by badboy 4 Replies latest jw friends
I was reading the above or some such title when they quote from a book that their is archaeological evidence of Solomon eloquent reign.
What Evidence?
I understand from a TV programme that although Israeli archaeologists have excavated throughout the Holy Land that they can't find direct evidence proof of Bibical events.
(They does seem to be evidence of nomads/semi-nomads living in the Jericho area),this may be related to Joshua.
There's tons archaeological of evidence of "biblical events". Not all for sure; but a lot.
How many examples do you want?
Lots actually, make it my day,chappy!
Solomon palaces would do for starters.Hallejuh
A lot of the 'proofs' of the bible (archeology wise) are more political because of the modern day Jewish claims to the land.
More recently, archeologists are saying that there isn't prrof of the bible stories.
Some of the so called evidence are very WT like in their circular reasoning. For instance, they found a certain type of stone jar that they arbitrarily associated with the reign of Solomon. Wherever these jars were found, the site was declared to be something todo with solomon and proof he existed. Hell, the original site MUST have had something todo with Solomon 'cause it was full of his jars!!
Of course, now we know that Solomon didn't exist ... that Jerusalem was not the capital when Solomon's reign was supposed to be (but the writer of the bible didn't know that).
An interesting on the history of the Hebrews, is that much of their traditions and history is really taken from the early Canaanites,including their God YHWH, the names of some of their patriarchs and early kings.
"In 1964, Dr. Paolo Matthiae, professor of Near East archaeology at the University of Rome began to excavate Tell Mardikh in north-western Syria [forty kilometers south of Aleppo]. It soon became clear that they were excavating the ruins of the ancient city of Ebla. In 1975, as the dig progressed down to Early Bronze Age levels, a remarkable find was made in the form of nearly 20,000 clay tablets which constituted the royal archives of the city. These tablets date back to the middle of the 3rd millenium BC, almost 4,500 years ago. They are written in Sumerian wedge-shaped cuneiform script which is the world's oldest known written language. Deciphering these tablets, Professor Pettinato, also of the University of Rome, found the language used to be what he called Old Canaanite' even though the script was cuneiform Sumerian. This very ancient language is closer in vocabulary and grammar to biblical Hebrew than any other Canaanite dialect', including Ugaritic; this therefore gives evidence as to the age of the Hebrew language."
- John Fulton, "A New Chronology - Synopsis of David Rohl's book 'A Test of Time'"
"Amongst the hundreds of place names in the commercial and diplomatic texts, of special interest to Biblical scholars are references to places and vassal cities in Palestine like Hazor, Gaza, Lachish, Megiddo, Akko, Sinai, and even Jerusalem itself (Urusalima).It is however thought that the hebrews were a group of nomads that wandered in the desert area around palestine, and even down into egypt where they met the Hyksos (the Hebrews are thought to be of the same race as the Hyksos) who had entered Egypt from Syria and had taken over the rulership in egypt for a period.
"But perhaps the most intriguing names are those personal names which also appear in the Bible; names from the 'Patriarchal Age' like Ab-ra-mu (Abraham), E-sa-um (Esau), Ish-ma-ilu (Ishmael), even Is-ra-ilu (Israel), and from later periods, names like Da-'u'dum (David) and Sa-'u-lum (Saul). The most tantalizing adumbration is the name of Ebrum (Biblical Eber), third and greatest of the six kings of the Ebla dynasty between 2400 and 2250 BC. He seems to have been placed on the throne of Ebla by Sargon the Great of Akkad after a punitive expedition in which Ebla was subjugated. But after Sargon died (c.2310 BC), Ebrum turned the tables on Akkad and reduced its cities to vassalage in turn. It was not until 2250 that Sargon's grandson, Narum-Sin of Akkad, was able to throw off the yoke of Ebla by conquering the city and putting it to the torch."
"It may be pure coincidence that this powerful king of Ebla, King Ebrum, should have had the same name as Eber, from whom the Hebrews traced their descent....(coincidentally, Arab historians have traditionally dated Abraham to c.2300 BC)."
- Magnus Magnusson, BC - The Archaeology of the Bible Lands
If you look into the stories of the Older Canaanite and Sumerian mythology, you will find a strong parallel to the OT, even the story of the flood, creation, and the patriarchs are there.
Seedy
