Archaeology Verifies The Bible As God’s Word

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface i
1. A Christian Skeptic Discovers God in Ancient Israel 1
2. Sir William Ramsay Defends the New Testament 7
3. Was the Jesus of the Bible Fact or Fiction? 11
Addendum: The People of Israel Enter Their Land
4. Bible Minimalists Back Again! 14
5. King David Was for Real! And So Was Solomon! 17
6. Other Kings of Israel and Judah 29
7. Biblical Archaeology’s Biggest Digs 43
8. Two Outstanding Digs 47
9. Dead Sea Scrolls 51
10. Archaeological Evidence Verifies Biblical Cities 55
11. Conclusion 61

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Preface
Why Biblical Archaeology Is So Important
How do we know the Bible is the inspired Word of God? Actually science does prove the Bible is inspired. There are several fields of science that are effective to this end. The most effective is Archaeology. And that is the purpose of this booklet — Archaeology Verifies the Bible.
Palestinian propaganda
However, there is another reason this booklet is important and that is Palestinian propaganda. The following is an example of the gross lying attempt of Palestinian scholars to replace Jewish valid history with Palestinian replacement history, which is distorted and false propaganda.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority continue to deny Israel’s 3,000 years of history in Jerusalem, claiming it is solely an Arab, Muslim and Christian city. Abbas referred to Israel’s presence and activities in Jerusalem as “Judaization” and stated that Israel is stealing what he called the “cultural, human, and Islamic-Christian religious history.”

Abbas’ advisor for Jerusalem said that Israel is trying: “to create an artificial heritage with a Jewish spirit at the expense of its true and authentic [identity] as an Arab, Islamic and Christian city.”

This is not the first time that Abbas has denied Jewish history in Jerusalem and claimed the city for Islam alone. Palestinian Media Watch has reported that Mahmoud Abbas said that taking Jerusalem from Israel is a religious Islamic
i
ii Preface Preface iii obligation of the highest level, a “fard ayn” — a personal Islamic commandment incumbent on every Muslim:
“I say to the leaders of our Arab nation and to its peoples: Jerusalem and its environs are a trust that Allah entrusted to us. Saving it [Jerusalem] from the settlement monster and the danger of Judaization and [land] confiscation is a personal [Islamic] commandment [Arabic: fard ayn] incumbent on all of us. Therefore, I call all of you to serious and urgent action to save [Jerusalem] and to make available all possibilities in order to strengthen our resolve and to maintain its historical, cultural and religious character.”
[Al-Jazeera TV, March 27, 2010] In a different speech, Abbas said in 2010:
“The oppressor will not last in Jerusalem; the oppression will not endure. Victory will come, Allah willing. This land is Allah’s best land, for which He chooses the finest of His believers, as it is written in the words of the Prophet [Muhammad].”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 11, 2010] Abbas’ Minister of Religion Mahmoud Al-Habbash claimed that Jerusalem has been:
“throughout history, the capital of the Palestinian state and the capital of the Palestinian people.” [PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 20, 2010]
Neither claim is correct. There has never been a Palestinian state and Jerusalem was never the capital of an Arab or Muslim state. Nonetheless, the minister warned there would be religious war over Jerusalem:
“The term ‘war’ cannot be erased from the lexicon of this region as long as Jerusalem is occupied.” [PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 20, 2010]
The Palestinian Authority Mufti Muhammad Hussein likewise recently denied Jewish history in Jerusalem:
“They [Jews] want to say or suggest that this place [i.e., the Temple Mount] was once, according to their claim, a Temple. However, in truth, there never was a Temple in any period, nor was there, at any time, any place of worship for the Jews or others at the Al-Aqsa Mosque site [i.e., which was built on the Temple Mount, 705 AD].”

[ PA TV (Fatah), Jan. 5, 2012] New Arab Book Furthering Anti-Semitic Blood Libels

Dr. Omar Ja’ara, lecturer at Al-Najah University in Nablus specializing in Israeli affairs, said on Fatah television on February 15 that Moses led the Muslims out of Egypt and that the Exodus was the first instance of ‘Palestinian’ liberation through armed struggle, reported the Palestinian Media Watch.

“We must make clear to the world that David in the Hebrew Bible is not connected to David in the Quran,” he said. “Solomon in the Hebrew Bible is not connected to the Solomon in the Quran and neither is Saul or Joshua son of Nun.

“We have a great leader, Saul, who defeated the nation of the giants and killed Goliath. This is a Muslim victory.

“The Muslims of the Children of Israel went out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses and unfortunately, many researchers deny the Exodus of these oppressed people who were liberated by a great leader like Moses the Muslim, the believing leader, the great Muslim, who was succeeded by Saul, the leader of these Muslims in liberating Palestine,” Ja’ara claimed.
“This was the first Palestinian liberation through armed struggle to liberate Palestine from the nation
iv Preface of giants led by Goliath,” he added. “This is our logic and this is our culture.”
It is sickening to even print this gross propaganda. Our booklet reveals how archaeology completely refutes any Palestinian claim to the Land of Israel, but more important it will use archaeology to prove the Bible is indeed God’s inspired Word.
The Publishers
William Foxwell Albright, considered the dean of 20th century archaeology, did significant archaeological work in Palestine.
w CHAPTER ONEw

A Christian Skeptic Discovers God In Ancient Israel

William Foxwell Albright, the son of missionary parents, as a young man of faith eagerly pursued his college education. Finally, he received the coveted Ph.D. — but at great cost. His faith had been destroyed by the 19th century German school of higher criticism. The leading exponents of this school of higher criticism, Wellhausen and Delitzach, were out to prove that the Old Testament history of the Bible was mere fiction. Why? Wellhausen and Delitzsach were known as anti-Semitic.

What is Old Testament history but the history of the Jewish people and their glorious nation—Israel? It is not a coincident that antiSemitics would attempt to destroy the history of the Jewish people as a nation raised up by God. They did this by teaching that most of the books of the Bible were fiction written long after the Babylonian exile, or even in the Hellenistic Period. This treacherous ploy effectively wiped Israel out of the annals of history as a significant independent nation. The Old Testament Jewish record of a wonderful Jewish State was allegedly a fictitious propaganda tool concocted to create a false sense of pride and achievement that would inspire an aggressive Jewish people to dominate others. Fortunately, Albright, almost single-handedly, would destroy this ploy. But first, his credentials.
1
Credentials
William Foxwell Albright, considered the dean of 20th century archaeology, was a legend in his time. He earned the nickname “the great authenticator” because of his ability to quickly date archaeological artifacts. During his extraordinarily fruitful life, Albright produced over 1,100 books and articles, was awarded 30 honorary doctorate degrees, and institutions were named after him. Albright received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1916, where he mastered Hebrew, Akkadian (Babylonian), Spanish, French, German, Latin, and Greek. Albright was the leading Orientalist of his Age.

In 1920, Albright arrived in Jerusalem and made his home at the American School of Oriental Research, which was renamed the William Foxwell Albright Institute of Archaeological Research a year before his death. He was Director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem from 1922-1929 and 1933-1936. During this time Albright also took a professorship at John Hopkins in 1927 and was W. W. Spence Professor of Semitic Languages from 1930-1958.

Albright held many other significant organizational positions, such as the presidency of: Palestinian Exploration Society (1921-1922, 1934-1935); American Oriental Society (1935-1936); Society of Biblical Literature (1938-1939); and the International Organization of Old Testament Scholars (1956-1957). He served on various committees of the American Philosophical Society, in particular the Research Committee, and was a recognized authority on the Qumrân (Dead Sea) Scrolls. Albright did significant archaeological work, excavating such sites in Palestine as Gibeah (Tell el Fûl, 1922), Tell Beit Mirsim (1933-1936), and the Timna expedition in South Arabia (1950-1951).
Will the Real God Stand Up?
was nothing more than the figment of man’s imagination, a reflection of himself. Man steals, lies, murders, and commits adultery— therefore, his god does the same thing.

But when Albright excavated the ancient civilization of Israel, he was astonished! Not only was their social structure different, but he discovered that the Israelite God did not steal; he did not lie; he did not murder. The Israelite God was a God of ethics—ethics that were contrary to man’s passions. The God of Israel was not a figment of the imagination of the Israelites. They did not make him or create him. Could Israel’s God be the genuine God—the true and living God of the universe? Albright the skeptic was becoming Albright the theist—a believer in the God of Israel.

The impact of the contrast of the God of Israel versus the false pagan deities drove Albright to conclude that the God of Israel was a personal God—the pagan deities were human personalities with all the frailties and vices of human beings. He reflected that the God of Israel was always thought of and represented as a person with the emotions of human beings, but with none of their frailties.
The Bible — God’s Revelation to Man
At first Albright had been determined to use the spade of archaeology to challenge all aspects of biblical history. After all, Albright had written his Ph.D. thesis in defense of the German school of higher criticism, that biblical history was mere fiction. But his archaeological discoveries turned him into a believer in the Judaic Bible. Albright concluded:

“The excessive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools of the 18th and 19th centuries . . . has been progressively discredited. Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history.

Albright’s excavations dealt with the ancient nations in the Land of Canaan that later became the Land of Israel. He unearthed the religious practices of the Canaanite nations, who worshiped both gods and goddesses. He found their deities lied, they stole, they murdered, and committed adultery. To a skeptic like Albright, god “There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed a substantial historicity of Old Testament [the Judaic Bible] tradition.

Albright found the biblical account of the origin of nations unequaled in comparison to the distorted legends of secular history:
“The Table of Nations” in Genesis 10, according to Albright, “remains an astonishingly accurate document.”
“Hebrew national tradition [the Judaic Bible] excels all others in its clear picture of tribal and family origins [of other nations]. In Egypt and Babylonia, in Assyria and Phoenicia, in Greece and Rome, we look in vain for anything comparable. There is nothing like it in the tradition of the Germanic peoples. Neither India nor China can produce anything similar, since their earliest historical memories are literary deposits of distorted dynastic traditions . . . .”
A Powerful and Caring God
Albright was awed with the God of Israel. Here was a God who was all-powerful, caring, and above all trustworthy. A God who dared to create man in his likeness — possessing intelligent, moral values and free will. A God who could nurture, not coerce, that free will for the eternal welfare of all. Finally, Albright had found a God to whom he could entrust his life.

The so-called gods of the ancient nations were tribal or ethnic in dominion. Yahweh, the God of the universe, was concerned with the welfare of all humankind. True, He had chosen to reveal Himself for the most part through Israel. But, far from showing partiality, the Jewish people were held to greater responsibility commensurate with their greater enlightenment and blessings. God’s severe chastening on Israel was part of how God was revealing His character and purposes to both the Jewish people and to humankind.

Down through history few nations have suffered as Israel. Yet, God preserved them. No ancient polity has been destroyed, its people scattered to the ends of the earth, then, nearly 2,000 years later regathered to their ancestral homeland to be reborn as a nation. What a miracle of history! The details of this national destruction, dispersion, centuries’ sojourn in diaspora, regathering and rebirth were all predicted in Scripture.

Albright could no longer consider the Laws of Israel as the evolutionary accumulation of the wisdom of man codified by the sages of Israel. The Laws of Israel were not man-made. They were Divine. The shaking, thunder, lightning and trumpet of Mt. Sinai were not a myth. Indeed, this phenomenon testified to the presence of God. The spectacular excitement, demonstrations and fireworks accompanying the 4th of July, the Chinese New Year, May Day, etc., fade into insignificance compared to one of the greatest celebrations in human history — God giving His Laws to the people of Israel through the mediation of Moses. God’s Law was not only to guide Israel, it proved to be a beacon light for all humankind. To the degree that nations heeded God’s Law, they were the better for it. How could such an awesome occasion occur without Divine spectaculars?

Albright’s conviction that the Laws of Israel defy crafting by finite man — that they are the crafting of an infinite God — still stands. This was the God Albright discovered by confirming the authenticity of the Judaic Bible with the spade of archaeology.
Albright’s Objectivity
Albright’s quest for truth was only equaled by his objectivity. Few scholars have attained such objectivity in research.
“. . . My initially rather skeptical attitude toward the accuracy of Israelite historical tradition,” Albright recalled, “had suffered repeated jolts as discovery after discovery confirmed the historicity of details which might reasonably have been considered legendary.”

F. C. Moore concurred when he wrote, “More than any scholar of his generation, I believe, Albright has been open to change and to novelty . . . openness and flexibility are hallmarks of his scholarly faculties.”
Y. Yadin wrote: “Few indeed are the scholars who are as ready as he [Albright] is to modify or reject
6 A Christian Skeptic Discovers God In Ancient Israel
their personal theories in the light of new finds or justified criticism. It is this rare quality which had enabled Albright to absorb successive waves of new information and thus remain in the vanguard of research and learning . . . nor is he reluctant to abandon his own theories, even if this leads to the collapse of an entire section of his teachings.”

Sir William Ramsay devoted his whole life to archaeology. Having set out to show the Bible false, he learned what many others have been forced to acknowledge. When we objectively examine the evidence for the Bible’s accuracy and veracity, the only conclusion we can reach is that the Bible is true.

w CHAPTER TWOw

Sir William Ramsay Defends the New Testament

Sir William Ramsay, an atheist and the son of atheists, tried to disprove the Bible. He was a wealthy person who had graduated from the prestigious University of Oxford. Like Albright, Ramsay studied under the famous liberal German historical school in the mid19th century. Esteemed for its scholarship, this school also taught that the New Testament was not a historical document. As an anti-Semitic move, this would totally eradicate the Nation of Israel from history.

With this premise, Ramsay devoted his whole life to archaeology and determined that he would disprove the Bible.
He set out for the Holy Land and decided to disprove the book of Acts. After 25 or more years (he had released book after book during this time), he was incredibly impressed by the accuracy of Luke in his writings finally declaring that ‘Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy’ . . . ‘this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians’ . . . ‘Luke’s history is unsurpassed in respect of its trustworthiness.’
Luke’s accuracy is demonstrated by the fact that he names key historical figures in the correct time sequence as well as correct titles to government officials in various areas: Thessalonica, politarchs; Ephesus, temple wardens; Cyprus, proconsul; and Malta, the first man of the island. The two books, the Gospel of Luke and Book of Acts, that Luke has authored remain accurate documents of history. Ramsay stated, “This author [Luke] should be placed along with the very greatest of historians.”
8 Sir William Ramsay Defends the New Testament
Finally, in one of his books Ramsay shocked the entire intellectual world by declaring himself to be a Christian. Numerous other archaeologists have had similar experiences. Having set out to show the Bible false, they themselves have been proven false and, as a consequence, have accepted Christ as Lord.

In an outstanding academic career, Ramsay was honored with doctorates from nine universities and eventually knighted for his contributions to modern scholarship. Several of his works on New Testament history are considered classics. When confronted with the evidence of years of travel and study, Sir William Ramsay learned what many others before him and since have been forced to acknowledge: When we objectively examine the evidence for the Bible’s accuracy and veracity, the only conclusion we can reach is that the Bible is true.
Later Archaeologists Confirm Ramsay
In all, Luke names thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities, and nine islands without error.
A. N. Sherwin-White states, “For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming . . . . Any attempt to reject its basic historicity must now appear absurd. Roman historians have long taken it for granted.”
New Testament Higher Criticism
Luke 3:1
In Luke’s
announcement of Jesus’ public
ministry (Luke 3:1), he mentions, “Lysanius tetrarch of Abilene.”

Scholars
questioned
Luke’s credibility since the only
Lysanius known for centuries was a ruler of Chalcis who ruled from 40-36 BC.
Archaeology Verifies the Bible
However, an inscription dating to be in the time of Tiberius, who ruled from 14-37 AD, was found recording a temple dedication which names Lysanius as the
“tetrarch of Abila” near Damascus.
This matches well with Luke’s account.
Sir William Ramsay Defends the New Testament 9
New Testament Higher Criticism
Acts 18:12-17
In Acts 18:12-17, Paul was brought before Gallio, the proconsul of
Achaea.
Acts 19:22 and Romans 16:23
In Acts 19:22 and Romans 16:23,
Erastus, a coworker of Paul, is named the Corinthian city treasurer.
Acts 28:7
In Acts 28:7, Luke gives Plubius, the chief man on the island of Malta, the title, “first man of the island.”

Scholars
questioned this strange title and deemed it
unhistorical.
Archaeology Verifies the Bible
At Delphi an inscription of a letter from
Emperor Claudius was discovered. In it he
states, “Lucius Junios Gallio, my friend, and the proconsul of
Achaia . . .”

Historians date the
inscription to 52 AD, which corresponds to the time of the apostle’s stay in 51 AD.

Archaeologists
excavating a Corinthian theatre in 1928
discovered an inscription. It reads, “Erastus in return for his aedilship laid the pavement at his own expense.”

The pavement was laid in 50 AD. The
designation of treasurer describes the work of a Corinthian aedile.

Inscriptions have
recently been
discovered on the
island that indeed gives Plubius the title of “first man.”
Herod’s Summer Palace on Masada
Herod’s Palace Fortress at Herodium
w CHAPTER THREEw

Was the Jesus of the Bible Fact or Fiction?
The Quest for the Historic Jesus
Archaeological evidence corroborates specific persons and events mentioned in the Gospels that were interactive in Jesus’ life. The accuracy of the Gospel writers and the trustworthiness of the historic message they conveyed is corroborated.

It is this simple. All agree the Gospel accounts show that Jesus lived for 33 ½ years — sometime between 4 BC and AD 36. If we can archaeologically prove certain events and individuals recorded in the four Gospels actually occurred in the timeframe of Jesus’ life, then we can conclude the Bible account of Jesus’ life is true. The following is a secular historical list of the very persons and events that interplayed in Jesus’ life.
1. Herod the Great
History records that Herod the Great was the Roman appointed king over Judea from 36 BC until his death in AD 4. The Bible reveals Jesus was born and that Herod the Great attempted to kill the babe Jesus. Archaeology has discovered Herod had two main building projects: (1) A summer palace on Masada and (2) the Herodium, which was a colossal monument to his life and was to be his burial place. Archaeologists found Herod’s name on several artifacts in both palaces.
12 Was the Jesus of the Bible Fact or Fiction? Was the Jesus of the Bible Fact or Fiction? 13 2. Capernaum
I saw the foundation of the actual synagogue Jesus preached in at Capernaum. A first century date (the time of Jesus) for this synagogue’s foundation has been established by the pottery find which corresponds to Jesus’ lifetime. (Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10) A limited synagogue wall still remains. Down the road in Capernaum was the house of Peter where Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. (Matt. 8:14,15) Peter’s house was identified by the same black basalt wall as was the synagogue.
3. Bethsaida
The ancient city of Bethsaida was where Jesus preached. (Matt. 11:21) I had the opportunity to help in the ongoing archaeological dig in Bethsaida.
4. Caiaphas, the High Priest
Caiaphas was the notorious High Priest who presided over the trial of Jesus. (John 18:24-28) The actual ossuary Caiaphas was buried in has been found by archaeologists. It was exquisitely ornate and decorated. Obviously it had belonged to a high ranking person that could afford such an ossuary. Archaeologists agree that Caiaphas was the man.
5. Pontius Pilate
History has recorded that for ten years Pontius Pilate was the Roman Prefect in charge of Judea. In 1961 a stone plaque was discovered in an excavation. It had the Latin inscription, “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea.”

Things equal to the same thing are equal to each other. This is an axiom that is universally accepted. Archaeology has proven that Herod the Great, Capernaum, Bethsaida, Caiaphas, and Pontius Pilate were individuals or places that existed during the lifetime of Jesus. The Bible teaches Jesus historically had interplay with each of these persons or places. Therefore, the Bible and archaeology prove that Jesus did exist. Yes, the Bible is true — JESUS DID EXIST!
Addendum: The People of Israel Enter Their Land
Just as archaeology has proven the existence of Jesus, the most important man in the Bible, archaeology also verifies the entrance of the people of Israel, God’s chosen people, into the Land of Canaan, later renamed the Land of Israel.

Moses was instructed in Deut. 27:4-8 to build an altar on Mt. Ebal when Israel crossed over the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land. The altar was to be made of whole stones without an iron tool shaping it. In 1980 an agnostic archaeologist Adam Zertal discovered an altar under a layer of stone on Mt. Ebal.

In researching, Zertal realized his “find” completely fit the altar’s description in Deut. 27:4-8. Additionally, over 4,000 bones were found in the area . . . all of them bones of sacrificial animals mentioned in Moses’ Law.

One discovery at the site seemed to tie everything together. It was an Egyptian scarab that was probably among the spoils the Bible says Israel took with them from Egypt. Overwhelmed, Adam Zertal, the agnostic, became a believer in the Bible as the Word of God.
Altar on Mt. Ebal
w CHAPTER FOURw

Bible Minimalists Back Again!

Unfortunately, the “Biblical minimalists” or “Biblical nihilists” are back again. This time with both an anti-Semitic and a political agenda. They are distorting archaeology to defend Palestinian land rights by attempting to prove there is no historical evidence of a Jewish State. Fortunately, there are highly esteemed scholars qualified to unmask their political agenda. This controversy came to a head in October 2002 at the Bible and Archaeology Fest held in Toronto, Canada, and was evaluated in an article that appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Dr. Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review (flagship of archaeology periodicals), observed that the scholarly debate has become tinged with more than a hint of present day politics.

“They’re writing books with titles like The Invention of Ancient Israel: The Silencing of Palestinian History — not very subtle attempts to subvert the historical premise of the modern Jewish state.”

As early as thirteen centuries BC and 200 years before the birth of David, a stele exhibited in the Cairo Museum states that Pharaoh Merneptah boasted of his army’s invasion of Israel. “This is very inconvenient stuff for minimalists,” Dr. Shanks said, “because there’s no other way to read it. This is a clear reference to ancient Israel.”

The elder statesman of American Archaeologists William Dever, of the University of Arizona, stated, “I think it’s important to unmask 14
Bible Minimalists Are Back Again 15
these people. They are not biblical scholars. They are certainly not archaeologists. They are social engineers manipulating the biblical texts for their own goals.”

Harvard University’s eminent Frank Moore Cross put it bluntly in the pages of Biblical Archaeology Review by observing that they are “driven by anti-Semitism.”
Pharoah Merneptah’s Stele telling of his invasion of Israel. Cairo Museum

Tel Dan
w CHAPTER FIVEw

King David Was for Real! And So Was Solomon!

Every possible effort has been made by the minimalists to fictionalize King David. Why? Once he is proven to have been a reality of history ruling a dynamic empire as far back as the 10th century BC then the history of the Jewish nation, Israel, ruled by David’s descendants, automatically follows as an historic fact. The archaeological spade has transformed the claim of Palestinian roots from the realm of possible history to complete fantasy. Yes, King David was for real!

In 1993 archaeologists discovered the names of David and Israel in an inscription carved in stone only 100 years after David’s death. The Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 1994, p. 26, reports:
17
“It’s not often that an archaeological find makes the front page of the New York Times (to say nothing of Time magazine). But that is what happened last summer to a discovery at Tel Dan, a beautiful mound in northern Galilee, at the foot of Mt. Hermon beside one of the headwaters of the Jordan River.”
“David” at Tel Dan
Here Avraham Biran and his team of archaeologists found a remarkable inscription from the 9th century BC that refers both to the “House of David” and to the “King of Israel.” This is the first time that the name David has been found in any ancient inscription outside the Bible. That the inscription refers not simply to a “David” but to the House of David, the dynasty of the great Israelite king, silences the minimalists.

Later another scholar found the name “house of David” in the inscriptions of the famous Moabite Stone, dated about 100 years after David’s reign. It has been observed that it is hard to understand how David’s name could appear in (ancient) historical records if he were nothing but a legend.

In honor of Jerusalem Day 2007, archaeologists revealed a number of seals from the time of the Biblical Kings David and Solomon. The seals, along with other recently uncovered artifacts, were displayed for the first time marking forty years since the liberation and unification of Jerusalem by the modern State of Israel.

These artifacts reveal that the City of David, ancient Jerusalem, was a commercial and trading center during David’s and Solomon’s reigns—even having a postal system. Agnostic scholars have claimed that if there was a City of David in that time frame it was a “Sleepy Hollow.” How wrong they are! Actually an elaborate city existed under King Saul before David became king.
Khirbet Qeiyafa/ Ha’arayim
“Ha’arayim” in the valley of Elah is unique! Carbon-14 dating tested it back to the 10th and 11th century BC, just prior to David becoming king. The Biblical name of this city being excavated was “Ha’arayim” which means “two gates,” and it actually has two gates. Since the gate was the weakest place of defense in ancient cities, they only had one gate. 1Samuel 17:52 in the Hebrew mentions a city named, Ha-arayim, which means “two gates.” Yes, “Two Gates” was the actual name of a city. And this is the only city mentioned in the Old Testament with two gates. What an archaeological find!

Remember the minimalists claimed King David was only a myth or a small tribal chief in the 8th or 9th centuries. What mockery! Remember Carbon-14 dated this two-gated city “Ha’arayim” back to the 10th and 11th centuries BC. 1Samuel 17:38-53 definitely proves the Biblical lad David lived in the late 11th or 10th centuries BC. Why? Contextually, 1Samuel 17:38-53 tells the story of David and Goliath. The writer actually toured the excavation of this incredible city. I went to the south gate and looked down the slope. My heart pounded. I could see the very brook where David took five stones, one of which he used in his slingshot to kill Goliath. Then, in my mind, I pictured the army of ancient Israel defeating the Philistines.

I went back into the excavation, and the director showed me ink writing on a piece of pottery they found. A number of scholars have read this writing. They all agreed that it was the earliest ancient Hebrew that has been discovered. Imagine! Ancient Hebrew from over 3,000 years ago! What did it say? It was a tender plea to care for the slaves, the widows, the orphans, the strangers, the infants and the poor. Yes, the Jews over 3,000 years ago were endeavoring to live the ideals of their Torah — the first five books of their Bible. Many bones of animals were discovered. But there were no pig bones found. Why? As Jews, they were abiding by God’s Laws for them. Also, the inhabitants observed the second of the Ten Commandments prohibiting belief in graven images. Again, verifying they were Jews.

Khirbet Qeiyafa/ Ha’arayim, constructed as a fortified city, was about twenty miles southwest of Jerusalem. A fortified city twenty miles from the capital indicated that Jerusalem was a strong municipality, for the 11th century. Not until 17 centuries later did Mohammed formulate the religion of Islam and unite the warring tribes of Arabia. What audacity for the Palestinians to claim the historic right to Jerusalem!
Was King David a Myth?
King David is prominently mentioned 1,048 times in the Bible. In the Old and New Testaments he is the prominent figure in the genealogy of Jesus, who as David’s (genealogical) son, will inherit the throne of his genealogical father David. When David captured Jerusalem, he enlarged it, surrounded it with a wall and called it the City of David.

Yet for decades archaeologists have carried out excavations throughout the “so-called” City of David and elsewhere, searching in vain to prove that there was such a person as David. Agnostics and atheists were delighted. But the reason no written records were found is that the ancient Israelis wrote their records on perishable papyrus. This contributed to the “school of minimalists,” who for their political, anti-Semitic or anti-theistic agenda, refused to admit that the nation of Israel was already a thriving major state, in the 10th century BC, under the rule of a dynamic King David.

Although, in 1993 there was a startling find at the site of Tel Dan in northern Israel, far from Jerusalem. An inscription was found containing the phrase “the house of David.” But the minimalists attempted to undermine this find.
Eilat Mazar
In 2004, I had an hour long meeting with the famous archaeologist, Eilat Mazar. She is a biblical archaeologist in the highest sense of the word. She said that she excavates “with the Bible in one hand and a shovel in the other.” Probably Mazar knows the Jewish Bible, our Old Testament, better than most Christains. She said that by searching the Bible she knew exactly where King David’s palace was located and when she received the necessary financial backing, she would excavate and uncover the remains of King David’s palace.
King David’s Palace
This stone stepped pile of rocks helped support King David’s elaborate palace. The structure below was part of the City of David that David came down to for the Philistine attack.

She observed that one of the reasons researchers were at a loss in finding King David’s palace was that they assumed King David built his palace at the most protected part of the city — inside the City of David’s walls. However, she said this was not the case. The City of David, which was almost impregnable, was also very small, approximately nine acres in size. Nevertheless, scholars continued to search for King David’s residence within the city walls. No remains were found that pointed to the existence of a great palace like the Bible describes. This contributed to the “No David school of thought.”

Remember, Eilat Mazar “excavated with the Bible in one hand and a shovel in the other hand.” “One of the main clues in finding David’s palace,” said Mazar, “was surprisingly from the Bible itself.” 2 Samuel 5:17 states that when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him. But David heard about it and “went down” from his palace to the walled City of David.

The Philistines suffered defeat by King David’s forces. How? The Bible is careful to indicate that the palace was located above the citadel or walled city of ancient Jerusalem. Mazar observed, “The Bible would not have said ‘went down’ unless David indeed did go from his palace, down the slopes of the Ophel mountain, to the citadel. Consequently, his palace must have been located north of the city, not in the center of it.”

The Philistine invasion took place after the completion of David’s new palace, but before the northern fortifications were sufficiently finished. Therefore, King David, who was already living in his new residence, which was not yet strong enough to withstand a major assault from the north, regrouped south of his palace in the old City of David, the ancient Jerusalem, that he had previously captured. and the Philistines were defeated.

This Biblical account of King David’s war with the Philistines proved to Dr. Mazar that David’s palace was north of the ancient walled city of Jerusalem. So she excavated and there stood the remains of a palace. As Mazar viewed the grandiose complexity of this early Israelite building that marked it an unprecedented monumental edifice, Mazar exclaimed, “This can only be King David’s royal palace.”

She observed, “This area was not only available but also desirable. It was protected on the south by the citadel and the old city, and on the east and west by the deep slopes of the Kidron and Tyropoeon valleys.”
Thus, archaeology proved David was not a myth. In reality, King David was the greatest king in the history of Israel.
King Solomon’s Wall
Dr. Mazar’s next ambition was to excavate King Solomon’s palace. Remember Eilat Mazar said that she excavates “with the Bible in one hand and a shovel in the other.” She analyzed 1 Kings 3 which talks of Solomon building his own palace, “and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.” Following this clue she dug and found Solomon’s Wall.

Moreover, this wall not only confirms the presence of Solomon in Jerusalem, it confirms the biblical narrative of Israel as a large and advanced kingdom.

Dr. Eilat Mazar, Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist, points to the 10th century BC excavations that were uncovered under her direction in the Ophel area adjacent to the Old City of Jerusalem.

Speaking at the official unveiling ceremony, Dr. Mazar stated again that the “reality was that a very highly skilled fortification and sophisticated fortification was built by King Solomon.” The wall contains the largest hewn stones from the First Temple period ever found in Israel. Only a thousand years later, with the construction by Herod the Great, are greater-size building blocks found in Jerusalem.

Within the surrounds of the Solomon wall, Dr. Mazar and her team discovered other artifacts, including pottery shards, dating to the First Temple period (10th to 6th centuries BC) and confirming the biblical narrative of the presence of a major Israelite kingdom. The Ophel site includes a large gatehouse, royal edifices, a number of mikva’ot (ritual baths) and a dozen pithoi, or clay jars. Engraved on one of the remnants of the pithoi was a partial Hebrew inscription indicating that it belonged to a high-level government official.

The 6-meter-high gatehouse was a particularly stunning discovery. Constructed in a style typical of the First Temple period, and much like others uncovered in Megiddo, Beersheva and Ashdod, Dr. Mazar believes the gatehouse is actually the “Water Gate” mentioned in Nehemiah 3:25-26: “Pedaiah … and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.”

“A comparison of this latest finding with city walls and gates from the period of the First Temple, as well as pottery found at the site, enable us to postulate with a great degree of assurance that the wall is that which was built by King Solomon in Jerusalem in the latter part of the 10th century BC,” said Mazar.

“This is the first time that a structure from that time has been found that may correlate with written descriptions of Solomon’s building in Jerusalem,” she added. “The Bible tells us that Solomon built — with the assistance of the Phoenicians, who were outstanding builders — the temple and his new palace and surrounded them with a city, most probably connected to the more ancient wall of the
City of David.”
The 6-meter-high gatehouse of the uncovered city wall complex is built in a style typical of those from the period of the First Temple like Megiddo, Beersheva and Ashdod. It has a symmetrical plan of four identical small rooms, two on each side of the main passageway. Also there was a large, adjacent tower, covering an area of 24 by 18 meters, which was intended to serve as a watchtower to protect entry to the city. The tower is located today under the nearby road and still needs to be excavated. Nineteenth-century British surveyor Charles Warren, who conducted an underground survey in the area, first described the outline of the large tower in 1867 but without attributing it to the era of Solomon.

“Part of the city wall complex served as commercial space and part as security stations,” explained Mazar. Within the courtyard of the large tower there were widespread public activities, she said. It served as a public meeting ground, as a place for conducting commercial activities and cult activities, and as a location for economic and legal activities.

Pottery shards discovered within the fill of the lowest floor of the royal building near the gatehouse also testify to the dating of the complex to the 10th century BC. Found on the floor were remnants of large storage jars, 1.15 meters in height, that survived destruction by fire and that were found in rooms that apparently served as storage areas on the ground floor of the building. On one of the jars there is a partial inscription in ancient Hebrew indicating it belonged to a high-level government official.

“The jars are the largest ever found in Jerusalem,” said Mazar, adding that “the inscription on one of them shows that it belonged to a government official, apparently the person responsible for overseeing the provision of baked goods to the royal court.”

In addition to the pottery shards were seal impressions on jar handles with the words “to the king,” testifying to their usage within the monarchy. Also found were seal impressions (bullae) with Hebrew names, also indicating the royal nature of the structure. Between the large tower at the city gate and the royal building, the archaeologists uncovered a section of the corner tower that is 8 meters long and 6 meters high. The tower was built of carved stones of unusual beauty.

East of the royal building, another section of the city wall that extends for some 35 meters also was revealed. This section is 5 meters high and is part of the wall that continues to the northeast and once enclosed the Ophel area.

Another thrilling find, though slightly less imposing than the colossal wall or gate house, was the discovery of a fragment of a 3,000-year-old clay tablet covered with cuneiform script.

Discovered in the Ophel dig and currently on display at the Davidson Center in Jerusalem’s Old City, experts say it is the oldest written document ever found in Jerusalem.

Looking at the wall’s impressive size and sophisticated engineering, it is clear that it wasn’t hastily patched together! No, contrary to the claims of the minimalists and Palestinians, the nation of Israel was already a classic empire in the 10th century, back in the era of King David and King Solomon. A post office system was an inevitable necessity.
Israel’s First Post Office
Artifacts from the City of David excavations reveal an interesting tidbit of information about an ancient postal system, a luxury of the Israeli empire. By the 9th century, besides government officials, even clerks and merchants enjoyed this postal service. Whereas, during the 9th century BC, letters and goods were dispatched on behalf of their senders without names, by the 8th century BC the clerks and merchants began to add their names to the seals, observes the Antiquities Authority. Clay stamps sealed the letters or packages.
A Thrilling Find on the Temple Mount Dating Back to King Solomon
In 2012 archaeological remains dating to the First Temple Period were discovered on the Temple Mount. Jerusalem District Archaeologist Yuval Baruch uncovered fragments of ceramic table wares, animal bones, and more. The bowl sherds were decorated with wheel burnishing lines characteristic of the First Temple Period. The finds indeed dated back to the First Temple built by King Solomon, which existed between the 9th and 5th centuries BC.

An archaeological team of the Israel Antiquities Authority, reached the conclusion, after examining the finds, that their characteristics and location may aid scholars in reconstructing the dimensions and boundaries of the Temple Mount during the First Temple Period.
Fragments from the Temple Mount
These archaeological finds of an expanding Israeli empire as far back as the 10th century BC, including Solomon’s Temple on the Temple Mount, were over 16 centuries before Mohammed created the Muslim religion. It is absolutely unconscionable for the Palestinians Arabs to falsely claim they occupied the Temple Mount and Jerusalem centuries before the Jewish People. What impudence!
Naturally the Empires of King David and King Solomon had suburbs like Khirbet Qeiyafa/Ha’arayim and Bethlehem. Bethlehem Part of Ancient Israel

This photo made available May 22, 2012, by Israel’s Antiquities Authority, shows a seal bearing the name “Bethlehem” in ancient Hebrew script that was just discovered.
28 King David Was for Real! And So Was Solomon!
The Israel Antiquities Authority says archeologists digging at a Jerusalem site have found the oldest artifact that bears the inscription of Bethlehem. This dramatic archaeological find, a half-inch clay seal, is the earliest evidence outside the Bible for the existence of the ancient biblical city Bethlehem.

The stamp or seal, officially called a bulla, with ancient Hebrew script, is one of a group of bullae used to stamp official documents that were to be opened only by authorized officials. The writing shows that this bulla was sent from Bethlehem to the king in Jerusalem in the seventh year of his reign.

Eli Shukrun, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said that it is unclear if the reference to the king is to Hezekiah, Manasseh or Josiah. The seals or bullae, were used to seal tax shipments in the Kingdom of Judah in the late 8th century and the 7th century BC. “The tax could have been paid in the form of silver or agricultural produce such as wine or wheat,” according to Shukrun. He said: “The bulla belonged to a shipment of tax documents which were sent from Bethlehem to the king in Jerusalem, as part of a taxation system used in the Kingdom of Judah in the late 8th and 7th centuries BC.” He added, “This is the first time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible, in an inscription from the First Temple period, which proves that Bethlehem was indeed a city in the ancient Kingdom of Judah, and possibly also in earlier periods.”

We think of Bethlehem as a New Testament city with the birthplace of Jesus. But it is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis (Bereishit) when it is named relating to the death and burial of the Matriarch Rachel. Bethlehem also is mentioned in the Book of Ruth as the place where “the children of Judah dwelled,” including the family of Boaz, who is a central figure in the Book of Ruth, almost all of which takes place in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is cited in the Book of Samuel as the city where David was anointed as king.

During the current Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process the city of Bethlehem has, unfortunately, been given to the Palestinians, but as has been seen the historic roots of the city of Bethlehem belong to Israel. We have dealt in great detail to prove the Kingdom of David and Solomon were an ancient grandiose reality reaching back to the 10th century BC, over sixteen hundred years before Mohammed finally conquered the warring tribes on the Arabian Peninsula and consolidated them into a single Islamic State.

w CHAPTER SIXw

Other Kings of Israel and Judah
The Jehoash Inscription
This inscription is carved into a rectangular Arkosic sandstone tablet, about 12 x 24 x 3 inches (30 x 61 x 8 cm). It consists of 10 or 15 lines of text in ancient Hebrew. The inscription discusses repairs to King Solomon’s temple. Carbon-14 dating by the Geological Survey of Israel shows that the crust on the stone is 2,300 years old.
29
That would be consistent with the stone being an actual relic from the 9th century BC. Notice back in the 9th century BC this archaeological dig like many others proves the reality of Solomon’s Temple. A fact that is continually denied by the Palestinians.

The tablet contains an inscription in ancient Hebrew that refers to repairs to the temple made during the reign of King Jehoash. Remember after the death of Solomon the tribes of Benjamin and Judah rebelled against high taxation. They separated from the nation of Israel and formed the independent two tribe kingdom of Judah. Now the nation of Israel only consisted of the remaining ten tribes.

The inscription says in part: “holy money . . . to buy quarry stones and timber and copper and labor to carry out the duty with faith.” The last sentence promises that if the work is completed well, then “the Lord will protect his people with blessing.” The inscription relates and verifies that the work described in 2 Kings 12:1-6 and 2 Kings 12:11-16 was actually accomplished in real time. Thrillingly the writing on this tablet confirms the accuracy of portions of 2 Kings in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). It would also have profound political implications. The Hebrew scriptures teach that the temple of Solomon was located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

This could be considered one of the greatest Israeli archaeological finds in history, as it offers physical evidence of the existence of a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
King Hezekiah’s Tunnel is Archaeological Proof that Jews Possessed the Land of Israel as Defined in the Bible
The Jewish people did not just occupy and rule the Land of Israel. No. Archaeological digs reveal that time after time over the centuries the actual history of Israel corresponds with the biblical history of Israel. This is true of no other nation despite the false claims of the Arab nations.

While the Arabs were still warring tribes, long before Mohammed forcibly conquered them under the enforced banner of Islam, the Jewish people were playing out their over 3,000 years’ history in the Land of Israel. Oh yes, the Arabs controlled it for a puny 361 years, during which they soon disdained Jerusalem as the capital of the Land in favor of Ramla.

The Bible says “And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem, he planned with his officers and his mighty men to stop the water of the springs that were outside the city; and they helped him. A great many people were gathered, and they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the land, saying, ‘Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?’” (2 Chronicles 32:2-4 RSV). This occurred in the 7th century BC.

King Hezekiah needed a reliable water supply for Jerusalem during the siege, but at the same time he wanted to prevent the Assyrian forces from using the Gihon Spring, which was located outside the city. The Bible records Hezekiah’s solution: “This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David.” (2 Chronicles 32:30 RSV).

How? The water from the Gihon was diverted into the Gai wadi by means of a tunnel 1,740 feet (530 meters) long. The tunnel work was done simultaneously from both ends, until they miraculously met somewhere near the middle. It was an amazing feat of engineering for the time, as seen in the diagram below.

In 1880, an inscription was discovered by a boy who was bathing in the Gihon Spring. Carved in the rock at the end of the tunnel, it described the meeting of the two groups of workers who had started from opposite ends of the tunnel. Translated, it reads:

“The tunneling was completed . . . . While the hewers wielded the ax, each man toward his fellow . . . there was heard a man’s voice calling to his fellow . . . the hewers hacked each toward the other, ax against ax, and the water flowed from the spring to the pool, a distance of 1,200 cubits . . . .”

The inscription is now in the Istanbul Museum. And what happened to the Assyrian invaders? A great force of Assyrians did indeed besiege Jerusalem. They called out taunts to the people inside the city and went so far as to blasphemously insult The Lord. Hezekiah prayed to God for deliverance. “And the angel of The Lord went forth, and slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.” (Isaiah 37:36 RSV) Sennacherib then retreated to Nineveh with what little remained of his forces.
Hezekiah’s Broad Wall
In the early 1970s an archaeological mission headed by Professor Nahman Avigad unearthed part of the city wall from the period of King Hezekiah (end of the 8th century BC, first Temple era). Evidently the city’s population had increased even before Hezekiah ascended the throne, and Jerusalem expanded to the slopes of Mount Zion. When the Assyrian army approached, the king decided to fortify the city and wall in the newly built areas. The archaeological dig found that houses which had stood on the planned route of the wall were demolished and their stones used to reinforce the wall. According to Isaiah (22:9-10): “And you took note of the many breaches in the City of David . . . and you counted the houses of Jerusalem and pulled houses down to fortify the wall.” The sparse description conveys extraordinarily well the atmosphere of urgency and drama that accompanied the building of the wall. It was a vast project together with the hewing of the stones.
Remnants of the Broad Wall of biblical Jerusalem, built during Hezekiah’s days against Sennacherib’s siege. Manasseh’s Tax Bullae
New Bulla Provides Evidence of Judah’s Tax System under King Manasseh
April 15 presents a challenge to many, but taxpayers may take some small comfort in the fact that taxes are by no means a modern invention. A recent archaeological discovery in Jerusalem reveals a tax system in ancient Israel. While wet sifting soil from the excavation of an ancient refuse pit on the eastern slope of the Temple Mount, workers discovered a small clay bulla, or seal impression, inscribed in paleo-Hebrew script. Although some of the letters had broken off, archaeologist and co-director of the sifting project Gabriel Barkay reconstructs the two lines of fragmentary text to read “Gibeon, for the king.”

The inscription puts the new find in a special group of more than 50 so-called fiscal bullae, but it is the first of these to come from a professional excavation. Barkay thinks the bullae are evidence for a system of ancient taxes used by Judah’s King Manasseh in the 7th century BC. Under this system, according to Barkay, “the urban administrative centers collected taxes in kind [i.e., grain, oil, etc.] and then sent them on to the king in Jerusalem with the documentation attached and sealed by these bullae identifying where it had come from—in this case, Gibeon.”

Our Bible deals with the Kings of Israel and Judah from Saul to Zedekiah. It is thrilling that many, Saul, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Manasseh, and Zedekiah, have been verified by archaeology. This proves our Old Testament has to be inspired.
Further, How could anyone before these archaeological finds create these exact biblical names. Impossible! Our Bible is inspired!
Clay Bullae from the City of David Photos by Gaby Laron, The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University.
Clay Bullae from the City of David, Jerusalem, Provide New Evidence for Biblical Figures
These clay bullae (seal impressions), discovered by archaeologist Eilat Mazar during her excavations of the City of David, Jerusalem, bear the names of two royal ministers mentioned in the Bible’s story of Jeremiah, a famous prophet of the Old Testament.

The relationship between archaeology and the Bible is not always an easy one, but sometimes they come together in striking agreement as witnesses to history. Two small clay bullae (seal impressions) found in the course of Eilat Mazar’s excavation of the City of David, Jerusalem, confirm the reality of the Biblical account of the Prophet Jeremiah, a prophet of the last kings of Judah.

The first of the clay bullae, which surfaced during Mazar’s excavation of King David’s palace, bears the name “Yehuchal [or Jehucal] ben Shelemyahu [Shelemiah]” The second seal was found in the First Temple period strata just a few yards away from the first, and reads “Gedalyahu [Gedaliah] ben Pashur” (pictured above right).

These two men are mentioned together in the Bible (Jeremiah 38:1-13) as ministers who King Zedekiah (597–587 BC) instructed to imprison Jeremiah. Then King Zedekiah had a change of heart and held a secret meeting with Jeremiah in the “temple of the Lord” as recorded in Jeremiah 38:14, as the Babylonians closed in on Jerusalem during the last years of the First Temple period.
“To the Trumpeting Place” Stone
Jewish Temple Seal Confirms a Jewish Temple
The Palestinian claim that the Temple Mount was Arab, not Jewish, is further refuted by an exciting find in 2011 AD. Archaeologists surveying the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount in the area of Robinson’s Arch have found a button-sized, 1st century AD seal inscribed with the phrase “pure for God.” Israeli Antiquities Authority archaeologists Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich observed the seal was used to stamp objects that passed the purity qualification for ritual use in the Jewish Temple.

Similar seals are mentioned in the Jewish Mishnah and discussed in the Jewish Talmud. Products being brought to be used in the Temple were stamped as pure by this seal. Yes, this archaeological find of an ancient seal found at the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount proves that the Temple Mount was indeed Jewish and upon it resided the second Jewish Temple where animal sacifices were offered.
Yes, archaeology confirms the Jewish historical claim of two Temples on the Temple Mount!
Second Temple Era
A stone (2.43x1 m) with the Hebrew inscription “To the Trumpeting Place” excavated by Benjamin Mazar (Eilat Mazar’s Father) at the southern foot of the Temple Mount was a part of the Second Temple.

Josephus records, “the point where it was custom for one of the priests to stand and to give notice, by sound of trumpet, in the afternoon of the approach, and on the following evening of the close, of every seventh day.” (The Jewish War, IV, ix, 12)
Another remarkable discovery in biblical Archaeology and an awesome testimony of what once was the Temple in Jerusalem! Megiddo Seal of “Shema,” King Jereboam’s Official
An archaeological find with a satirical twist. The picture of this seal carries the inscription “Belonging to Shema, official of Jeroboam.” The seal was found during archaeological excavations at Megiddo in 1904. The timeframe of this seal is, after the death of King Solomon, when the twelve tribe kingdom of Israel, divided into the two tribe kingdom of Judah and the ten tribe Nation of Israel. The seal belonged to Shema an official of Jeroboam the king of the ten tribe kingdom of Israel. (2 Kings 14:23)

The striking feature of the seal is the roaring lion which historically was the symbol of the southern kingdom of Judah. (Genesis 49:9; Revelation 5: 5) But what was an official of King Jeroboam of Israel doing with the royal symbol of the rival kingdom of Judah? This archaeological dig captures the satire between officials of rival nations.

Remember, 2 Kings 14:12-14 reveals that Israel’s previous King Jehoash routed Judah and captured Amaziah, king of Judah. Jehoash went to Jerusalem and took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of the LORD . . . . He also took hostages and returned to Samaria.

Now the satire. When Jeroboam became king of the ten tribe kingdom of Israel, his domain included much of the already captured territory of the kingdom of Judah. To Shema, the official of Jeroboam, this was amusing so he made a pun with his own personal official seal or bulla that he used to seal his official mail. The roaring lion was the symbol of the southern kingdom of Judah. Imagine his smugness when he stamped an official document to an official in Judah with his own lion stamp. You can picture him smiling with glee!
bore legends like “Jerusalem the Holy” or “Freedom of Zion.” Only archaeology reveals these details of history.

The Romans crushed the Jewish revolt in 70 AD (except for the holdouts at Masada), but as seen above the Jews managed to revolt again a little more than 60 years later. This revolt, the so-called BarKokhba Revolt (132–135 AD), also known as the Second Jewish Revolt, lasted only two-and-a-half years. Archaeological digs indicate the coins from this revolt are much rarer. As in the First Jewish Revolt, however, coins are dated beginning with the start of the revolt. An example is a coin inscribed “Year 1 of the Redemption of Israel,” or another inscribed “Year 2 of the Freedom of Israel.” Rarely, a coin bears the legend “Year 3 of the Redemption of Israel.”

During the Byzantine occupation of the Land of Israel (4th to 7th centuries), a different dating system developed, beginning not with the start of a revolt, but rather the disasters that ended them. For example, archaeological finds of synagogue inscriptions and tombstones are sometimes dated as so many years after the destruction of the Temple that effectively ended the First Jewish Revolt.
A Self-Proclaimed King of Israel
A new document was dated to four years after the Second Jewish Revolt. Why? The so-called Bar-Kokhba Revolt was so effective that Rome had to rush troops all the way from England to subdue it. Although defeated again, Jews at that time were so anxiously hopeful to regain independence that they reckoned years from the Bar-Kokhba Revolt.

This newly discovered 2nd century AD papyrus, found in a Judean Desert cave, is dated in its first line to “Year 4 of the Destruction of the House of Israel,” a reference to the Roman takeover of Jerusalem after the Second Jewish Revolt, also known as the Bar-Kokhba Revolt.

Archaeological digs during the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (66–70 AD), which ended with the destruction of the Temple, reveal the Jews minted their own coins dated to the first, second, third, fourth and, more rarely, even fifth year of the revolt. In other words, dating began with the beginning of the Jewish revolt. Many of the coins also
Bar-Kokhba Papyrus
The Targum Hebrew rendition of Isaiah 6:12,13 agrees with history and archaeology that a tenth of the Jewish People would remain in the Land of Israel until end-times when their double of punishment is ended, and as we now observe they would be regathered back to their Land. (Jeremiah 16-18)

The Bible, natural history, and archaeology all prove that the Palestinian claims to an ancient history in the Land of Israel are completely false. The archaeological finds in Israel relating the Jewish people and their Land are the most numerous and detailed in the world thereby relegating the Palestinian’s claims to the Land of Israel to the scrap-pile of the absurd.
Underground Ritual Baths During the Jewish Revolt
Once again archaeology confirms details of Biblical history. Not only was Israel conquered by Rome, but Isaiah 6:11,12 and Ezekiel 33:27 predicted a devastation so great that the Jewish people, even the priests, would hide in caves. This presented a dilemma for the Priests and the observant Jews. How could they observe their ritual baths?

Recent investigations have identified five mikva’ot (singular: mikveh), or Jewish ritual baths, in caves on the Galilean cliffs of Arbel, revealing the religious orientation of the inhabitants. Priests and others found refuge in remote caves at Arbel during the Great Jewish Revolt against the Romans after the destruction of the Second Temple.

Artifacts found nearby reveal that the inhabitants lived subsistence-level lifestyles in crowded conditions. Researcher Yinon Shivtiel observed that “the preparation of mikvehs in these places is amazing not just because of the physical difficulty in digging them, but because in doing so one needs to cope with all the specifics of Jewish law that a ritual bath demands, primarily a source of flowing water and an immersion area that has a specific volume.”

The ritual baths at Arbel received their water from stalactites dripping above them or from tunnels dug outside the rock walls of the caves. Archaeological finds reveal this incredible effort to keep “the letter of God’s Law” while Israel’s national polity was being destroyed for their failing to additionally keep the spirit of God’s Law.

Shivtiel and Vladimir Boslov have identified over 500 caves of refuge in the steep cliffs, some with ritual baths.
Recent investigations by researcher Yinon Shivtiel (pictured here) and others have identified five mikva’ot, or Jewish ritual baths, in caves on the Galilean cliffs of Arbel, revealing the highly religious orientation of the inhabitants.
Mikva’ot in Cave at Arbel
Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley
The Megiddo Seal
w CHAPTER SEVENw

Biblical Archaeology’s Biggest Digs
The Mound of Megiddo
Tel Megiddo and Tel Dan in many ways have come to define the field of Biblical archaeology. On the one hand, they are Biblical cities associated with some of the Bible’s most famous events and figures from the conquests of Joshua to the building programs of King Solomon. On the other, they are the massive, imposing mounds of stratified remains that give archaeologists material insight into the far ancient past.

Situated in the fertile and strategic Jezreel Valley, the site of Megiddo has long captivated the imagination of archaeologists and Biblical scholars. The mound of Megiddo, which rises an impressive 100 feet above the surrounding valley, has revealed layer upon layer of human occupation covering the entire span of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Important layers and monumental structures have traditionally been attributed to Solomon.
The Megiddo Seal
The Megiddo Seal was discovered in 1904 during the earliest excavation of Megiddo, led by Gottlieb Schumacher. This was a seal belonging to a royal minister in the 8th century BC. It is engraved with the figure of a roaring lion (symbol of the kingdom of Judah) with a beautiful curved tail and was skillfully executed. Earlier, the satirical humor of this seal was presented (page 38).
44 Biblical Archaeology’s Biggest Digs Biblical Archaeology’s Biggest Digs 45 Another Megiddo Archaeological Dig
In 2012 archeologists at Tel Megiddo discovered a jewelry trove they say may be one of the most valuable ever discovered from the biblical period.

The clay vessel in which the jewels were found was excavated in 2010. In July 2012 the vessel was emptied, and experts were stunned to find what they described as some of the most valuable jewels ever unearthed from the biblical period. The Megiddo cache is notable for its abundance of gold jewels, including nine large earrings and a ring seal. It also includes more than a thousand small beads of gold, silver and carnelian — a semi-precious stone of orange-to-amber hue. All of the artifacts are in good condition.
Ancient gold earring found at Megiddo.
One of the collection’s most remarkable items is a gold basketshaped earring bearing the figure of a bird, possibly an ostrich. Dated from about 11 BC, researchers observed that at least some of the jewelry originated in Egypt. What was the origin of this Egyptian treasure trove? Remember when the Israelite slaves left Egypt, God caused the Egyptians to give their gold and silver jewelry to the Israelis. (Exodus 3:21,22 NASV) Yes, archaeology even verifies details like this.
The City of Hazor
The Bible portrays Hazor as the greatest of the Canaanite citystates (Joshua 11:10), consequently, Hazor is one of the largest archaeological sites in all of Israel, with its great, bottle-shaped mound covering over 200 acres. Excavations over the decades have revealed 22 strata of occupational debris, the earliest dating to the 18th century BC.

As dig director Amnon Ben-Tor explains in Excavating Hazor, Part One, and Excavating Hazor, Part Two, amid those layers archaeologists have uncovered the impressive remains of the grand Canaanite city that was conquered by Joshua, as well as the fortified administrative center built by Solomon.
The City of Hazor
w CHAPTER EIGHTw

Two Outstanding Digs
Temple Rock on Temple Mount
Two outstanding archaeological digs — the Temple Mount Rock and the Garden Tomb — are not generally referred to as archaeology, but in reality they are. Archaeology is a study of history from the remains of earlier human culture by excavation. The find can be an intended dig or it can be the result of an accident.

At first after the Bar Kochba revolt was crushed, Jews were not permitted on the Temple Mount. Sometime later they were permitted to ascend the Mount once a year on Tisha B’Av. Tisha B’Av, the 9th of Av on the Jewish calendar, is the Jewish day of mourning and fasting to commemorate the destruction of the two Temples. Since then, other Jewish tragedies also occurred on this same date.

The Byzantine Period, AD 135 through 638, was when Christians ruled Jerusalem before the Dome of the Rock was constructed in AD 692. Therefore, the rock on which Abraham offered up his son Isaac was not covered by a building—only by accumulated dirt and debris that could be removed and was removed.

In AD 333 a Bordeaux pilgrim wrote, “. . . on the Temple Mount . . . there was a rock with a hole in it to which Jews come annually; they anointed it and tear their clothes, lamenting, and sobbing. And they go away.” Similarly, other Christian writers observed that during the Byzantine (Christian) period, AD 135 through 638, Jews visiting the ruined Temple site anointed the rock on the Temple Mount. Thrilling and touching proof that the Jewish Temple Mount is indeed authentic and the Jews for centuries
48 Two Outstanding Digs Two Outstanding Digs 49
annually celebrated the destruction of the two Temples on Tisha B’Av. This was only possible because early on after AD 135, Jews dug, i.e. excavated, on the top of the Temple Mount to find the rock on which Abraham offered his son.
The Garden Tomb
There is a site in Jerusalem call the Garden Tomb that was actually excavated. Over the centuries it was covered by rubble, trash and dirt. In Jerusalem for a visit in 1883, General Charles Gordon spied a prominent rocky crag which looked to him like it could be the place mentioned in the Bible where Jesus was crucified. Around the corner Gordon identified an ancient tomb and putting the two together he located the hill of crucifixion and the nearby burial place.

Simon Brown found that ancient paintings drawn hundreds of years before the Garden Tomb was discovered showed the site of Gordon’s Garden Tomb to be in the exact place as the original skull hill and the Garden Tomb were located. Further confirmation is the tomb of Jesus, like Gordon’s Garden Tomb, was cut out of natural rock. (Matthew 27:57-60) Notice, the tomb Jesus was buried in was purchased by a wealthy man, Joseph of Arimathea, who had it hewn out of stone for himself and his wife—an elaborate tomb. Remember, the Apostle John could look in and see the main burial place. This was unusual for most tombs at that time, but, this is true of the Garden Tomb.

On the inside wall was a 3rd century Byzantine picture of a cross. “Jesus tasted death for every man.” (Hebrews 2:9) He was laid in this Garden Tomb and rose on the third day. Yes, Jesus “gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due times (Greek).” 1 Timothy 2:6 The due time for the “church of Christ” is in this life. For mankind in general it will be in the 1,000 year Kingdom of Christ.

Etched into the outside wall of the Garden Tomb was a simple picture of a fish, which was the 2nd century symbol of Christianity before the cross. Due to the erosion of the centuries it is nearly worn away.
Hallelujah! Jesus died for our sins and rose for our justification!
The Garden Tomb

Calvary Golgotha — “The Place of a Skull”

Mark 15:22

Qumran Cave 4, where ninety percent of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

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The Dead Sea Scrolls

The year was 1947, and the world was engulfed in change — World War II had ended, and the United Nations was preparing to allow the Jewish people to form the modern nation of Israel.

Unaware of the dramas on the world stage, young Abu Dahoud was about to begin one of the greatest ongoing dramas in world history. One of his sheep wandered into a cave. Hoping to scare the sheep out, Abu Dahoud picked up a stone and tossed it into the hole. Instead of his bleating sheep, however, he heard the sound of breaking dishes.

His curiosity piqued, he and a friend climbed up to the small cave. When their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they saw several large clay jars holding tattered scrolls. Little could Abu Dahoud have known that one of the jars contained the oldest existing copy of the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Neither could he have realized how his discovery would rattle the ivory towers of a world far removed from his own.

Until 1947, scholars had only the clay tablets of Babylon and the Egyptian papyri to help them understand background information on the Bible, since no ancient Old Testament manuscripts were known to have survived. However, all this changed with the discovery of over 800 papyri and parchment texts in caves along the northwest corner of the Dead Sea. These scrolls gave the world manuscripts of Old Testament books 1,000 years older than any previously in existence.
52 The Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls 53
As the importance of the find was realized, the world waited to find out if the scrolls would prove that the Bible had been handed down and translated accurately through the generations. The answer was a resounding, Yes! The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm that from the 9th century AD, the Jewish scribal copying of Old Testament Scriptures was accomplished with remarkably few errors. With the exception of minute copying errors here and there, the Dead Sea manuscripts exhibit virtually identical readings to their counterparts of the 9th century. They prove that the doubts of many scholars concerning the accuracy of the Masoretic text were unfounded.

For example, John Allegro, a noted non-Christian, made this observation.
“Excitement had run high among scholars when it became known in 1948 that a cave near the Dead Sea had produced pre-Masoretic texts of the Bible. Was it possible that we were at last going to see traditions differing seriously from the standard text, which would throw some important light on this hazy period of variant traditions? In some quarters the question was raised with some apprehension, especially when news-hungry journalists began to talk about changing the whole Bible in view of the latest discoveries; but closer examination showed that, on the whole, the differences shown by the first Isaiah scroll were of little account, and could often be explained on the basis of scribal errors, or differing orthography, syntax, or grammatical form.”
The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 11 caves on the upper northwest shore of the Dead Sea. The Isaiah Scroll is the oldest complete manuscript and is free of any real differences from the current Book of Isaiah’s Hebrew text. Fragments of every book of the Hebrew canon (Old Testament) have been discovered except for the Book of Esther. The Book of Nehemiah was just recently found so there are high expectations for the Book of Esther.
There are now identified among the scrolls, 19 copies of the Book of Isaiah, 25 copies of Deuteronomy and 30 copies of the Psalms, and they accurately compare to each other.
Our faith in God is primarily based on scriptures nearly 4,000 years old. How thrilling to have this confirmation of the Dead Sea Scrolls that our Old Testament is accurate!
The Isaiah Scroll
A Jar the Scrolls Were Found In
Tel Arad, 10 km West of Modern Arad
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Archaeological Evidence Verifies Biblical Cities

The following is a partial list of cities mentioned in the Bible that have been verified by archaeologists. There are hundreds! This means that the Bible accurately reflects the locations and cities of ancient times.
Arad
Num. 21:1, “When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, then he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.” [NAS]

Num. 33:40, “Now the Canaanite, the king of Arad who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the sons of Israel.” [NAS]

“Arad 30 km NE of Beersheba, excavated from 1962 to 1974 by Y. Aharoni and R. B. K. Amiran.” (The New Bible Dictionary, Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1962.)

“The site consists of an upper mound or acropolis, where excavation has revealed an Iron Age (post 13th century BC).” (Achtemeier, Paul J., Th.D., Harper’s Bible Dictionary, San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1985.)
Bethel
Amos 7:12-13, “Then Amaziah said to Amos, ‘Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying! [13] But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence.’” [NAS]

“W. F. Albright made a trial excavation at Bethel in 1927. Albright then mounted a full excavation in 1934. His assistant that year, J. L. Kelso, continued the excavation in 1954, 1957, and 1960.” (Achtemeier, Paul J., Th.D., Harper’s Bible Dictionary, San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1985.)
Dan
Judges 18:29, “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel; however, the name of the city formerly was Laish.” [NAS]

“The excavation of Dan began in 1966 under the direction of Avraham Biran.” (Horn, Siegfried H., Biblical Archaeology: A Generation of Discovery, Berrien Springs, Michigan: Andrews University, 1985, p. 42.)

“Formerly called Laish, it is mentioned in the execration texts, the 18th century BC Mari tablets, and the records of the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III. It is identified with Tel Dan (modern Tell el-Qadi) covering about 50 acres in the center of a fertile valley near one of the principal springs feeding the Jordan River . . . .”
Ephesus
Eph. 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus.” [NAS]

“Austrian archaeologists in this century [20th] have excavated the 24,000-seat theater and the commercial agora, as well as many other public buildings and streets of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, so that the modern visitor can gain some impression of the city as known by Paul.” (Achtemeier, Paul J., Th.D., Harper’s Bible Dictionary, San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1985.)
Gaza
Acts 8:26, “But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.’” [NAS]

Gaza was excavated by W. J. Phythian-Adams in 1922. (Achtemeier, Paul J., Th.D., Harper’s Bible Dictionary, San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1985.)
Gezer
Joshua 16:10, “But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer . . . .” [NAS]
R.A.S. MacAlister “directed the Palestine Exploration Fund for R.A.S. MacAlister “directed the Palestine Exploration Fund for 1909).” (Douglas, J. D., Comfort, Philip W. & Mitchell, Donald, Editors, Who’s Who in Christian History, Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992.)
Hazor
Joshua 11:1, “Then it came about, when Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon and to the king of Shimron and to the king of Achshaph.” [NAS]

Jer. 49:28, “Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the Lord, ‘Arise, go up to Kedar and devastate the men of the east.’” [NAS]

“This large Canaanite and Israelite city in upper Galilee was excavated under Yigael Yadin’s direction from 1955 to 1958 and from 1968 to 1970.” (Horn, Siegfried H., Biblical Archaeology: A Generation of Discovery, Berrien Springs, Michigan: Andrews University, 1985, p. 40.)
Heshbon
Josh. 12:2, “Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon . . . .” [NAS]

Excavations were undertaken by Andrews University from 1968 to 1976. (Achtemeier, Paul J., Th.D., Harper’s Bible Dictionary, San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1985.)
Jericho
Num. 22:1, “Then the sons of Israel journeyed, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.” [NAS]
“Jericho was the oldest inhabited and fortified city ever excavated.” (Horn, Siegfried H., Biblical Archaeology: A Generation of Discovery, Berrien Springs, Michigan: Andrews University, 1985, p. 37.)
Joppa
Acts 9:38, “And since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, ‘Do not delay in coming to us.’” [NAS]

“During excavations of the site of ancient Joppa a 13th century BC citadel gate was uncovered . . . .” (Achtemeier, Paul J., Th.D., Harper’s Bible Dictionary, San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1985.)
Nineveh
2 Kings 19:36, “So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.” [NAS]
Jonah 1:1-2, “The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.’” [NAS]
Excavated from 1845 to 1857 by Austen H. Layard. (Douglas, J. D., Comfort, Philip W. & Mitchell, Donald, Editors, Who’s Who in Christian History, Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992.)
Shechem and Joshua’s Altar
Gen. 12:6, “Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.” [NAS]

Gen. 33:18, “Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city.” [NAS]

“Excavations were carried out at Shechem, first by AustrianGerman expeditions in 1913 and 1914, and again from 1926 to 1934, under several directors, and then by an American expedition from 1956 to 1972 . . . . Excavation of the sacred area revealed a courtyard sanctuary and a later fortress temple dedicated to El-berith ‘the god of the covenant.’ This temple, which was destroyed by Abimelech, the son of the judge Gideon (Judges 9) has provided us with a date of the Judges’ period.” (Horn, Siegfried H., Biblical Archaeology: A Generation of Discovery, Berrien Springs, Michigan: Andrews University, 1985, p. 40.)

“Most recently a structure identified as an Israelite altar has been excavated on the northeastern slope of Mt. Ebal. Dating to the 13th to 12th centuries BC, considered to be the time of Joshua, the altar suggests the possibility that it may be the altar built by Joshua and described in Deuteronomy 27, 28.” (Horn, Siegfried H., Biblical Archaeology: A Generation of Discovery, Berrien Springs, Michigan: Andrews University, 1985, p. 40.)
The overwhelming weight of archaeology confirms that the Bible is the inspired word of God!
Tel Jericho
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Jerusalem’s Archaeological Park, also known as the Archaeological Gardens, is often referred to as the Southern and Western Wall Excavations. The park displays many layers of archaeological discoveries made around the Temple Mount, the Valley of Hinnom, and up the slopes of the Mount of Olives, where the oldest Jewish cemetery is located, seen in the background of this photograph.
Many of these excavations were conducted by Dr. Benjamin Mazar, the grandfather of Dr. Eilat Mazar.
Conclusion

Biblical Archaeology is a valuable science. It has disproved the claim of higher critics and verified the reality of Jesus as our Savior. Biblical Archaeology has cut through all the attempts to mythicize Kings David and Solomon. They were 10th century BC realities who ruled over Israel, a thriving empire. Biblical Archaeology proves the historical accuracy of our Bible, both the Old and New Testaments.

Biblical Archaeology invalidates one of the greatest grand larceny attempts in history. Archaeological digs in the Land of Israel progressively reach back over 3,000 years confirming continuous Jewish roots. It is incredible that the Arab people who did not unite under the banner of Islam until the AD 600s dare claim a 3,000 year history in the Land of Israel.
Archaeology’s answer to this claim is a resounding, ‘NO!’ 61
v THE DIVINE PLANv OF THE AGES
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The Distinction Between the Human and Spiritual Natures
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