Archaeology
studies past human cultures by examining the physical objects they have
left behind. It includes excavating (digging) to recover objects that
have been buried for long periods of time. Often, cities were built on
top of ruins of older cities. Sometimes archaeologists find huge mounds
that are made of debris from layers upon layers of vanished
civilizations. These mounds are called "tells." There are two basic
types of artifacts that have been recovered from the "tells": (1)
objects such as buildings (houses, temples), statues, pottery, weapons,
farming tools, and household utensils; and (2) the remains of written
documents, including inscriptions and decaying documents consisting of
little more than fragments of words.
How has archaeology
affected the study of the Bible? The recovery of physical objects and
written documents, especially, has greatly improved biblical
understanding.
Archaeology has provided much
information about the history and culture of ancient Israel and its
surrounding neighbors. Archaeology has also helped us to understand the
history, culture, and religion of the people who lived in Bible lands
long before the Israelites settled there. The objects found have taught
much about how these previous cultures and religions influenced the new
settlers. The phrase "biblical archaeology" refers to archaeology
related to the study of the Bible. The Bible writers were shaped by
their cultural surroundings. It would be difficult to understand the
Bible without some knowledge of the history and culture of the ancient
Near East.
Bible translators sometimes have difficulty rendering accurate
translations of certain Hebrew words until these words (or words
similar to them) are discovered in other ancient writings. These
writings can then be compared with biblical words, and the meaning of
the Hebrew becomes clearer. Some of these ancient writings describe
religious practices, government policies, history, and the cultures of
nations that surrounded ancient Israel. Ancient documents were written
on stone and clay tablets, broken pieces of pottery (called "ostraca"),
or on parchment made from animal skins and papyrus. Papyrus is a
writing material made from the plant of the same name.
One
important document discovered by archaeologists is the Cyrus Cylinder,
a 10-inch long clay barrel. This was written in the Akkadian language
in the 500 B.C.
The inscription tells how King Cyrus of Persia
defeated the kingdom of Babylonia. It also tells that Cyrus was
generous toward his new subjects and allowed them to practice their own
religions. Similarly, the biblical book, Ezra, tells that Cyrus allowed
the people of Judah to return to their homeland with what remained of
the treasures that the Babylonians had taken from the temple in
Jerusalem (Ezra 1.1-11). Other ancient documents, which describe events reported in Ezra and Nehemiah, have also been discovered through archaeology.
One of the most exciting archaeological finds ever
occurred in 1947 when a shepherd boy wandered into a cave searching for
a lost sheep. He found many ancient clay jars containing scrolls. The
cave was located just west of the Dead Sea, so these important
documents have come to be known as the "Dead Sea Scrolls." These
scrolls include a variety of writings about the Essene community that
lived in the wilderness area near these caves from around 250 B.C. to
68 B.C. The Essenes were a group of very religious people who left
Jerusalem for religious and political reasons and settled in the
secluded location around Qumran. But perhaps the most interesting
documents discovered there were the scrolls of Old Testament books, the
oldest copies of Hebrew Scriptures currently in existence. Of these,
the most precious find is the "Isaiah Scroll." It contains a complete
copy of Isaiah, which was copied around 150 - 50 B.C. The parchment is
over 20-feet long and remarkably well preserved.
Unearthing the Past
Archeology has helped to confirm some of the events reported in the
Bible. Although it cannot " prove" every detail found in the Bible
(since the Bible was written thousands of years ago), many
archaeological excavations have provided useful evidence that in some
cases support what the Bible says. For example, archaeological evidence
shows that there were many Philistines in Palestine around 1000 B.C.,
and that they were most likely a threat to neighboring peoples,
including the Israelites. This may be one reason why the people of
Israel felt the need for a strong ruler (king) so that they could
better defend themselves (1 Sam 8).
Also,
archaeological studies of village sites in Judea dating from the sixth
century B.C. show that many of them had been abandoned for a number of
years before being used again.
This supports the Bible's
extensive description of how the Babylonians took many of the people
away from Judah and into exile in Babylon.The exile lasted from 586 B.C. to about 538 B.C. when Cyrus (see above) allowed the people of Judea to return home.
Other important archaeological finds are those uncovered at Jericho,
where many layers of civilizations have been unearthed, the oldest
dating from before 5000 B.C., several thousand years before the
Israelites conquered it (Josh 5.13-6.27).
Archaeologists also uncovered the ruins of a building near Jericho from
a later period. It has been identified as the winter palace of Herod
the Great.
Shechem, Mount Gerizim, and Samaria,
all sites in central Palestine, are important because they were centers
of royal power and worship for the northern tribes of Israel.
Megiddo, where the famous "Stables of Solomon" were found (1 Kings 9.19). The "tell" at Megiddo is about 70-feet deep, so several strata (layers) of material have been uncovered.
Jerusalem,
where a tunnel known as "Hezekiah's Tunnel" was found. This tunnel was
used to bring water into the city during the time the Assyrians
surrounded the city in 701 B.C. (2 Kgs 20.20).
Capernaum, where an early synagogue (Jewish meeting place) was found that may relate to Mark 1.21. A fisherman's house was also found nearby which dates from the first century A.D.
Ephesus,
where the temple of Artemis was unearthed along with writings that
mention the silver statues of this temple, possibly similar to those
mentioned in Acts 19.24.
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Learning About How People Lived
Some archaeological finds provide us with information on what life
was like in biblical times in the ancient world. We have glimpses of
how the royal and military rulers governed their countries; how people
earned a living, produced food and goods; how buildings were built; how
people worshiped, what they believed about how the world came into
existence, and what they believed the future held for them.
Cultural
information about the ancient world has come from many different
sources. The Code of Hammurabi describes the practice of a woman asking
her husband and her hand-maiden to have a baby together if the wife has
not been able to get pregnant. This may have been the same custom as
described in (Gen 16), where Sarah asks Abraham and Hagar to have a baby together because Sarah has not been able to have children.
Another important archaeological find that reflects biblical culture are coins from the same period as those described in (Ezra 2.69 ) and (Neh 7.70-72). They are especially useful in identifying local and regional authorities and helping scholars to establish dates.
Archaeological
discoveries of ivory carvings, religious figurines, pottery, jewelry,
and even animal and human bones have provided additional clues about
the culture of biblical times. Skeletons found from the time of Jesus
show that the average height of people was just over 5 feet. They also
confirm that people were indeed nailed to a cross (crucified) as a form
of capital punishment as described in the Gospels. See the mini-article called "Crucifixion," and
accompanying illustrations. The foot bones of one male skeleton, for
instance, had a nail in them and the lower leg of the man had been
broken. John describes both crucifixion in general and the practice of
breaking a condemned person's legs (John 19.18,32).
Other
archaeological discoveries reveal much about the types of architecture
and building projects undertaken by the Romans who ruled over Palestine
during the time of Jesus. Portions of the Jewish temple built by Herod
the Great can still be seen, as can the ruins of ancient temples built
to honor Greek and Roman gods. All of these are useful to people who
want to understand the biblical world, because the early church
developed from the Jewish religion but included people from other
backgrounds as well.
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Ancient Texts Related to the Old Testament
|
Ancient Document and Date
|
Language
|
Chief Enemy
|
Gilgamesh Epic
around 1700 B.C.; some versions circulated as early as 2100 B.C. |
Akkadian |
Gilgamesh, the ruler of Uruk, has many adventures and meets Utnapishtim, the only survivor of the great flood. |
Enuma Elish
around 1200 B.C. |
Akkadian |
A story written on seven stone tablets which tells of the Babylonian god Marduk and how the world was created. |
Code of Hammurabi
around 1750 B.C. |
Akkadian |
A
listing of laws for the people of the kingdom of Babylonia. It has many
laws similar to the Law of Moses in the Bible. Moses lived about 400
years after Hammurabi. |
Ras-Shamra Tablets
around 1450 B.C. |
Ugaritic |
Tells
of the adventures of Canaanite gods and rulers which helps biblical
scholars to better understand Canaanite religion and Old Testament
poetry. |
Amarna Letters
around 1350 B.C. |
Canaanite
Akkadian |
Hundreds
of letters written by Canaanite scribes give information about
political, social, and religious relationships between Canaan and Egypt
during the rule of Egyptian Pharaohs, Amenhotep III and Akhenaton. |
Merneptah Stele
around 1210 B.C. |
Egyptian |
Also
known as the "Israel Stele," it describes the victory of Egyptian king
Merneptah over peoples from the west, including "Israel." Shows that by
this time a people known as "Israel" existed in Canaan. |
Gezer Calendar
around 925 B.C. |
Hebrew |
A student from Israel (northern kingdom) describes the seasons, the crops, and the yearly farm work done in Israel. |
Moabite Stone
around 850 B.C. |
Moabite |
Describes how Mesha, king of Moab, rebelled against one of the kings of Israel from King Omri's line (see 2 Kings 3.4). |
Clay Prism of Sennacherib
around 690 B.C. |
Akkadian |
The
Annals of Sennacherib describe how Sennacherib of Assyria surrounded
Jerusalem and made King Hezekiah of Judah a prisoner in his own city. |
Lachish Letters
around 590 B.C. |
Hebrew |
Writings on pottery fragments tell about the difficult days in Jerusalem before the Babylonians surrounded the city. |
Cyrus Cylinder
around 539 B.C. |
Akkadian |
Describes
how King Cyrus of Persia defeated the Babylonians, tells of his
policies toward the peoples he ruled, and describes their gods. |
Dead Sea Scrolls
some as early as 250 B.C., others as late as A.D. 70 |
Hebrew
Aramaic
Greek |
Hundreds
of scrolls and scroll fragments, including the oldest existing copies
of Old Testament books and passages. Some documents describe the
religious community, possibly Essenes, who wrote and collected these
documents. |
|
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The History & Development of Archaeology
Serious study of the remains of the ancient Near East began around
1800 when Napoleon invaded Egypt, taking with him artists and scholars
to study the culture of that ancient land. These specialists studied
the ruins of temples, palaces, and burial places. During this
expedition, they found many ancient writings and inscriptions. A very
famous stone, called the "Rosetta Stone" was discovered by some of
Napoleon's soldiers. The stone had an inscription in three different
languages: two forms of Egyptian and one of Greek. The letters on the
stone were in the form of " hieroglyphs" (pictures representing letters
and words). After much hard work, a French scholar was able to decipher
(translate or break down) the inscriptions. Through his important work,
many inscriptions on the walls, tombs, and palaces in Egypt can be
understood today. By the middle of the 1800s, ancient ruins in
Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, (modern
Iraq and Iran), were also uncovered by digging. These remains include
cities, forts, palaces, and temples, as well as ordinary houses and
shops.
Careful study has made it possible to decode and translate
the ancient writings which have been found, and to determine the dates
of many of the artifacts. Looking carefully at pottery has been one way
to determine dates of other items in a dig area. Since pottery was made
in different shapes and used different techniques and finishes during
different periods of history, archaeologists have gradually figured out
how to date the layers of their excavations by the kinds of pottery
they find. For example, much pottery from the Iron Age (1225-539 B.C.)
is thick and colored light gray, while pottery from the Roman Era (A.D.
63-324) is often reddish in color, and fairly thin. Another example is
the ability to tell the age of oil lamps based on their design. Over
the centuries people made lamps differently. Early lamps were much more
open and bowl-like, while later ones, in the time of Jesus, were almost
completely closed.
Besides learning how to date certain areas
and layers of a "tell" by looking at pottery, archaeologists have
developed methods for uncovering these ancient sites one layer at a
time. These methods give archaeologists a better picture of how people
lived in each period. Usually a square area is marked off with stakes,
and each layer is carefully removed using shovels, picks, hoes, brooms
and dustpans. When archaeologists dig to layers where pottery or other
objects are present, they work very carefully, using small picks and
brushes. They collect all the material in buckets and sift through it
in order to catch any small items like coins, bone fragments, or
jewelry. Since a marked-off area is worked on for a period of time, a
slice or cross-section of the layers can be viewed at the side of the
square as the archaeologists dig deeper and deeper.
Many other
specialists work on digs with archaeologists, so the maximum amount of
information possible can be gathered. These include architects,
geologists, soil specialists, photographers, language and script
specialists, bone and animal specialists, pottery restorers, and aerial
photographers, as well as many students and volunteers.
New
archaeological discoveries related to the Bible require cooperation
with other fields such as anthropology, ancient literature,
linguistics, art, and sociology. The work of archaeology is often slow
and tedious, but its results can be very rewarding. By putting the
special interests of biblical archaeology in the context of the larger
field of archaeology and its related fields, our knowledge about the
peoples, places, and writings of the biblical world continues to
increase.
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