Archaeological Discovery [No.5]

First-century burial confirms Gospel details:

For years, scholars have puzzled over a curious detail mentioned in the Gospel of John concerning Jewish burial practices in the 1st century AD (C.E.)In describing the entombments of Jesus (John 20:7) & His friend Lazarus (John 11:44), John writes of both men having had their bodies wrapped with a linen cloth for burial, but with a separate, smaller cloth wrapped around their heads.

While archeology has confirmed many details of Gospels, ancient fabrics are very fragile & decay completely within a few decades unless a set of extraordinary circumstances. However, in the spring of 2000, a set of extraordinary circumstances led to a once-in-a-lifetime discovery for several archaeologists.

That morning Israeli archaeologist Shimon Gibson & professor James Tabor of the university of North Carolina - Charlotte, with some of students, happened on the 1st century Jewish Tomb of Jerusalem's Hinnom valley that apparently had been plundered only the night before. They immediately notified the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) of the crime & since Gibson worked for the IAA, they received permission to enter & examine the pillaged tomb.

Most tombs in the Jerusalem area, of which more than a thousand are known, were plundered long ago. A few, however, have remained intact over the centuries. This had been one the few. Now it had been broken into & pillaged for artifacts that could perhaps be sold on the antiquities market.

Inside the multilevel tomb the group found the remains of several things& small lime stone boxes, that had held the bones of Jewish people, who had been entombed there.Regrettably, they had been shattered by the thieves, who then stole the fragments that apparently bore the names of those whose bones were they.

The most important find, however, remained undisturbed in one of the most smallest chamber of that tomb. "In the 3rd level (of the tomb),which is the lowest level, we found.... the skeleton of a person with a burial shroud still over his shoulders." reported Dr.Tabor. But even more remarkable, the man's body had been wrapped with 2 pieces of fabric- one around the body & another separate small piece around the head, just as described in John's Gospel.

Small samples of fabric were radiocarbon dated to the 1st century AD. Due to the importance of this finding, announcement of this discovery was postponed until scientific analysis could be completed & material prepared for publication.

How had the fabric been preserved all those centuries? Through a geological fluke, a crack in the limestone from which the tomb had been carved had drained ground moisture away from that one particular chamber, leaving it dry & protected - and leaving us evidence that the Gospels indeed are an accurate historical record of real 1st century events. (Source: lecture by prof. James Tabor, International Symposium on Archeology & the Bible., Jan 14)

So, here one more discovery which supports the Holy Bible...

let His Name alone shall be glorified..
Baruch Ha Shem..

shalom

Archaeological Discovery [No.4]

Oldest Philistine inscription offers a giant surprise...!!

Archaeologists excavating Tell es-Safi, the biblical city "Gath of Philistines" recently uncovered a scrap of broken pottery bearing the oldest Philistine inscription yet discovered. What was surprising is that the potsherd bears 2 names etymologically remarkably similar to "Goliath", the giant Philistine warrior slain by David as recorded in the book of 1 Samuel 17 in Holy Bible.

According to the Bible, this same Gath was the hometown of Goliath ( 1 Sam. 17:4, 23)& was one of the major cities of Philistines. Archaeologists have also dated the sherd to 50 to 100 years after the Biblical account of Goliath's slaying at the hand of David.

No one can know for sure whether this inscription includes a reference to the Biblical Goliath, since it is apparently a Hebrew transliteration of of 2 Philistine names. This make sense, since archaeological evidences indicates the Philistines gradually adopted the Semitic alphabet while retaining their Philistine names & some elements of their Philistine language.

But still one thing got cleared. Goliath name was in use in Philistine land in that age. And it also supports the Holy Bible... for the critics used to say that the Bible stories are written few centuries before Christ only.

Here this pottery piece proclaims to the world that, Goliath name was there in use in city of Gath in the period of 9th century B.C.

let His Name alone shall be glorified..
Baruc.h HaShem...

shalom..

Archaeological Discovery [No: 3]

Archaeological Discovery Confirms the Holy Scripture.. (yet again..)

The British Museum recently announced the discovery of a remarkably significant cuneiform inscription within its vast collection of Mesopotamian tablets. Many are hailing it as sensational proof of the accuracy of TaNaKh.. the Old Testament..!!

Searching for Babylonian financial accounts among the ancient records, Michael Jursa, a visiting professor from Vienna, came across the name of a court official of the famed Babylonian king Nebuc.hadnezar (The Daily Telegraph, July 13, 2007)

More than 2500 years old, the tablet- which sat in th museum 's collection since 1920 with its significance unrecognized (The Times, July 11) -- identifies "Nabu-sharrussu-ukin" as the chief eunuch of Nebuc.hadnezar. This equates to "Nebo-Sarsekim" {hebrew} in Jeremiah 39:3. NIV.

Most of Bible versions do not obviously contain this name. KJV lists the names as "Nergal-sharezar, Samgar-nebo, Sarsec.him, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer [&] Rab-mag"

NKJV's list of names is essentially the same, although it offers footnotes that Rabsaris & Rabmag are titles. Some other translators recognize that 2 individuals in this list are named 'Nergal-sharezer' --leading them to conclude that the word following each individual is a further identifier so as to distinguish between them.

Notice the NIV's list of names: "Nergal-Sharezarof Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official & all the other officials of the king of Babylon".Here Samgar has been shown as a place name, rather than as a part of compound name with 'Nebo' , as KJV. Thus in NIV 'Nebo' is taken to be the 1st part of the name,"Nebo-Sarsekim". And indeed the new discovery shows that this is the name of Nebuchadnezzar's chief officials...!!

This discovery also kept the critics' mouth shut...!! Here it is well proved that, Jeremiah was the author of the book & it was indeed in that time itself. For even such a minor figure of a foreign land with a difficult name who is never mentioned again, is found true...

A recent excavation in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) uncovered a bulla, a hardened clay impression with the imprint of a seal, bearing the name of Jehucal, son of Shelemiah, son of Shevi. This individual, a court official serving under king Zedekiah, is mentioned in Jeremiah 37:3 & 38:1-4.

Another bulla found not far from this one has on it the name Gemariah the son of Shaphan, the royal scribe (36:10) And before these, 2 remarkable bullae were found bearing the name of Jeremiah's scribe Baruc.h the son of Neriah.

All these were real people, as Jeremiah attests. The evidences shows that the book of Jeremiah relates the real history - as does the rest of Holy Bible.

"Let His Name alone shall be glorified..."
Baruc.h Ha Shem...

shalom..

Archaeology supports story of Samson & Philistine temple...!! [No.2]

Archaeology has been found to support yet another Biblical story (history) - the account of mighty Samson & his death in Philistine temple.

*picture: 2 circular pillar bases of the Philistine temple @Tell Qasile

Samson was an Israelite hero (Judge) whose strength was legendary among the Israelites & their enemies, the Philistines. Tricked, captured & blinded by Philistines, he was put to work grinding grain as a beast of burden. The story (history) of Samson concludes in the book of Judges. [16:23-30].
His last moments were like this, according to the Scriptures:
"Samson then said to the boy who was leading him by the hand, 'Lead me where I can touch the pillars supporting the building, so that I can lean against them.' Now the building was crowded with men and women. All the Philistine chiefs were there, while about three thousand men and women were watching Samson's feats from the terrace. Samson called on Yahweh (Adonai) and cried out, 'L-rd Yahweh (Adonai), I beg You, remember me; give me strength again this once, O G-d, and let me be revenged on the Philistines at one blow for my two eyes.' And Samson took hold of the two central pillars supporting the building, and braced himself with his right arm round one and his left round the other; and he shouted, 'Let me die with the Philistines!' He then heaved with all his might, and the building fell on the chiefs and on all the people there. Those whom he brought to their death by his death outnumbered those whom he had done to death during his life. His brothers and the whole of his father's family came down and carried him away. They took him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel for twenty years." (NJB Judges 16:31)


Critics ofcourse have doubted the story & called it a myth.They have argued that a Philistine temple would not have had 2 central pillars supporting the roof since this wasn't a typical architectural design of Middle Eastern temples. But after the remains of two Philistine temples have been excavated, what do they reveal? Both have two main pillars supporting the roof....!!
One of the Philistine temple is at Tell Quasille, (now : a part of modern city of Tel Aviv). Archaeologist Amihai Mazar found the remains of a small Philistine temple in the 1970's & sure enough, he discovered 2 column bases for a pair of central pillars supporting the roof. They were close enough together that the large man could reach both of them at once.
Some 20 miles away, at the Philistine site, at the Philistine site of ancient Ekron, archaeologist Trude Dothan discovered another temple in 1990s with the same characteristics - 2 central pillars supporting a roof.

The city of Gath, where Samson's account takes place, has not been excavated, as a modern city has been built on top of the remains. Yet, being one of the main Philistine cities, it is reasonable to imagine that it would have had a much larger temple, holding many more people. Archaeologist Bryant Wood explains the significances of the discoveries. ("Samson & the temple of Dagon", Bible & Spade, 1974, pp53-54) & his reports completely supports the descriptions given in the Holy Bible.

Let His Name alone shall be glorified.

Ba ruc.h HaShem
shalom

An Archaeological Discovery..!! [No. 1]

The House of David, verified in inscriptions

For many years some critics have asserted that many Biblical figures , including king David, are nothing more than myth. But in 1993 a dramatic find again forced Bible critics to retreat. A team of archaeologists digging in Northern Galilee "found a remarkable inscription from 9th century B.C.E. (B.C.).. that refers both to the 'House of David' and to the 'King of Israel' " ["David found at Dan", Biblical Archeology Review, March-April 1994, p.26]

The inscription also shows that Yisrael & Yahuda (Israel & Judah) were important kingdoms in 9th century B.C., disproving the position of scholars who claimed Israel & Judah were never nations of significance & even disputed that there had ever been a united monarchy under king David.

David joins many other kings of Israel & Judah whose names were record in inscriptions of neighboring nations, among them Ahab, Ahaz, Ahaziah, Hezekiah, Hoshea, Jehoiachin, Jehu, Joash, Manasseh, Menehem, Omri, Pekah & Uzziah.

It is almost impossible to to verify every Biblical event through archaeology. Much of the original evidence no longer exists. Many perishable materials have long since disappeared. We must keep in mind the relatively small amount of the archaelogical record that scientists have uncovered. In spite of the relative paucity of evidence that has been uncovered, that which has been found, has supported the Holy Bible...!!

British historian Paul Johnson clearly explains about all these things in his work: "The Quest for God".

Hope you enjoyed reading this article...
Let His Name alone shall be glorified through everything..

Ba ruc.h HaShem...!!
shalom...

"Yeshua.lovez.."

"An Astonishing Discovery..!!

Please open your Bible, into Genesis.5.. you can find list of 10 generations. From the father whom the mankind began (Adam) to the father, by whom the mankind survived(Noah)..

Now please listen to this.. Here the meaning of each name*:

* / names according to original hebrew

Adam = man;

Seth = appointed;

Enosh =mortal, frail, miserable ;

Kenan = sorrow/ allergy;

MehallelEl =Blessed God, Blessed is God;

Yaredh = shal comedown, shall appear in earth;

Hanoc-h =teaching;

MethuSalech =His death Shal bring;

Lamechh = lament, despiring ;

Noah = bring comfort, rest..

Is there anything worth to notice in it..??!!

Read the all the meanings together... yes, at once...

"man - appointed - mortal - sorrow - ; the Blessed God - shall comedown -teaching - His death shall bring - the despairing - rest.."

Yes, it says about man appointed the sin into this world, but the God will come down to give "rest" to the mankind...!!

yea...... the essence of the entire Bible..!! a microcosm..!!

"Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest." ( Matthew 11:28 NJB )

'HALLOWED BE HA SHEM..!'

"ba ruc-h ha ba b'Shem Adonai" Amen..!