I’ll be traveling aggressively throughout Israel the next four weeks. Time and internet access will be limited, so posting will be less frequent. If you’re interested in following a (different) group along on their Holy Land tour, Insight for Living has started a video blog for their trip. From their first post, it looks they will update it daily and do it with plenty of whiz-bang.
This just in:
Give a full year of Biblical Archaeology Review for only $6. That’s six fun-filled, fact-filled, controversy-inspiring issues of the premiere magazine of Biblical archaeology for only $1 each. It’s the best gift deal we’ve ever been able to offer, and we don’t expect to be able to offer it for long.
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Insight for Living, the ministry of Chuck Swindoll, has just released Archaeology Handbook: The Key Finds and Why They Matter. This is a 120-page introduction to the top ten archaeological discoveries related to the Bible. I think it’s an excellent overview of artifacts like the Merneptah Stele, the Tel Dan Inscription, and the Sea of Galilee boat. There are also chapters on the Temple Mount, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The writing is clear and engaging, the photographs are beautiful, and the layout is attractive. If you’re one of the archaeologists who reads this blog, you probably won’t learn anything from this 
book, but if you’re someone who hasn’t had much exposure to biblical archaeology, this is a great starting point.
I served as a consultant for the book, supplied many of the photographs, and was interviewed in one of the chapters. That’ll make some of you happy, while others will run the other way.
Here’s one of the questions I was asked: What role does faith play within the scientific discipline of archaeology?
My answer: Archaeology should not be carried out in order to prove some pre-conceived idea, whether pro- or anti-Bible. Archaeology is best when it is carried out with the best of scientific methods and interpreted by a range of scholars. Archaeology is ill-served when the interpretation of sites and artifacts is divorced from our knowledge of ancient texts, including the Bible.
Here’s another: Has archaeology revealed anything that contradicts the Bible? If so, what? And how should Christians respond to such discoveries?
My answer: Archaeology has revealed many things that can be interpreted in a fashion that is not compatible with the biblical record. But those same things can also be interpreted in a way that is consistent with Scripture. This ambiguity is not intrinsic to issues related to faith, but is the nature of the discipline. But those matters related to the Bible are naturally more popular and receive more attention in the press. I do not know of any major issues that conflict with the accuracy of the Bible.
There are some issues of a lesser nature that are not yet resolved, but I recognize that that is due to the limited nature of the evidence.
Most of the book is more interesting than these questions reflect, as it’s not dealing with theory, but with actual discoveries and what they mean.
Through May, the book is available for a donation. Beginning next month, the book will be sold in their online store. There is also a video that gives more details about the book.
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Trend News reports the discovery of Queen of Sheba’s palace. I have no independent knowledge of this excavation, so it not impossible that there’s a kernel of truth in the story. But I would note a few things that suggest caution before you include this in your list of “greatest discoveries of the Bible.”
1) The news sources which are currently carrying the story are not ones I’m familiar with. If this was carried by a source like the Associated Press, then it would carry more weight.
2) The story’s claim that Sheba was married to Solomon is based on late tradition, and certainly is not mentioned in the Bible, as the article says. Getting simple facts like these wrong makes me wonder if the rest of the facts are based on such flimsy reporting.
3) There is no evidence that the ark of the covenant went to Ethiopia. The tradition is based in part on the tradition that Sheba was married to Solomon (or at least gave birth to his child).
4) Many scholars believe that Sheba was in modern Yemen.
Archaeologists believe they have found the Queen of Sheba’s palace at Axum, Ethiopia and an altar which held the most precious treasure of ancient Judaism, the Ark of the Covenant, the University of Hamburg said Wednesday, the dpa reported.
Scientists from the German city made the startling find during their spring excavation of the site over the past three months.
The Ethiopian queen was the bride of King Solomon of Israel in the 10th century before the Christian era. The royal match is among the memorable events in the Bible.
Ethiopian tradition claims the Ark, which allegedly contained Moses’ stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, was smuggled to Ethiopia by their son Menelek and is still in that country.
The University said scientists led by Helmut Ziegert had found remains of a 10th-century-BC palace at Axum-Dungur under the palace of a later Christian king. There was evidence the early palace had been torn down and realigned to the path of the star Sirius.
The story continues here.
HT: Paleojudaica
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Many readers of this blog are familiar with Leen Ritmeyer from his articles in Biblical Archaeology Review, his reconstruction drawings of the Temple Mount, and his recent book, The Quest: Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. You can gain some insight into the man and how he came to create his wonderful reconstructions in an interview at the Bible Illustration Blog.
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Gordon Govier has written an excellent article in this month’s Christianity Today on the problem of amateur “archaeologists” who make sensational, but unfounded, claims. As Govier notes, I have commented on the issue here before. What this means to you: the next time someone forwards you an email that shows chariot wheels under the Red Sea or similar phenomena, hit the delete key.
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