recent years

Study Biblical Archeology is a truly exciting task. Archaeology is a compound word of a term originating from two Greek roots, archaeios (ancient) and logos (study, research), which literally means the study of antiquity. Jewish historian Josephus used the word in the title of one of his books, "Antiquities of the Jews [Archaeology]."

In recent years, the interest the general public to biblical archeology. National Journal of secular orientation are just a few years ago, declared:

"In a hundred licensed sites in Israel Archaeological excavations continue to introduce new evidence that the Bible is often surprisingly accurate in historical detail, to a greater extent than expected by researchers earlier period. Establishing the physical environment of biblical narratives and specific details of evidence (for example, finds altars with horns like those mentioned in the 3 Kings 1:50), Archaeology in recent years strengthened the reliability of the Bible. "Such a statement - the recognition of a large number of discoveries made in the past two and a half centuries - discoveries that continue to maintain our confidence in the divine origin of the Holy Book.

When we start talking about the archeology of the past few centuries, we are not just talking about a couple jugs of trivia, accidentally discovered in the ancient East. On the contrary, were born in the literal sense of the thousands upon thousands of wonderful discoveries. The volume of this work will allow us to draw attention to only a few of the most outstanding projects.

SCOPE OF EVIDENCE

1. In 1843, French explorer Paul-Emile Botta discovered Khorsabad (in Assyria) and the famous Palace of Sargon II (who won Samaria and destroyed the kingdom of Israel). When the ruins of the palace Slots for losers were completely freed from the sand, they found that they occupy an area of twenty-five acres (larger than many cities in the territory of modern Palestine). In 1845, Henry Layard, English archaeologist, discovered the ancient Nineveh. Its walls were 9.5 meters thick and 22.5 meters in height. Was found a magnificent palace of Sennacherib. Inside the palace found a huge library of Ashurbanipal, Sennacherib's grandson. "Fragments of cuneiform tablets numbered about 26,000, representing some 10 000 different texts. These included the historical, scientific and religious literature, official documents and records, business papers and letters. "

2. In 1887 a farmer digging in search of compost in the ruins of Tell el-Amarna Letters and found priceless Tel el-Amarna. This collection contains 350 letters (on clay tablets) of the Egyptian royal archive. About 150 of these letters were written in Palestine or the recipients were sent from her. These documents provide important information on conditions in Palestine and Syria in the years 1400-1360. BC

3. Between 1925 and 1931. in the town of Nuzi in northern Iraq out of the ground was recovered about 20,000 cuneiform tablets in the Babylonian dialect. These plates contain data about four or five generations in the 15-14 centuries BC The striking correspondence between the customs and social conditions of these peoples and the patriarchs give useful information and background to the patriarchal period and are one of the external factors, confirming the historicity of this part of Genesis. "

4. In 1888, John P. Peters (with Haynes and Hilpreh-how) found 20,000 clay tablets at Nippur, in the north central part of Babylonia. Nippur was one of the oldest Mesopotamian civilization, based around 4000 BC Among these texts was the Sumerian story of the flood, the age surpasses even gilgameshsky epic [Babylonian story of the flood], there was also a fragment of the Sumerian story of creation.

5. In 1906 Hugo Winckler of Berlin, began excavations Bogaz Kay in Turkey. Boğazköy was the capital of the ancient Hittite Empire. It was found more than 10,000 clay tablets that contained the legends, myths, historical chronicles and a set of laws.

6. Between 1929 and 1960. K.F.A. Schaffer excavated near Ras Shamrov (ancient Ugarit). In the course of this work from the ground were extracted palaces, temples (one dedicated to Baal), etc., dating from the 14 th century BC Were found more than 350 Ugaritic texts, which shed considerable light on the study of the Old Testament.

7. In Marie, south-eastern Syria, was found about 20,000 clay tablets between 1933 and 1960. These findings relate to the 18 th century BC The texts are written in the Semitic dialect, which they say that it is "virtually identical" to the spoken Hebrew patriarchs. They provide a treasure of information with respect to the patriarchal period.

8. Between 1937 and 1949. Sir KL Bouley examine the site of the ancient Alalaha in northern Syria. 456 tablets, dating from the age of the Patriarchs, shed considerable light on the narrative in Genesis of the patriarchal period.

9. Beginning in 1947 in the area west of the Dead Sea was found about 500 documents, which are collectively called the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Qumran manuscripts. They include biblical and unscriptural writings. About 100 scrolls - This is the text of the Old Testament individual room in Hebrew, representing, at least, all Old Testament passages knih (except the Book of Esther). These manuscripts date from the last few centuries BC up to the beginning of the first century AD Journal of Biblical Archaeology (May 1948) called this discovery "the most important discovery ever made in the study of Old Testament manuscripts ...".

10. In 1974, Dr. Padoa Mattie from the University of Rome led a team of Italian archaeologists in the discovery of an ancient city-state of Ebla in Tel Mardihe, Syria. By 1976 it was discovered 15,000 tablets from the ancient past (today their number exceeds 20 000). The age of these plates belongs to the era of Sargon I, king of Assyria (2300 BC) - that is, from two hundred to five hundred years before Abraham. They are written in the Semitic dialect, composed in close relationship to the Hebrew language. These documents contain many different kinds of material - letters, texts on household management, legal codes, mythological narratives, etc. They also contain numerous place names and personal names. David Noel Freedman described the find as "one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time."

The above examples represent only a fraction of discoveries. Moreover, much remains to be done. For example, only in Palestine of 5000 sites suitable for excavation work were only about 150. Paul Lapp notes that the archaeological research in Palestine were mostly "only two percent of potential sites." In addition to this, the total number of approximately 500,000 cuneiform tablets have been published, only about 10%! Any researcher can spend many years, doing archeology in the British Museum, while not turning over a single shovel of earth!

Significance of these findings

Archaeological Science diverse promotes the study of the Bible. Archaeology:

* Was in the identification of biblical sites and the establishment of the biblical dates;
* Assisted in the understanding of ancient customs and obscure idiomatic expressions;
* Shed new light on many biblical words;
* Improve our understanding of some important aspects of New Testament teachings;
* Consistently into silence unbelieving critics inspired Word.

Of course, this does not mean that scripture was not clear enough that a person may know the way to salvation without the assistance of the recent spade of archaeologists. The truth of the Lord has always been simple enough for people to learn the way of salvation. However, in light of these ongoing investigations, our gratitude to the Holy Book and deepens our confidence in its divine origin increases.