Biblical archaeology comprises excavations and chance discoveries of artifacts representing people, places, and things mentioned in the Bible. The purpose of this social science is to establish the historical accuracy of Biblical texts, and to address the question of whether they might have been composed by Jews exiled in Babylon during the 6th century BCE and later. As with the historical records from any civilization, they must be compared with other accounts from their contemporary societies in Europe, Mesopotamia, and Africa. Also, records from their neighbors must be compared with them.

Biblical archaeology is not exactly archaeology for its own sake. Excavation simply to learn about the past and its people can be overshadowed by religious considerations. Biblical archaeology can provoke emotional issues compared to archaeology in other places of the world. Biblical archaeology is well funded, especially when it is related to a Biblical character or person, as was Woolley's sensational excavation of Ur. (The mystery writer Agatha Christie was somewhat surprised when Charles Leonard Woolley pointed out the exact home of the Biblical Abraham!) Forgeries abound and bring extraordinary high prices. There are many avid collectors in the antiquities markets.

Near Eastern archaeology, unlike Biblical archaeology, is the archaeology of the Ancient Near East in places unrelated to Biblical context.

Biblical texts

Charles Warren conducted the first formal excavations in the Holy Land under the auspices of the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1867, a time when the oldest complete Hebrew scripture only dated to the Middle Ages. Warren discovered the first Israelite inscriptions on several jar handles with LMLK seals found near the southeast wall of the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered shortly before Israel gained statehood in 1948, and other ancient copies of the Bible manuscripts do not qualify as artifacts representing something mentioned in the Bible, although they are an important testimony to the antiquity of the texts, and the reliable manner in which they were preserved through the centuries. The first seven scrolls had initially appeared on the antiquities market, but when their enormous importance was recognized, archaeologists eventually found their source in a series of caves above the Dead Sea, and subsequent searches located thousands of similar fragments.

The famous silver scrolls discovered in 1979 at Ketef Hinnom uniquely preserve Biblical texts dating to at least the 6th century before Christ, possibly decades before the Jews were exiled to Babylon, thus disproving some theories of later Torah composition. Both of these amulets contain the Priestly blessing from the book of Numbers; one also contains a quote found in parallel verses of Exodus (20:6) and Deuteronomy (5:10 and 7:9). The same verses appear again even later in the book of Daniel (9:4) and Nehemiah (1:5).

Confirmed Biblical structures

• Gibeon pool (at el-Jib)

• Hezekiah's tunnel under Jerusalem

• Jericho's walls
  • Critics claim they fell due to an earthquake and do not date to the time of Joshua's conquest; nonetheless, it is a remarkable coincidence that they exist at all considering that the site was stratified and unoccupied during the late period when the critics say the book of Joshua was written.

• Lachish siege ramp of Sennacherib

• Siloam pool (just unearthed in 2004)

• Second Temple (confirmed by Western/Wailing wall constructed by Herod)

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

Artifacts from documented excavations

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

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

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

• Ekron inscription (discovered in 1993 at Tel Miqne)

• Gemariah the son of Shaphan seal impression stamped on bulla
  • Found during Yigal Shiloh 's excavations of Jerusalem in 1983, it probably belonged to the person recorded in Jeremiah 36:10

• Jar handles inscribed GBON (recovered from the Gibeon pool)

• Hezekiah's tunnel inscription (removed from Jerusalem in 1880)

• Tel Dan Stele with House of David inscription (three fragments discovered in 1993)

• Lachish ostraca
  • Most of these terse texts were discovered in the 1930s. They depict conditions at Lachish during the end of the 7th century BCE shortly before the Chaldean invasion. One mentions signal fires from a nearby village, another mentions a warning from the prophet.

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

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

• Merneptah stela (Egyptian reference to Israelites in the land of Canaan)

Artifacts with unknown, disputed, or disproved provenance

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

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

• Bullae of Baruch, son of Neriah, the scribe of Jeremiah (prophet)

• Bullae of King Hezekiah and his servants

• Ebla (Tell Mardikh) cuneiform archives
  • They reportedly contain references to the same five legendary cities mentioned in the book of Genesis: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela/Zoar in the same order as in Genesis 14. The government of Syria continues to withhold complete publication of the texts, and this story remains a rumor.

• Ivory pomegranate inscribed Property of the priests of the temple…
  • Determined in December 2004 to be a modern forged inscription on a genuine ancient piece of ivory.

• James Ossuary inscribed James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus
  • Israeli police indicted its owner, Oded Golan, in December 2004 on suspicion of forging this on a genuine ancient ossuary.

• Joash (Jehoash) tablet recording repairs to the Temple in Jerusalem
  • Israeli police indicted Oded Golan in December 2004 on suspicion of forging this.

• The remains of Noah's Ark have been allegedly located by a number of archaeological groups and individuals. Most academics discount their findings as pseudoarchaeology possibly motivated by Biblical literalism.
  • Archaeologist Ron Wyatt claimed to have possibly located the Ark's final resting place. Since his death he has been acclaimed by many Bible believers. A plethora of internet sites concerning him have come into existence, and some have fabricated information about him and his discoveries.
  • An Italian archaeological group named La Narkas is the most recent of numerous groups claiming to have pinpointed the location of Noah's Ark close to the top of Mount Ararat, which straddles the border of Turkey and Armenia. Photographs of this alleged discovery are available on their website [1].
  • In 2004, yet another expedition went to Mount Ararat in Turkey to try to locate the Ark. Samples from Turkey tested by Geological and Nuclear Sciences, a New Zealand government research institute, were found to be volcanic rock rather than petrified wood. [2]

• Shroud of Turin
  • Critics claim it contains a painted image of Jesus forged in the Middle Ages; others maintain the image was formed by some heat process that darkened the fibers (such as a flash of light the instant the resurrection occurred). Radiocarbon dating seemed to limit its origin to the Middle Ages, but some analysts suggest the tests were erroneously performed using samples taken from patches sewn onto the ancient cloth during the Middle Ages, or contaminated from fires it was exposed to. If forged, it would be the most realistically accurate painting produced during the Middle Ages. If genuine, it is the most incredible artifact imagineable.

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

Biblical people confirmed by non-Biblical records

• Caesar Augustus
• Cyrus II of Persia
• Nebuchadnezzar, king of Chaldea
• Pontius Pilate
• Sennacherib, king of Assyria
• Taharqa
• Tiberius Caesar

See also

• Archaeology of Israel
• Mormon archaeology
• Pseudoarchaeology

External links

• Archaeology and the Bible - Christian Answers
• Biblical Archaeology Resources - A large collection of resources relted to Biblical Archeology.
• The Biblical Archaeology Society
• Introduction to Biblical Archaeology
• The Palestine Exploration Fund

Further reading

• Keller, Werner, The Bible as History, 1955
• H.V.F. Winstone The Life of Sir Leonard Woolley of Ur, London, 1990