paul’s bay-the wrong place for St. Paul’s shipwreck?

In the Book of Acts, Chapter 27, Luke gives a detailed account of Paul’s journey on a Roman ship which wrecked off of the southeast coast of the Island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.   He reports that they encountered a severe northeaster storm (v. 14) dropped four anchors(v.29) in 15 fathoms of water (v. 28), and eventually headed for a “bay with a beach” (the correct translation of v. 39, some versions erroneously have “a creek with a shore”).  They eventually wrecked, running the ship aground, in an unfamiliar place (v. 39) where the “two seas meet” (v. 41), 14 days after they had set sail from Crete (v. 33).   They swam to shore from where the ship had wrecked  (v. 43)  So goes the biblical description of this shipwreck.

There is a site on the Northeast coast of Malta that is the traditional site of this event, called St. Paul’s Bay.  Explorer Bob Cornuke, a former police investigator and author of a book called The Lost Shipwreck of Paul,  decided to investigate.  He found that the traditional St. Paul’s bay site had none of the right features to fit the bible account.  No anchors or artifacts had been found despite much dredging of the entire bay over the years.  There was no reef before the shore on which the ship could have wrecked, and the occupants swum to shore.  There was nothing that could be called a beach on this bay. There was nothing there that fit the description “where the two seas meet”.  Furthermore, St. Pauls bay was a well known port, and the site was not designated as the shipwreck location until almost 1,200 years after the events.

So Cornuke decided to look for a bay that fit the biblical description instead of the traditional site.   And he struck figurative “gold!”  He found a bay called St. Thomas bay on the Southern shore of Malta, that fit all the biblical descriptions.  It was a bay with a beach and reef.    There were two currents that collided especially whenever storms of the northeaster type developed, and this region was called the place where the “two seas collide” by the locals.  Investigating further, Cornuke eventually tracked down four Roman anchors that were all found in the same spot by local divers.  The anchors turned out to be from the correct time period, and amazingly, when he went to the place where they were found, the depth of the water was about 90 feet, or 15 fathoms, just as Luke had so precisely described!

As if this wasn’t enough evidence, the Maltese Armed Forces has a sophisticated computer program that is able to precisely calculate and predict the drift course of ships and other objects.  This program has been used in rescue operations, contains many years worth of data, and by putting in the size and type of vessel, the weather conditions, and the days at sea, the drift of the ship can be calculated.  So they put in the parameters for the type and size of vessel Paul was on, as well as the type of storm they encountered, and ran the program.  To the suprise of even the official who ran the program, the calculated drift of Paul’s ship not only landed them in the correct area on the Maltese coast, but in exactly 14 days!
In this case, as it has been in many other cases, tradition was wrong, and the Bible was exactly right!