Bible Archaeology New Horizons Publishing

27/04/2023

Sorry our internet connection is playing up!
Still, today is the 5th Day of the 3rd Week of Counting - the 19th Day of Counting.

25/08/2022

20/05/2022

ASWAN, ELEPHANTINE AND THE BIBLE
Many do not realise that Israel did not just build one temple to their God, YHWH. We know of at least three others: the one at Tel Arad in the northern fringe of the Negev; another was built in the Nile Delta, in the area known as the "Land of Onias"; the other was built by Jewish mercenaries on the island we now know of as Elephantine. Some views of this island can be seen in today's picture.

The Greek name for this island was "Elephantine". The island is located just before the First Cataract of the Nile, at modern Aswan. The location of the First Cataract here makes a natural border point for shipping and was considered the border between Egypt proper and Nubia.

Elephantine is an island within the Nile, located just downstream of the First Cataract at the southern border of Upper Egypt with Lower Nubia. It seems to have been called "Elephantine Island" because of the rounded rocks along its banks resembling elephants. An example of this can be seen in our lower picture, which appears to show a herd of Elephants in the water. Standing at the border between Egypt and Nubia it was an excellent defensive site for a city and its location made it a natural cargo transfer point for river trade. For this reason it was important for Egypt to have troops permanently stationed here. At least some of these were Jewish mercenaries.

Towards the end of the 19th century AD a collection of 175 papyri documents were discovered. Amongst these papyri were a collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts dating from the 5th century BC. These give us a vivid view of life in this early diaspora Jewish community. They include legal documents, requests to rebuild & dedicate a Jewish temple, and general notes between families and their soldier relatives stationed on the island.

The famous Greek geographer, Strabo (died 24AD), sailed up the Nile. He enumerates the towns of Upper Egypt, ascending from Thebes. He tells us, "Now follow Syene and Elephantine, the former on the borders of Ethipoia (i.e. Nubia) and a city of Egypt, the latter an island lying half a stadium in front of Syene with a temple of Khnouphis (i.e. Khnum) and a Nilometer as in Memphis." The Egyptian name for this island was Yeb. In a collection of Aramaic papyri found on Elephantine the old Egyptian name "Yeb" is used, whilst Syene is called "Sewen". "Sewen" has survived in the modern name of "Assuan" or "Aswan".

The picture above left shows the approximate site of what has been described as the 5th century temple of YHWH described in these Aramaic papyri. It was built by Jewish mercenaries stationed on this island. These Jewish mercenaries were probably descendants of the Jewish people that did not go into exile in Babylon rather migrating to Egypt It was amongst these the Prophet Jeremiah found himself. In the papyri we find this colony asking permission to rebuild this temple and find they are granted permission to do so, as long as they do not perform any blood-sacrifices in it.

According to one of the Elephantine papyri this temple existed before the Persian conquest of Egypt. Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, further expanded the empire into Egypt by defeating the Egyptian pharaoh Psamtik III during the battle of Pelusium in 525 BC. This letter is called the "Petition to Bagoas" and is part of the Sayce-Cowley collection of Aramaic papyri found in the ruins of the fortress at Elephantine. The letter is dated year 17 of king Darius (II), which corresponds to 407 BC. It consists of an appeal by the Jewish inhabitants of Elephantine to rebuild the temple which had been damaged during some anti-semitic riots:
"Now our forefathers built this temple in the fortress of Elephantine back in the days of the kingdom of Egypt, and when Cambyses came to Egypt he found it built. They knocked down all the temples of the gods of Egypt, but no one did any damage to this temple."
[It is interesting to note that the "Temple of YHWH" at Tel Arad is also built within a fortress.]

The top-left inset picture is a sketched reconstruction of the proposed Jewish temple by Stephen Rosenberg - http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/eng/teruma/roz.html Whether this temple has ever been discovered is open to question. However, after many years of searching in 1997 excavators found, at the heart of Jewish/Aramaic village, a rather special piece of tiled flooring, much superior to that of the mud-brick houses around. They identified this as the floor of the Jewish temple. Unfortunately, this slight evidence has been destroyed by later excavations in this area.

Another fact that most visitors to Aswan today do not realise is that it is mentioned at least once in Scripture. In Ezekiel 29:10 & 30:6 we find Egypt described as, "from Migdol to S'veneh (or "Syene"), even to the border of Ethiopia (i.e.Nubia)" - "Migdol" probably refers to Pelusion in the north of Egypt. Thus Ezekiel is describing Egypt from its northernmost point to it southernmost border with Nubia. It is also possible that Isaiah 49:10 also refers to Syene when it speaks of Jewish exiles returning to ZIon from "Sinim", or as the Dead Sea Scrolls describes them, "Siniyites".

The top right picture is a replica of a bound papyrus document, similar to those discovered at Elephantine.
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04/03/2022

BOUNDARY-STONES
Boundary-stones were spoken of in the oldest documents and mentioned in the oldest of law codes. Today, millennia later, they can be found all over the Middle East and Egypt. In fact, a sharp eye can spot them even in the wilds of the desert! The ones seen in the middle picture are located between Tel Arad & Hebron - how long they've been maintained we just cannot know.

In the Law of the Bible, we find that moving boundary-stones is strictly forbidden (as in the laws of the surrounding nations). Just two examples are:
"Do not move the ancient boundary Which your fathers have set." (Proverbs 22:28)
"You shall not move your neighbor's boundary mark, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that YHVH your God gives you to possess." (Deuteronomy 19:14)

The following two laws show that the boundaries of a city had some importance. Those boundaries included within it the common or pasture-land around it:
"If one be found slain in the land which YHVH your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it isn't known who has struck him; then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is slain: and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd". (Deuteronomy 21:1-3)

"The suburbs of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it. You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities." (Numbers 35:4-5)

Identifying ancient cities is not that easy and we often have to rely on traditions and comparing modern names. However, sometimes we are fortunate enough to find inscriptions. In 1871, Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau discovered a boundary stone for Gezer, which provided a safe identification for that Tel. Since then, thirteen similar boundary stones in all have been found. This makes Gezer the Biblical city with the safest identification.

If you have time on your hands whilst visiting Israel, you might like to go for a walk around the boundaries of an ancient Tel, you might just find another boundary stone!

The top picture in our compilation shows the boundary-stone found by Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau. That stone read, "Limit of Gezer". The lower picture shows another Gezer boundary stone, this time a bi-lingual one, in Aramaic (top inscription) and Greek.

The endurance of these traditions into our present-day shows that the Bible speaks about realities that existed when it was written and is a book that you can trust.
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07/12/2021

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls have had dramatic implications for the study of Jewish history, providing scholars with a large and diverse (mostly religious) literary corpus from the Hellenistic-Roman Period.

03/11/2021

Seeking to bring the Bible to life though archaeology. We shall soon be announcing some ne publications - keep an eye out for these.

03/11/2021

16/02/2021

JOB & WISDOM LITERATURE
Job has always been a difficult book to place in the Old Testament. In many ways it can best be classified as wisdom literature. Still, many of the cultural allusions within Job very clearly place its events in the Patriarchal age. Partly due to this, Job is often considered as the earliest authored book in the Bible. If this is correct, this text is the earliest written reference to YHWH God’s Redeemer.

Possibly the earliest human language committed to writing is that of Akkadian, an early semitic language. It is first attested in Sumerian texts containing proper names dated to the 29th century BCE. Around 2,000 BCE texts fully written in Akkadian begin to appear. Akkadian was written in a form of cuneiform and became a popular diplomatic language up to about the 8th century BCE.

An early text, very similar in genre to Job, has been called “Dialogue between a man and his god”. This genre became very popular and variations on it were made for many centuries later. It differs from Job in that, whilst Job maintains his righteousness, the sinner in the Akkadian text confesses his sin, repents and is forgiven by his god.
[A translation of this text can be found at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section5/tr524.htm]

Job also differs dramatically from all other non-Hebrew forms of this genre in that it expresses a need for a heavenly advocate, who is perfect (Job 9:33). Astonishingly, Job also looks forward to a Redeemer whose redemption shall not act only on behalf of those in the future but also retroactively be applied to those of previous generations (Job 16:19-21). It may also be the earliest reference to a future resurrection.

[Our artwork today shows an example of the Akkadian tale known as, "Dialogue between a man and his god". This version is dated to around 1800-1600 BC. The original is housed in & copyright to the Louvre Museum, Paris. (Tablet A0 4462)]

29/01/2021

WHY DID PHARAOH NEED SO MANY MUD BRICKS?
Have you ever wondered why the Egyptians needed so many mud-bricks? Why did they need an entire nation of slaves to continuously make them? The truth may surprise you.

Egyptians literally built their magnificent buildings from the ground up. Having laid one layer they then built the ground-level up with mud-bricks. This allowed them to easily haul the next level on top of the first. When they finished they would dig the bricks out adding the decoration to the building as they continued down. So the mudbricks were used as a type of scaffolding for Pharaoh's grans architecture.

Mud-bricks were, of course, also used for the buildings of poorer, the vast majority of people. A good example of this was the Temple of the Jewish mercenaries on Elephantine (5th/4th century BCE). Very few of these ancient mud brick structures of the ordinary Egyptian have survived, partly due to annual floods, weather and bad excavation techniques.

However, our picture shows us another interesting example of the use of mud-bricks, this time at the Edfu Kom Ombo Temple. This temple was discovered under a mound made up of mud-brick, we do not really know why it was buried in this way. For the early excavators the mud-brick was merely an obstacle to reaching the fine example of a typical Egyptian temple beneath it. This is a late temple built between the 3rd to 1st century BCE.

Looking closely at what remains of the Tell or mound that buried the Edfu temple (to the left of the picture), we can see it was made up mud brick accommodation built closely together and one layer upon another. The picture was taken whilst visiting the side chapel - called the "Mamissi" or "Birthing House" - just to the left of the main entrance to the temple. If you wander around the outside of this chapel the ancient mudbrick homes of ordinary Egyptians can be seen towering above you! (Lower Pic: Directly in front of the camera, in the upper half of the wall, is an example of a doorway dug into the mudbricks.)

It is a pity that more work has not been done on this surrounding and covering Tell which may have told us more about why this temple was buried and the lives of ordinary Egyptians in the first few centuries CE.
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MORE TO COME TOMORROW!
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Coordinates:
24.9779° N, 32.8734° E
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08/01/2021

DEAD SEA SCROLL's SECT - 2
QUMRAN PLATEAU & CAVES Q4, Q7 & Q8
Our central picture views Caves Q4, Q7 & Q8 and the Qumran plateau itself from the road close to the shore of the Dead Sea. Cave 4 (Q4a & Q4b) is one of eleven caves along the north-western shore of the Dead Sea where, between the years 1947 and 1956, the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The area is 13 miles east of Jerusalem and is 1300 feet below sea level. Cave 7 has since collapsed, which is a pity as some have suggested it contained Greek fragments from the New Testament. Cave 8 is famous for having a Mezuzah on its entrance, suggesting it was also used for accommodation.
[Our lower picture shows Cave Q8 to the left and what remains of Cave Q7 to the right.]
Mainly fragmented, the texts are numbered according to the cave that they came from. They are often considered the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times. Only Caves 1 and 11 have produced relatively intact manuscripts. Cave 4, discovered in 1952, produced the largest find. About 15,000 fragments from more than 500 manuscripts were found.
Scholars have identified the remains of between 825 to 870 separate scrolls. These scrolls can be divided into biblical and non-biblical texts. Until recently fragments of every book of the Hebrew Tanach (Old Testament) have been discovered, with only Esther not having been identified. However, a short while ago it was announced that a fragment from an Esther scroll may have been recognized. Amongst these scroll remains, 19 copies of the Book of Isaiah were distinguished, 25 copies of Deuteronomy and 30 copies of the Psalms, although sadly most are merely fragments.
With regard to the origins of Christianity, the scrolls show us the wide variety of approaches to Judaism existing in the 1st century BCE/CE. Much of what had previously been thought to be a foreign influence is now shown to stem from very Jewish roots. We can also, now, better understand where Jesus differed from the Jewish groups of his time. No direct links can be drawn between Jesus and the scrolls. Truthfully, there are substantial differences existing between His teachings and those found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
One interesting point is our view of John's Gospel. Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it was common to refer to Matthew as the most Jewish of Gospels and to John as the "Gospel for the Gentiles". With the discovery and study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we now realize that John's Gospel may possibly represent Second Temple Judaism more than any of the other. Matthew is thus supplanted and John might now be called the "most Jewish of the Gospels".
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(MORE TO COME!)
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Coordinates:
31°44'28.28" N, 35°27'31.36" E
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06/01/2021

PAUL's NAZIRITE VOW
On arriving at Jerusalem Paul is advised to show he is a faithful Jew by taking part in and funding the expenses of a Nazirite vow for four other men (cf. Acts 21:2026). There were three things involved in a Nazirite vow:
1) Abstinence from anything to do with the Grape vine & strong drink;
2) refraining from cutting the hair off the head during the period of the vow;
3) avoidance contact with the dead.

It seems that this vow could be limited to a set period and when the period of the vow came to an end, the Nazirite presented himself at the door of the sanctuary with:
1) a one-year old male lamb, for a burnt-offering;
2) a year-old ewe lamb for a sin-offering;
3) a ram for a peace-offering.
After these sacrifices were offered, the Nazirite cut off his hair at the door and had it burnt on the altar under the peace-offering.
[Cf. Number 6]

All the above cost money and it was this expense that Paul agreed to pay on behalf of the four other men. Unfortunately, all this does not offer much chance of being seen within the archaeological record! Still, in 1967 an accidental discovery on Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus seems to have led to the discovery of a 1st-century AD tomb of a Nazirite & his family.
The tomb was unusual in that not only did it contain a set of ossuaries (bone-boxes), it also held two sarcophagi. These had holes at their bases (to allow any liquid to escape), which suggests that they contained bodies and not excarnated bones. The smaller sarcophagus (illustrated lower-left) had one side that was beautifully decorated, whilst the larger was quite plain.

Two of the ossuaries had inscriptions that read:
"Hanania son of Jonathan the Nazirite";
and "Salome wife of Hanania son of the Nazirite".
[Cf. Upper-right pic]
It is these two inscriptions that suggested to archaeologists that the principle owner of this tomb had been a life-long Nazirite. In the Bible there is only one example of a life-long Nazirite and that is Sampson. This is rather different than the temporary vows that Paul and the other four Believers took.

The tomb in which these ossuaries & sarcaphogi were found was itself unusual (although not unique). It had been carved out of the soft crumbling rock of Mount Scopus and then faced & lined with well finished masonry. This tomb also shared a wonderful view over the beloved city of Jonathan's God (cf. main pic). The use of a beautifully decorated sarcophagus and the unusal masonry finished cave-tomb (cf. lower-right pic) suggests that this tomb belonged to one of 1st-century Jerusalem's aristocracy. It also tells us that the practice of life-long Nazarite vows could be practiced amongst that elite.
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03/01/2021

THE THRESHING SLEDGE
Isaiah prophesies about Israel:
"Behold, I have made you into a threshing sledge with new sharp teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff." (Isaiah 41:15)

The threshing sledge is an invention that goes back many millennia in our history. From the earliest records of mankind it has been illustrated and spoken of. In fact, for over 4,000 years the threshing sledge has been a vital instrument in feeding us.

Many cultures today still use exactly the same type of threshing sledge as is illustrated on the seal impression at the top of today's picture compilation. This seal was found at Arslantepe Turkey, from over 4,000 years ago. Another ancient example can be seen on both the front & back of the ancient Cuneiform tablet illustrated central right - this engraved tablet comes from Kish and dating from over 4,000 years ago.

A threshing sledge consists of lengths of wood formed into a sledge and then having sharp flints hammered into its base. This would be weighted down, often with someone riding on it, and then drawn over the harvested grain. This would thresh and ground the grain separating the cereals from their straw, cutting it into small pieces. The wheat would then be winnowed, tossed into the air by wide-spaced forks in moving air. This winnowing would allow the heavier seeds to fall to the ground and the lighter "chaff" to be blown away. The men following the sledge in our upper picture can be seen carrying these winnowing forks.

The central three pics show a threshing sledge from Spain and its re-use as a door. There is also a closeup of the flints driven into it. Flint is used as it still produces one of the sharpest edges available to us. Of course, those flint flakes will become blunt with use but Isaiah speaks of a freshly made sledge, "with new sharp teeth."

Our lower picture shows a threshing sledge being used on a threshing floor less than a century ago was used in Israel. This threshing floor was situated just one mile directly north of the Damascus Gate. In the center-distance the then newly built Ambassador Hotel can be seen.
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02/01/2021

LUKE's "GODFEARERS"
In Acts chapter 10 we read of the conversion of Cornelius, the Centurion. In his description of this event Luke uses the phrase "phoboumenos ton Theon" to describe Cornelius; i.e. he calls the Centurion a "God-fearer".

As is typical, Bible minimalists were calling Luke's use of Cornelius and "God-fearer" merely a literary & theological invention. In fact, various scholars (rather condescendingly) would suggest that Luke is not writing history "as we know it", Instead they would tell us what the events he talks of mean, "not trying to describe the events that had occurred." For these clever scholars, Luke uses "literary creativity" to support his theological understanding.

All the above is suggested, even though there was ample literary evidence for these Gentile "God-fearers". The well-known 1st century, Josephus, mentions such people, as do Philo and early Christian writings. Rabbinic sources refer this class of people as, "yirei shamayim", "those who fear heaven”.

Then, in 1976 a team from a New York University, led by K.T. Erim, were excavating the site of a new museum at the extensive archaeological site of Aphrodisias, at Geyre in Turkey. Quite unexpectedly they found a nine-foot high marble pillar (possibly a doorjam). This pillar was extensively inscribed in Greek and contained a list of 55 Jewish members of a Synagogue. There is then a blank line followed by the phrase, "kai hosoi theosebis", i.e. "and as many as (are) God-fearers" - highlighted in yellow in our picture. This list of "God-fearers" consists of 52 seemingly no-Jewish people and their occupation. The first nine of these 52 "god-fearers" are local city councilors.
[This marble pillar/doorjam now stands at the entrance of the Museum of Aphrodisias.]

It seems that this inscription shows that the local Jewish community recognized two different groups connected to their Synagogue. These were full Jews (including proselytes) and Gentile “half-converts”, known as “God-fearers,” this latter group may have observed some, but not all, Jewish religious practices.

It now seems that far from being an invention of Luke's theologically inspired "literary creativity", "God-fearers" did exist. Once again archaeology shows that the Bible's account can be trusted.

[Our background picture shows only a very small part of the large Aphrodisias Archaeology Park. The Synagogue referred to now lies under the Aphrodisias Archaeological Museum.]
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Coordinates:
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27/12/2020

HAS THE TOMB OF THE FAMILY OF "SIMON THE CYRENE" BEEN FOUND?
In 1941 Hebrew University archaeologist, Professor E.L. Sukenik, along with his assistant, Nahman Avigad, investigated an ancient, undisturbed tomb in the Kidron Valley. The tomb was discovered during an archaeological survey of the area, just to the south of the village of Silwan. It was an intact tomb, untouched by tomb-robbers, closed by a stopper-shaped stone, which did not completely seal the entrance.
[The mid-right picture shows an example of this type of tomb in Emmaus Nicopolis]

Unusually for such tombs it only had a shelf running around its interior and no shafts cut into its walls for the dead (called "kokhim"). It seemed to be the tomb of a poorer family. On the southern & western shelves were scattered bones. These scattered bones probably came from bodies laid out as part of the excarnation process. When they were completely, and naturally, defleshed the bones would normally have been placed into an ossuary (bone box).

Eleven ossuaries were also found, most on the eastern shelf. Unusually, the majority of these had inscriptions on them - nine in all, mostly in Greek. Inscriptions on many of the ossuaries from this period are not written by anyone with a skilled hand. Instead, they are often crudely rendered scratchings in the soft limestone, sometimes in chalk or charcoal. It seems very likely that their only purpose was to identify the remains in the chest for family members that might visit the tomb.

Four of the names on these ossuaries were typical Jewish names of the period. Most of the Greek-style names were previously unknown amongst similar Greco-Jewish inscriptions in Israel. However, these names do suggest a family that originally was part of the Jewish Diaspora living in Cyrenaica.

We are told in Acts that a Jewish community from Cyrene was present in Jerusalem. Acts 2:5 & 10 talks of these Jews from "the parts of Libya around Cyrene". In Acts 6:9 we are told that some of this Jewish community from Cyrene disputed with Stephen. In Acts 11:19-20, after the martyrdom of Stephen we read:
"They therefore who were scattered abroad by the oppression that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews only. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and CYRENE, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus."
Then we read in Acts 13:1,
"Now in the assembly that was at Antioch, there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, LUCIUS OF CYRENE, Manaen the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul."
In fact, when Mark speaks of "Simon the Cyrene" being made to carry the cross, he refers to him as, "Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus" (Mark 15:21). This strongly suggests Alexander & Rufus were members of the early Christian community.

Ossuary #9 is of particular interest and seems to have been written by someone not too comfortable with writing. Maybe they were dyslexic, we shall never know. This ossuary #9 had a three-line inscription on its front and a two-line inscription on its back. On its lid was a two-line bi-lingual inscription, in Greek and Hebrew.

The first line of the three-line inscription was clearly a mistake, reading "SimonAle". Obviously realising his mistake the engraver started again on the second line, inscribing "Alexander" and then, on the third line, "(son) of Simon".

The evidence for the inscribers expertise in writing continues on the lid of this ossuary. Here were found two lines of text, one in Greek, the other in Hebrew. The Greek reads simply, "Alexander", although this name has an unexplained two lines scratched after the third letter.

The Hebrew continues the evidence for someone not overly proficient in writing. It reads, "Alexander QRNYT" and has a correction, again after the third letter. It seems he originally used a Hebrew letter "shin" when transliterating the "s" sound of Alexander. The more accepted practice would have been to use the Hebrew "samech". Realising his mistake the writer alters the "shin" to a "samech".

The real question is, what does the Hebrew word "QRNYT" stand for? It has been suggested that, once again, the inscriber has made a mistake. He has mistakenly added the Hebrew letter "tav" at the end when he meant to use a "he" - both these letters look very similar. If this is correct, then we have "QRNYH", which is Hebrew for "Cyrenian". This seems to confirm the connection of the family in this tomb with

The name, "Simon" was one of the most common names amongst Jewish People in the Second Temple Period. There are nine "Simons" mentioned in the New Testament alone. However, "Alexander" is much less common. In a directory of recorded Jewish names from this period, there are 250 occurrences of "Simon" and only 20 references to "Simon".

The relative scarcity of the name "Alexander" in this period strongly suggested to the Jewish lexicographer, Professor Tal Ilan (presently at Freie University, Berlin), and Israeli archaeologist, Nahman Avigad, that it was likely this ossuary actually belonged to Alexander son of "Simon of Cyrene", who carried the cross-beam when Jesus was unable, due to his injuries!
[The red arrow points to the general area in which the tomb was discovered.]
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