LightSpectra
me autem minui
A Brief Overview of Artifacts pertaining to the Hebrew Bible
by LightSpectra
by LightSpectra
These are the most significant archaeological finds pertaining to historicity of the Hebrew Bible. Please note a few things: (1) the dating for these objects are not entirely certain, and sometimes are based on what the artifact says about itself; (2) translations are fairly ambiguous, and the ones provided are the scholarly consensus; and (3) new discoveries are made about these objects every once in awhile, so the information provided in this article may become outdated.
Merneptah Stele (1209 B.C.)
Merneptah was the Pharoah that succeeded Ramesses II in the Nineteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt. He ruled from 1213 to 1203 B.C., and is noted for his extensive military campaigns west of Egypt against the Phoenicians ("Sea Peoples").
Egyptologist Flinders Petrie discovered the "Victory Stele of Merneptah" at the site of Thebes in 1896; the stele now found in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at Cairo. The stele's content primarily consists of glorification of Merneptah's wars, but the end of the inscription begins to describe other peoples conquered by Egypt:
The Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe: Ashkelon has been captured;
Gezer has been captured;
Yano'am is made nonexistent.
Israel is laid waste and his seed is not (Alt.: "Israel is wasted, and his seed no longer exists.")
Khor is become a widow for Egypt...
Gezer has been captured;
Yano'am is made nonexistent.
Israel is laid waste and his seed is not (Alt.: "Israel is wasted, and his seed no longer exists.")
Khor is become a widow for Egypt...
This is by far the oldest mention of Israel in any archaeological find.
The inscription is ambiguous on whether "Israel" refers to the nation of Israel, or Biblical patriarch Jacob who was known as "Israel" (cf. Genesis 32:28; Exodus 1:9-10). No external evidence would suggest that the nation of Israel even existed at this point, nor that Jacob was a real person, so interpretation could sway either direction. Most places in Egyptian writings are referred to with feminine endings, but "Israel" is masculine; on the other hand, the stele reads of places that have been conquered by Egypt, so putting a person in the middle would have disrupted the list.
Interestingly, Merneptah's father, Ramesses II, was traditionally considered to be the Pharoah of the Exodus; however, few credible archaeologists hold this position today. Historian David Rohl writes that "the aged Merenptah, incapable of doing very much more than defend Egypt from attack by Libyan tribes and perhaps undertake the suppression of a revolt led by the city of Gezer (hence the carving of his cartouches over those of Ramesses II on the Gezer register), was bathing in the reflected glory of his more powerful predecessors." This is a strike against dating the Exodus to the 13th century B.C.
Moabite stone (830 B.C.)
Spoiler :
In 1868, the Moabite stone (also known as the "Mesha Stele") was discovered in Dhiban, Jordan. It was badly fragmented by the locals, but parts of it is on display at the Louvres Museum in Paris, France.
Dhiban is the modern day site of Dibon, the capital city of ancient Moab. The people of Moab, according to the Hebrew Bible, were a people that lived east of the Dead Sea and were frequently hostile with the Israelites (cf. Deuteronomy 23:3; Judges 10:6; 2 Samuel 8:2; Zephaniah 2:9). The traditional account of history is that the Moabites retained independence from Israel, but were eventually conquered by Assyria in the 8th century B.C., and then exterminated by Babylon in the 6th century B.C. They were a Semitic people; so similar to the Israelites, in fact, that the Hebrew Bible reports that the way to distinguish between an Israelite and somebody from the transjordan was by the pronunciation of a single word (cf. Judges 12:5-6).
The Mesha Stele recounts how the Moabites were defeated in battle by the King of Israel, Omri, as "Chemosh was angry with his land". The King of Moab, Mesha, then defeated Omri's son in warfare and occupied southeastern Israel. (Notably, the name for the Hebrew God is given in the stone as "YHWH".) The rest of the inscription lists Mesha's other accomplishments, regarding internal maintenance of Dibon and a war with the city of Horonaim.
The bare facts appear to be supported by the Bible. Mesha is confirmed as the King of Moab in 2 Kings 3:4, and they were initially capitulated to Israel; "Chemosh" is listed as the transjordan god in Numbers 21:29; and the reign of Omri is listed in great detail in 1 Kings 16. But beyond that, the stone seems to contradict the Hebrew story. 2 Kings 3 says that after Omri's son (Ahab) died, Mesha staged a revolt against Israel that failed miserably; as opposed to his stele which says that it was a tremendous victory. It is unclear by external evidence as to which nation actually won the war, or if this war even actually happened.
Regardless, the ramifications of this discovery cannot be overstated. It is the only independent verification that a Biblical event took place in the time frame claimed by Judeo-Christian tradition.
The Black Obelisk (825 B.C)
Spoiler :
In 1846, archaeologist Austen Henry Layard uncovered the Black Obelisk of Neo-Assyrian king Shalmaneser III in the city of Nimrud, Iraq. It is currently on display at the British Museum in London.
Shalmaneser, by all historical accounts, was a great conqueror. The entire near east south of Assyria (including Ahab) banded together to end his advances in 853 B.C. at the enormous Battle of Qarqar, but only succeeded in stalling him. The Black Obelisk records that in 842 B.C., Jehu, King of Israel, paid homage to Assyria: "the tribute of Jehu, son of Omri: I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king and purukhti fruits." (It would appear that "son of Omri" means the "dynasty of Omri", as he was the most famous King of Israel in the Middle East.) The obelisk itself was inscribed a year before the death of Shalmaneser.
The story of Jehu is recounted in the Hebrew Bible in 2 Kings, chapters 10 and 11. Neither Assyria nor Shalmaneser III are mentioned in this reading; Jehu is portrayed as a righteous king that goes to great lengths to eliminate pagan worship in Israel. In 2 Kings 10:32, it is reported that the Arameans (Semitic peoples who lived in the Levant) decisively defeated the armies of Israel. It is conceivable that Jehu would send a gift to Assyria in order to form an alliance against his enemies, but this is speculation.
Something of particular note regarding the Black Obelisk is that it is the first depiction of an Israelite in known history. In addition to the panel with Jehu, another panel presents the king's gift bearers.
Balaam inscription (800 B.C.)
In 1967, a temple was excavated in Deir Alla, Jordan by Dutch archaeologist Henk J. Franken. One of the inscriptions written on a wall that was badly damaged by an earthquake, written in Aramaic (a language similar to Hebrew), contained a short story about a diviner named "Balaam, son of Beor" in red ink. After several years of reconstruction and research, the inscription became readable:
Inscription of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophet, man of the gods.
Behold, the gods came to him at night,
and [spoke to] him according to these words,
and they said to [Balaa]m son of Beor thus:
"The [Light] has shone its last;
the Fire for [judgment] has shone."
And Balaam arose in the morning,
[ ] days,
[...]
and cou[ld not eat],
and he wept bitter tears.
And his people came up to him
and they [said] to Balaam son of Beor:
"Why are you fasting and why are
you weeping?"
...
The gods have gathered together,
and the(shaddayim) gods have met in assembly,
and they have said to [.......]:
"Sew up, bolt shut the sky with your cloud!
Let darkness be there, and not brightness,
gloom and not radiance;
Yes, strike terror with the cloud of darkness,
and do not remove it ever...
Source: Leibel Reznick, aish.comthe prophet, man of the gods.
Behold, the gods came to him at night,
and [spoke to] him according to these words,
and they said to [Balaa]m son of Beor thus:
"The [Light] has shone its last;
the Fire for [judgment] has shone."
And Balaam arose in the morning,
[ ] days,
[...]
and cou[ld not eat],
and he wept bitter tears.
And his people came up to him
and they [said] to Balaam son of Beor:
"Why are you fasting and why are
you weeping?"
...
The gods have gathered together,
and the(shaddayim) gods have met in assembly,
and they have said to [.......]:
"Sew up, bolt shut the sky with your cloud!
Let darkness be there, and not brightness,
gloom and not radiance;
Yes, strike terror with the cloud of darkness,
and do not remove it ever...
Numbers 22-24 speaks of a person with the same name and title. As the Israelites advance towards Canaan, their reputation for waging a successful war against the Amorites has already spread to Moab. The king of the Moabites, Balak, petitions the neighboring Midianites for aid, and they decide to send the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. After an intervention by God, Balaam instead chooses to bless the Hebrews. Later, in Numbers 31, Balaam is killed along with the rest of the Midianites for causing the Israelites to falter and worship the gods of the transjordan.
The inscription found at Deir Alla seems to coincide with the Hebrew Bible's account of Balaam so well, that a few scholars have hypothesized that the story in the Bible was actually derived straight from this temple. Richard Wellhausen's documentary hypothesis holds that the story of Balaam in the Book of Numbers was derived from the Elohist (E) source, who was a likely a Levitical priest from Northern Israel in about 850 B.C. This would mean that the Deir Alla inscription actually post-dates the Biblical story. However, the Balaam inscription is still of interest, as there is no indication that Israel or Judah ever occupied this territory of Jordan; the temple of Deir Alla was almost certainly created by non-Hebrews.
Siloam inscription (700 B.C.)
Dr. Edward Robinson discovered tunnels believed to have been constructed by Judean king Hezekiah beneath eastern Jerusalem in 1838. Fifty-three years later, writings along the tunnel (now called the Siloam inscription) were removed for study. They are now located in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.
The writings themselves describe how the tunnel was created. The Judeans cut the stone on both sides using axes. The building of the tunnel is described in the Hebrew Bible: "[Hezekiah] planned with his officers and his warriors to stop the flow of the springs that were outside the city" (2 Chronicles 32:4). According to this chapter, Hezekiah was preparing for an invasion by King Sennacherib of Assyria, and the purpose of the tunnel was to prevent the Assyrian army from acquiring water while they sieged Jerusalem, which succeeded. Archives found in Sennacherib's palace (see below) attests that Assyria did in fact invade Judah, and failed to capture Jerusalem.
Sennacherib's prism (689 B.C.)
In 1830, an enormous clay archive was unearthed from Sennacherib's palace in northern Iraq. This document, also called "Taylor's prism" after its discoverer, records the history of Neo-Assyrian king Sennacherib in Akkadian cuneiform. It is currently being studied at the British Museum in London.
Sennacherib reigned from 704 to 681 B.C., and he went to war with Syria, Turkey and Judah. The prism says that "Hezekiah the Judahite" refused to submit to his rule, so Sennacherib went on to invade southern Palestine with over 200,000 men. Unable to take Jerusalem, but still causing a havoc for the people of Judah, he agreed to an enormous bribe (30 talents of silver, as well as a vast hoard of silver, jewels, livestock and slaves) in exchange for withdrawal. The end of the prism describes the glory of the wealth Assyria attained from Hezekiah. Sennacherib is killed by his son, and then Esarhaddon (it is unclear if it is the same son) becomes the King of Assyria.
The war between Assyria and Judah is mentioned in three places in the Hebrew Bible: 2 Kings 18 & 19, 2 Chronicles 32, and Isaiah 36 & 37. All three books appear to have been redacted well after the events of the Assyro-Judean war, except perhaps Isaiah, whose terminus a quo is around 700 B.C.; the same time the events took place.
The three books in the Hebrew Bible read that the Northern Kingdom decided to rebel against Assyria, which resulted in an invasion by Shalmaneser V. Because Israel disobeyed the Mosaic law, they were decisively defeated, resulting in the Assyrian captivity. Then Sennacherib became king of Assyria, and he invaded the Southern Kingdom of Judah and sacked many of their cities. Before he captured Jerusalem, King Hezekiah prayed to God for deliverance. Accordingly, an angel came and slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Exhausted, Sennacherib returned home to Nineveh, where he was slain by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer. Just as the prism claims, Esarhaddon then became king.
Interestingly, Greek historian Herodotus recounts that Assyria's armies were destroyed by divine intervention:
After this, Sanacharib king of the Arabians and of the Assyrians marched a great host against Egypt. Then the warriors of the Egyptians refused to come to the rescue, and the priest, being driven into a strait, entered into the sanctuary of the temple and bewailed to the image of the god the danger which was impending over him; and as he was thus lamenting, sleep came upon him, and it seemed to him in his vision that the god came and stood by him and encouraged him, saying that he should suffer no evil if he went forth to meet the army of the Arabians; for he himself would send him helpers. Trusting in these things seen in sleep, he took with him, they said, those of the Egyptians who were willing to follow him, and encamped in Pelusion, for by this way the invasion came: and not one of the warrior class followed him, but shop-keepers and artisans and men of the market. Then after they came, there swarmed by night upon their enemies mice of the fields, and ate up their quivers and their bows, and moreover the handles of their shields, so that on the next day they fled, and being without defence of arms great numbers fell.
Source: Herodotus' Histories (440 B.C.), Project GutenbergSilver Amulets of Ketef Hinnom (600 B.C.)
Ketef Hinnom ("shoulder of Hinnom"; Hinnom being a nearby valley) is an archaeological site a little southwest of Jerusalem that consists of several tombs, dating to the 7th century B.C. Gabriel Barkay, in 1979, discovered two silver talismans in one of the larger tombs, that contain the oldest excerpt from the Hebrew Bible in archaeological history.
The scrolls are in a primitive form of Hebrew, and the larger one reads (almost verbatim) a priestly blessing found in Numbers 6:24-26: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, [and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you,] and give you peace." The other talisman is badly fragmented, but appears to be a prayer that contains Deuteronomy 7:9: "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations..."
These findings have monumentally impacted the challenge of dating the Pentateuch. The Priestly source (P) discussed of the documentary hypothesis has traditionally been dated to an Aaronite scribe in 450 B.C.; many Biblical scholars, since the Ketef Hinnom excavation, are now advocating a far earlier date for the Book of Numbers.
Works Cited
Boadt, Lawrence. Reading the Old Testament. Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1984.
Herodotus, Histories. Gutenberg ed. 1.2, The Second Book of the Histories, Called Euterpe. G. C. Macaulay. 2008.
Maspero, Gaston. History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria. Project Gutenberg ed. VII, The Assyrian Revival and the Struggle for Syria. A. H. Sayce, M. L. McClure. London: The Grolier Society Publishers, 2005.
Mazar, Amihai. Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. 1st ed. David N. Freedman. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Reznick, Leibel. "The historicity of Balaam, the non-Jewish prophet." June 29, 2008. <http://www.aish.com/societyWork/sciencenature/Biblical_Archeology_Prophet_and_the_Earthquake0.asp> (accessed March 10, 2009).
Rohl, David. Pharaohs and Kings: A Biblical Quest. New York: Crown Publishers, 1995.
Schaeffer, Francis A. A Christian Worldview. A Christian View of the West. (Notes to Volume V, 525). Crossway Books, 1985.
Stern, Philip. "Balaam in scripture and in inscription." Midstream (2002), <http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-1796366_ITM> (accessed March 9, 2009).
