rchaeology studies past human cultures by examining the physical objects they have left behind. It includes excavating (digging) to recover objects that have been buried for long periods of time. Often, cities were built on top of the ruins of older cities. Sometimes archaeologists find huge mounds that are made of debris from layers upon layers of vanished civilizations. These mounds are called “tells.” There are two basic types of artifacts that have been recovered from the “tells”: (1) objects, such as buildings (houses, temples), statues, pottery, weapons, farming tools, and household utensils; and (2) the remains of written documents, including inscriptions and decaying documents consisting of little more than fragments of words.
How has archaeology affected the study of the Bible? The recovery of physical objects and written documents, especially, has greatly improved biblical understanding. Archaeology has provided much information about the history and culture of ancient Israel and its surrounding neighbors. Archaeology has also helped us to understand the history, culture, and religion of the people who lived in Bible lands long before the Israelites settled there. The objects found have taught much about how these previous cultures and religions influenced the new settlers. The phrase “biblical archaeology” refers to archaeology related to the study of the Bible. The Bible writers were shaped by their cultural surroundings. It would be difficult to understand the Bible without some knowledge of the history and culture of the ancient Near East.
What Ancient Writings Reveal
Bible translators sometimes have difficulty rendering accurate translations of certain Hebrew words until these words (or words similar to them) are discovered in other ancient writings. These writings can then be compared with biblical words, and the meaning of the Hebrew becomes clearer. Some of these ancient writings describe religious practices, government policies, history, and the cultures of nations that surrounded ancient Israel. Ancient documents were written on stone and clay tablets, broken pieces of pottery (called “ostraca”), or on parchment made from animal skins and papyrus. Papyrus is a writing material made from the plant of the same name. For more about these, see the mini-article called “Scrolls,”.
One important document discovered by archaeologists is the Cyrus Cylinder, a 10-inch long clay barrel. This was written in the Akkadian language in the 500s b.c. The inscription tells how King Cyrus of Persia defeated the kingdom of Babylonia. It also tells that Cyrus was generous toward his new subjects and allowed them to practice their own religions. Similarly, Ezra, tells that Cyrus allowed the people of Judah to return to their homeland with what remained of the treasures that the Babylonians had taken from the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1.1-11). See the photograph of the Cyrus Cylinder on . Other ancient documents, which describe events reported in Ezra and Nehemiah, have also been discovered through archaeology.
In 927 b.c., King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and looted the temple (1 Kgs 14.25,26; 2 Chr 12.2-4). Writings from the court of King Shishak found by archaeologists on the walls of the temple of Amun in Thebes (Egypt) tell of this event and about the other cities that Shishak destroyed in Palestine. His military campaign was waged against Israel after Solomon's death when Israel was weak and divided into northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) kingdoms.
One of the most exciting archaeological finds ever occurred in 1947 when a shepherd boy wandered into a cave searching for a lost sheep. He found many ancient clay jars containing scrolls. The cave was located just west of the Dead Sea, so these important documents have come to be known as the “Dead Sea Scrolls.” These scrolls include a variety of writings about the Essene community that lived in the wilderness area near these caves from around 250 b.c. to a.d. 68. The Essenes were a group of very religious people who left Jerusalem for religious and political reasons and settled in the secluded location around Qumran. Perhaps the most interesting documents discovered there were the scrolls of Old Testament books, the oldest copies of Hebrew Scriptures currently in existence. Of these, the most precious find is the “Isaiah Scroll.” It contains a complete copy of Isaiah, which was copied around 150–50 b.c. The parchment is over 20-feet long and remarkably well preserved. See the photographs on .
Unearthing the Past
Archaeology has helped to confirm some of the events reported in the Bible. Although it cannot “prove” every detail found in the Bible (since the Bible was written thousands of years ago), many archaeological excavations have provided useful evidence that in some cases supports what the Bible says. For example, archaeological evidence shows that there were many Philistines in Palestine around 1000 b.c., and that they were most likely a threat to neighboring peoples, including the Israelites. This may be one reason why the people of Israel felt the need for a strong ruler (king) so that they could better defend themselves (1 Sam 8).
Also, archaeological studies of village sites in Judea dating from the sixth century b.c. show that many of them had been abandoned for a number of years before being used again. This supports the Bible's extensive description of how the Babylonians took many of the people away from Judah and into exile in Babylon. See the article called “From Joshua to the Exile: The People of Israel in the Promised Land,”. The exile lasted from 586 b.c. to about 538 b.c. when Cyrus (see above) allowed the people of Judea to return home.
Other important archaeological finds are those uncovered at:
Jericho, where many layers of civilizations have been unearthed, the oldest dating from before 5000 b.c., several thousand years before the Israelites conquered it (Josh 5.13–6.27). Archaeologists also uncovered the ruins of a building near Jericho from a later period. It has been identified as the winter palace of Herod the Great.
Shechem, Mount Gerizim, and Samaria, all sites in central Palestine, which are important because they were centers of royal power and worship for the northern tribes of Israel.
Megiddo, where the famous “Stables of Solomon” were found (1 Kgs 9.19). The “tell” at Megiddo is about 70-feet deep, so several strata (layers) of material have been uncovered.
Jerusalem, where a tunnel known as “Hezekiah's Tunnel” was found. This tunnel was used to bring water into the city during the Assyrian siege in 701 b.c. (2 Kgs 20.20).
Capernaum, where an early synagogue (Jewish meeting place) was found that may relate to Mark 1.21. A fisherman's house which dates from the first century a.d. was also found nearby.
Ephesus, where the temple of Artemis was unearthed along with writings that mention the silver statues of this temple, possibly similar to those mentioned in Acts 19.24.
Learning about How People Lived
Some archaeological finds provide us with information on what life was like in biblical times. We have glimpses of how the royal and military rulers governed their countries; how people earned a living, produced food and goods; how buildings were built; how people worshiped, what they believed about how the world came into existence, and what they believed the future held for them.
Cultural information about the ancient world has come from many different sources. The Code of Hammurabi (see chart) describes the practice of a woman asking her husband and her hand-maiden to have a baby together if the wife has not been able to get pregnant. This may have been the same custom as described in Genesis 16, where Sarah asks Abraham and Hagar to have a baby together because Sarah has not been able to have children.
Another important archaeological find that reflects biblical culture are coins such as those described in Ezra 2.69 and Nehemiah 7.70-72. They are especially useful in identifying local and regional authorities and helping scholars to establish dates.
Archaeological discoveries of ivory carvings, religious figurines, pottery, jewelry, and even animal and human bones have provided additional clues about the culture of biblical times. Skeletons found from the time of Jesus show that the average height of people was just over 5 feet. They also confirm that people were indeed nailed to crosses (crucified) as a form of capital punishment as described in the Gospels. See the mini-article called “Crucifixion,”, and accompanying illustrations. The foot bones of one male skeleton, for instance, had a nail in them and the lower leg of the man had been broken. John describes both crucifixion in general and the practice of breaking a condemned person's legs (John 19.18,32).
Other archaeological discoveries reveal much about the types of architecture and building projects undertaken by the Romans who ruled over Palestine during the time of Jesus. Portions of the Jewish temple built by Herod the Great can still be seen, as can the ruins of ancient temples built to honor Greek and Roman gods. All of these are useful to people who want to understand the biblical world, because the early church developed from the Jewish religion but was influenced by other philosophies and religions as well. For more about this, see the article called “Religions and Philosophies in Bible Times,”.
Ancient Texts Related to the Old Testament
The History and Development of Archaeology
Serious study of the remains of the ancient Near East began around 1800 when Napoleon invaded Egypt, taking with him artists and scholars to study the culture of that ancient land. These specialists studied the ruins of temples, palaces, and burial places. During this expedition, they found many ancient writings and inscriptions. A very famous stone, called the “Rosetta Stone,” was discovered by some of Napoleon's soldiers. The stone had an inscription in three different languages: two forms of Egyptian and one of Greek. The letters on the stone were in the form of “hieroglyphs” (pictures representing letters and words). After much hard work, a French scholar was able to decipher (translate) the inscriptions. Through his important work, many inscriptions on the walls, tombs, and palaces in Egypt can be understood today. By the middle of the 1800s, ancient ruins in Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, (modern Iraq and Iran), were also uncovered. These remains include cities, forts, palaces, and temples, as well as ordinary houses and shops.
Careful study has made it possible to decode and translate the ancient writings which have been found, and to determine the dates of many of the artifacts. Looking carefully at pottery has been one way to determine dates of other items in a dig area. Since pottery was made in different shapes, using different techniques and finishes during different periods of history, archaeologists have gradually learned how to date the layers of their excavations by the kinds of pottery they find. For example, much pottery from the Iron Age (1225-539 b.c.) is thick and colored light gray, while pottery from the Roman Era (63 b.c. to a.d. 324) is often reddish in color, and fairly thin. Another example is the ability to tell the age of oil lamps based on their designs. Over the centuries people made lamps differently. Early lamps were much more open and bowl-like, while later ones, in the time of Jesus, were almost completely enclosed.
In addition to learning how to date certain areas and layers of a “tell” by looking at pottery, archaeologists have developed methods for uncovering these ancient sites one layer at a time. These methods give archaeologists a better picture of how people lived in each period. Usually a square area is marked off with stakes, and then each layer is carefully removed using shovels, picks, hoes, brooms and dustpans. When archaeologists reach layers where pottery or other objects are present, they work very carefully, using small picks and brushes. They collect all the material in buckets and sift through it in order to catch any small items like coins, bone fragments, or jewelry. Since a marked-off area is worked on for a period of time, a slice or cross-section of the layers can be viewed at the side of the square as the archaeologists dig deeper and deeper. An example of an archaeological dig is shown on the previous page.
Many other specialists work on digs with archaeologists so that the maximum amount of information possible can be gathered. These include architects, geologists, soil specialists, photographers, language and script specialists, bone and animal specialists, pottery restorers, and aerial photographers, as well as many students and volunteers.
New archaeological discoveries related to the Bible require cooperation with other fields such as anthropology, ancient literature, linguistics, art, and sociology. The work of archaeology is often slow and tedious, but its results can be very rewarding. By putting the special interests of biblical archaeology in the context of the larger field of archaeology and its related fields, our knowledge about the peoples, places, and writings of the biblical world continues to increase.