VALUES OF ARCHAEOLOGY

1. It provides the general background of the history of the Bible.

It helps to illuminate the people and places in the Bible by providing background information and shedding light on what the world was like during the time of the Old Testament. The Bible is not a full and complete record so the customs, clothing, religion, and travel for some of the people in the Bible are sometimes not known or fully understood.

In addition, archaeology uncovers information about their trade routes, types of travel, occupations, housing, government and religion. All of this extra-biblical information relating to illumination provides a context for understanding the Old Testament.

MARI TEXTS

This tablet sheds light

to the custom of

Abraham in

Mesopotamia

2. It supplements the accounts found in the Bible.

The Bible only records up to the life of Jesus Christ and the early Church. However, there are many other historical events taking place at the same time outside of what God records in His Word. Therefore, archaeology helps to supplement understanding of the entire historical situation surrounding the Bible.

MOABITE STONE testifies about King Omri of Israel.

It provided the answer to a question that had gone unanswered for centuries. The Bible states that David conquered Moab, that Solomon held Moab, and that Moab broke free at the outset of the divided kingdom. But in the next Biblical reference to Moab (2 Kings 3:4), King Ahab is receiving tribute from King Mesha of Moab.

•Nowhere does the Bible state how or when Moab was reclaimed by Israel. The Moabite Stone provides that information, telling of King Omri’sconquest from the Moabite perspective. The Bible does not speak of this accomplishment, but archaeology reveals that King Omri was a more important figure than would have otherwise been known.

3. It helps in the translation and explanation of many passages in the Bible that are hard to understand.

This is especially true for the Old Testament, which is written in Hebrew. Hebrew is a Semitic (Northwest Semitic) language in which many tablets are found and translated. This find helps in the clarification of rare biblical words that are sometimes used only once or twice in the biblical text. When these same rare words are found in a similar Semitic language there is a better understanding of how the word should be translated.

AKKADIAN Language (Amarna tablets)

The majority of the letters are from various Asiatic rulers to the pharaohs Amenophis III and IV (c. 1385-1360 BC. They supply information concerning the history of the area, providing a vivid picture of the intrigues and inter-city strife which followed the weakening of Egyptian control shortly before the Israelites entered the land.

Akkadian is a Semitic language that was spoken in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and Syria) between about 2800 B.C. A.D. 500.

Sample text

Clay tablet written in Akkadian

KEY1. Hebrew-Phoenecian: about 8th century B.C.2. Hebrew-Aramaic: 6th-4th century B.C.3. Dead-Sea scrolls: about 1st century B.C.4. Modern Print Letters5. Modern cursive letters

4. It helps to understand the Hebrew culture against the life of the Ancient Near East generally.

Archaeology has corrected many incorrect claims of biblical critics. For example, it used to be claimed that the Biblical references to Abraham could not possibly be historical because camels are mentioned when Abraham sent his servant to find a bride for Isaac. When they returned the Bible says that Rebekah was on a camel. Some biblical critiques said that this was not possible because camels had not yet been domesticated. Therefore, Abraham is not a historical character. Archaeology however eventually uncovered inscriptions that showed, even earlier than Abraham, that camels were clearly domesticated animals (cf. Gen 24:10-15)

5. It confirms the veracity of the OT writers or the Bible as a whole.

• The historicity of the Book of Daniel has been questioned because of the name Belshazzar.

• Critics claim that the name is not found in the chronology of the Kings of Babylon.

• However, Nabonidus Cylinder shed light on this matter.

The Nabonidus Cylinder (British Museum copy)

• The Nabonidus Cylinder is a long text which describes how Nabonidus, king of Babylon (556-539 BC), repaired three temples

• It was discovered in Babylon in the late 1800s.

• One of its importance in the confirmation of the historicity of the book of Daniel as the the cylinder states:

• "As for me, Nabonidus, king of Babylon, save me from sinning against your great godhead and grant me as a present a life long of days, and as for Belshazzar, the eldest son -my offspring- instillreverence for your great godhead in his heart and may he not commit any cultic mistake, may he be sated with a life of plenitude."