Biblical
Archaeology
A. Introduction:
Biblical archaeology is defined as a study based on
the excavation, decipherment and critical evaluation of the records of the past
as they affect the Bible.
B. Important
Archaeological Discoveries:
·
The
Nuzi Tablets.jpg)
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Around 5000 Nuzi Tablets were discovered in 1930 in
Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). The texts are in cuneiform writing and gives
information about the Hurrian culture from which the patriarchs have been
influenced. During 2000 – 1400 B.C.E., the Hurrians were common and widespread
in Upper Mesopotamia. These clay tablets have thrown light on the patriarchal
times and their customs. They dated around 1450 – 1350 B.C.E. Some of the
tablets comprise of family details, customs, rules, documents, etc. It mentions
about rules of adoption, rules of inheritance, marriage customs, household
gods, birthright rules, etc.
·
The
Mari Letters
The excavation of the ancient city of Mari started
in 1933. They 1st discovered the Temple of Ishtar, the Babylonian
Goddess of propagation. They next discovered the royal palace which was a huge
structure and contained around 300 rooms. They then discovered the royal archives
/ library containing around 20000 clay tablets which impacted the knowledge of
the biblical world. These tablets dated back to 2800 – 1760 B.C.E. and were in
the Old Babylonian dialect. These texts are important for biblical archaeology
because they originate from the region where the Hebrew patriarchs came from.
The town of Nahor is mentioned in many of the Mari letters. these letters have
also given accounts of the Amorites, their growth as a tribe and the cities
where they lived.
·
The
Dead Sea Scrolls
Around 600 fragmentary inscriptions were found in
1947 in south Jericho in the Dead Sea area. Some of them were in Hebrew, Greek
and Aramaic. These tablets are dated to be between 175 B.C.E to 225 C.E. Some
of these manuscripts were partly biblical and partly intertestamental. The
biblical includes 2 scrolls of Isaiah, one complete, most of the 1st
2 chapters of Habakkuk, fragments of Old Testament books except Esther,
fragments of Pentateuch, Psalms, Jeremiah and Daniel. There was also another
scroll of the entire book of Isaiah in the Masoretic Hebrew Bible type dating
back to 150 – 125 B.C.E. Manuscripts of almost all the books of the OT has been
found from this area thus authenticating the historicity and correctness of the
Scriptures.
·
The
Ebla Tablets
The ancient town of Ebla was discovered in 1968 and
its civilization dated back to 2400 – 2250 B.C.E. Between 1974 – 76 almost 7000 well preserved
clay tablets and about 13000 fragments of other tablets with cuneiform writing
on them was found. The tablets contained economic, political and legal records
of Ebla. The city being a merchant empire controlled trade routes up to
Mesopotamian valley and to the edge of Nile Valley. Many of the places such as
Schechem, Jerusalem, Joppa, Haran, etc were mentioned in these tablets. Also
names such as Adam, Eve, Abram, Keturah, Noah, Israel, Micah, David, Saul, etc.
were also mentioned.
Biblical
archaeology illustrates the Bible in its historical and contemporary life. It
attracts a measure of interest in the Bible itself. It enables us to expand
biblical horizons on the human plane. A huge part of the Old Testament period
was not known as Greek and Latin historians catalogued very little information
before 5th century B.C.E. as a result very less extra biblical
information was available to authenticate the Old Testament. The Nuzi tablets out to rest all the
controversies and theories regarding the authenticity and reality of the
patriarchal narratives. They have also enabled to understand the social customs
and practices of the patriarchs at that time. Same is the case with the Mari
tablets that threw more light on the Amorites as well as the other kings and
rulers of neighbouring nations of that time.
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