Bible Study from an Archaeological Perspective
Lesson One
The Pottery Neolithic period through the Early Bronze period – From the creation of Adam unto the Flood.
Genesis 1:9-13 – …let the dry land appear…; Let the earth bring forth grass, and herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth…
Genesis 1:20-25 – …Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. …Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind…
Genesis 1:26-27 – And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (ca. 3899 B.C.).
God is a triad (trinity) – Matthew 3:16-17
Man is a triad – I Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12
Archaeological periods
Pottery Neolithic Period (ca. 6000 B.C. – ca. 4500 B.C.)
Scripture reading:
Genesis 3:6-7 – Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:20-24 – God drove out the man.
Genesis 4:1-2 – And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Archaeological evidence:
Dr. Tamar Noy, curator of prehistoric periods, at the Israel Museum wrote, “…The creativity of Neolithic humans and their changing attitudes to many aspects of their lives led to innovations that included the systematic cultivation of plants and the domestication of animals, followed by the growth of settlements, which had to accommodate expanding permanent populations. In time, a more complex society evolved, which practiced a variety of crafts, engaged in trade, and developed a rich religious and spiritual life” (Dr. Tamar Noy, Treasures of the Holy Land, Neolithic Period, 1986, p. 41).
“Pottery, a great invention of the Neolithic period, came into use in the sixth millennium B.C. and provided a reliable means of cooking, transporting, and storing food. The potter fashioned the vessels by hand and baked them in an open fire (later in a kiln). Pottery is easily breakable, but the fragments are practically indestructible; these pieces give evidence of the forms and decorations unique to each culture and each period. Therefore, from this point on, pottery is important in archaeological dating” (Dr. Tamar Noy, Treasures of the Holy Land, Neolithic Period, 1986, 42, 43).
The Chalcolithic (copper/stone) period (ca. 4500 – ca. 3150 B.C.)
Scripture reading:
Genesis 4:17-22 – Tubalcain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron.
“brass” – Strong’s #5178 = copper
Genesis 4:25-26 – Seth
Genesis 5:1 – This is the book of the generations of Adam… (Like Gen. 2:4)
Book; Strong’s #5612 – writing; from #5608 – to score with a mark, to inscribe.
When Adam was created, he had the ability to understand God and speak to God. He also had the ability to put his thoughts into writing. You could say that Adam hit the ground running!
Genesis 5:3 – Adam 130 years-old when Seth is born. 3899 – 130 = 3769 B.C.
Gen 5:6 – Seth lived 105 yrs. and begat Enos. 3664
Gen. 5:9 – Enos lived 90 yrs. and begat Cainan. 3574
Gen. 5:12 – Cainan lived 70 yrs. and begat Mahalaleel. 3504
Gen. 5:15 – Mahalaleel lived 65 yrs. and begat Jared. 3439
Gen. 5:18 – Jared lived 162 yrs. and he begat Enoch. 3277
Gen. 5:21 – Enoch lived 65 yrs. and he begat Methuselah (who lived 969 yrs.) 3212
Archaeological evidence:
Lesson One
The Pottery Neolithic period through the Early Bronze period – From the creation of Adam unto the Flood.
Genesis 1:9-13 – …let the dry land appear…; Let the earth bring forth grass, and herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth…
Genesis 1:20-25 – …Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. …Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind…
- Body and soul – self-awareness
Genesis 1:26-27 – And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (ca. 3899 B.C.).
God is a triad (trinity) – Matthew 3:16-17
Man is a triad – I Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12
- Body, soul, and spirit – God-awareness
Archaeological periods
Pottery Neolithic Period (ca. 6000 B.C. – ca. 4500 B.C.)
Scripture reading:
Genesis 3:6-7 – Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:20-24 – God drove out the man.
Genesis 4:1-2 – And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Archaeological evidence:
Dr. Tamar Noy, curator of prehistoric periods, at the Israel Museum wrote, “…The creativity of Neolithic humans and their changing attitudes to many aspects of their lives led to innovations that included the systematic cultivation of plants and the domestication of animals, followed by the growth of settlements, which had to accommodate expanding permanent populations. In time, a more complex society evolved, which practiced a variety of crafts, engaged in trade, and developed a rich religious and spiritual life” (Dr. Tamar Noy, Treasures of the Holy Land, Neolithic Period, 1986, p. 41).
- As we look at what the Bible says about tilling the ground and keeping the sheep, we see how Dr. Noy’s observations read like an interpretive account of the biblical narrative presented as history. Note that Dr. Noy’s dating is approximate, and, in my opinion, she may be off by up to 1000 years.
“Pottery, a great invention of the Neolithic period, came into use in the sixth millennium B.C. and provided a reliable means of cooking, transporting, and storing food. The potter fashioned the vessels by hand and baked them in an open fire (later in a kiln). Pottery is easily breakable, but the fragments are practically indestructible; these pieces give evidence of the forms and decorations unique to each culture and each period. Therefore, from this point on, pottery is important in archaeological dating” (Dr. Tamar Noy, Treasures of the Holy Land, Neolithic Period, 1986, 42, 43).
The Chalcolithic (copper/stone) period (ca. 4500 – ca. 3150 B.C.)
Scripture reading:
Genesis 4:17-22 – Tubalcain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron.
“brass” – Strong’s #5178 = copper
Genesis 4:25-26 – Seth
Genesis 5:1 – This is the book of the generations of Adam… (Like Gen. 2:4)
Book; Strong’s #5612 – writing; from #5608 – to score with a mark, to inscribe.
When Adam was created, he had the ability to understand God and speak to God. He also had the ability to put his thoughts into writing. You could say that Adam hit the ground running!
Genesis 5:3 – Adam 130 years-old when Seth is born. 3899 – 130 = 3769 B.C.
Gen 5:6 – Seth lived 105 yrs. and begat Enos. 3664
Gen. 5:9 – Enos lived 90 yrs. and begat Cainan. 3574
Gen. 5:12 – Cainan lived 70 yrs. and begat Mahalaleel. 3504
Gen. 5:15 – Mahalaleel lived 65 yrs. and begat Jared. 3439
Gen. 5:18 – Jared lived 162 yrs. and he begat Enoch. 3277
Gen. 5:21 – Enoch lived 65 yrs. and he begat Methuselah (who lived 969 yrs.) 3212
Archaeological evidence:
Pre-Dynastic, Black-Topped Earthenware Jar with modelled rim and flat base. From the Naqada, Egypt site. Purchased in 1987 from Malter Galleries (Michael Malter), Encino, California.
Distinctive, black-topped red ware jars were produced in Egypt during the Naqada I and II phases of the Predynastic Period (3550-3400 B.C.) This type of pot was formed by hand. Before the pot was fired, it was burnished with a smooth pebble until it was polished. After the pot was fired, the upper part of the vessel was immediately placed in organic material, which resulted in the blackened rims characteristic of this type of pottery.
From Jerusalem:
One morning I was asked to wash artifacts that had been brought up to site headquarters in numbered pails. Dr. Shiloh handed me a special pail which contained, among other things, flint tools that had been found in a pit in the bedrock near the Gihon Spring. The flint points and flakes were still so sharp that it felt like I was touching broken glass beneath the murky water in the pail. In Dr. Shiloh’s opinion, the flint tools and associated pottery appeared to be from the Chalcolithic period.
From Jerusalem:
One morning I was asked to wash artifacts that had been brought up to site headquarters in numbered pails. Dr. Shiloh handed me a special pail which contained, among other things, flint tools that had been found in a pit in the bedrock near the Gihon Spring. The flint points and flakes were still so sharp that it felt like I was touching broken glass beneath the murky water in the pail. In Dr. Shiloh’s opinion, the flint tools and associated pottery appeared to be from the Chalcolithic period.
Israeli Arrowhead. Unifacial except for stem which is napped on both sides. Length 1.45”. Purchased in 2020 from Antillian Antiquities (Larry Roberts), Gainesville, Florida.
Later that day, I turned to Genesis chapter one in my Bible and noticed the familiar 4004 B.C. date in the margin. It was exciting for me to think that I had just handled artifacts from Jerusalem that might have come from that time – the time of Adam and Eve! My area supervisor, Donald Ariel, later wrote:
“The great importance of the assemblage published here lies in the fact that it is the first undisturbed assemblage of Chalcolithic pottery to be found in Jerusalem. Though the small quantity of material does not permit discussion in depth, it is clear evidence of settlement of unknown extent of Jerusalem in the Chalcolithic period. A few Chalcolithic sherds have been found in different locations all over the eastern slope of the City of David hill. One might suggest that such a settlement grew up around and adjacent to the Gihon Spring. Similar settlements close to springs are known in the Chalcolithic period; an example near Jerusalem is Sataf (Gibson, Ibbs, and Kloner 1991: 34-35)” (Qedem 40, City of David Excavations – Final Report V, 2000, Alon De Groot and Donald Ariel, pp. 92-93).
“The great importance of the assemblage published here lies in the fact that it is the first undisturbed assemblage of Chalcolithic pottery to be found in Jerusalem. Though the small quantity of material does not permit discussion in depth, it is clear evidence of settlement of unknown extent of Jerusalem in the Chalcolithic period. A few Chalcolithic sherds have been found in different locations all over the eastern slope of the City of David hill. One might suggest that such a settlement grew up around and adjacent to the Gihon Spring. Similar settlements close to springs are known in the Chalcolithic period; an example near Jerusalem is Sataf (Gibson, Ibbs, and Kloner 1991: 34-35)” (Qedem 40, City of David Excavations – Final Report V, 2000, Alon De Groot and Donald Ariel, pp. 92-93).
In 1961, a group of archaeologists were looking for ancient Hebrew scrolls in the Judean Desert. Instead, they found this striking double ibex and the rest of the hoard now known as the “Cave of the Treasure.” (Courtesy of the Israel Museum)
An astonishing hoard of 429 ritual objects from the Chalcolithic period was discovered in 1961 in a remote cave above Nahal Mishmar in the Judean Desert. The objects were found wrapped in a woven mat, concealed behind a large stone. They included hundreds of mace heads, dozens of scepters, and several enigmatic objects, such as the "crowns." Most of the objects were made of copper, with a few made of ivory or stone.
The Chalcolithic trove showed an advanced local civilization that could import copper and create sophisticated artwork. It is possible that this spectacular treasure belonged to the sanctuary at En Gedi, some 12 km away. It seems that some approaching danger led the priests to stow away the precious objects in the hope of better days to come. (Courtesy of the Israel Museum).
Early Bronze period (ca. 3150 – ca. 2200 B.C.)
Scripture reading:
Gen. 5:25 – Methuselah lived 187yrs. and begat Lamech. 3025
Genesis 5:5 – Adam died after living 930 years. – 2969 B.C.
Gen. 5:28 – Lamech lived 182 yrs. and begat… Noah. 2843
Gen. 5:32 – Noah was 500 yrs. old and begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 2343
Genesis 6:5-9a – …every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen. 9:28-29 – The Flood – 2243 B.C. (Noah lived 950 yrs. – 350 yrs. after the flood)
Gen. 11:10 – Shem was 100 yrs. old, and begat Arphaxad 2 years after the flood. 2241
Archaeological evidence:
Author Barbara Bell, who, in the early 1970s, published several journal articles on the connection of climate variability to the fall of Egyptian dynasties, wrote, “Although the details remain obscure and the primary cause open to dispute, some aspects of the trouble which occurred at the end of Dynasty VI (ca. 2345 BC–ca. 2181 BC) seem clear: texts from the period indicate that hardly any form of civil order was absent, ranging from strife between districts to looting and killing by infiltrating Asiatics in the Delta, to individual crime run riot, to revolution and social anarchy. Reference to famine occurs in several texts” (Barbara Bell, The First Dark Age in Egypt, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan. 1971), p.7).
Miriam Tadmor, Senior curator of Chalcolithic and Canaanite Periods, Israel Museum, wrote, “The emergence of the Bronze Age civilization heralds a decisive departure from the earlier Chalcolithic culture. Reasons for these far-reaching and as yet unexplained changes have been sought in climatic fluctuations and in population influx from the north. Settlement patterns changed: villages in the semiarid northern Negev and in the Golan, abandoned at the end of the Chalcolithic period, were not resettled” (Miriam Tadmore, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, p.88).
“In the last stage of the early Bronze Age, there was a deterioration in traditional pottery forms... By the time of the Sixth Dynasty (ca. 2345 BC–ca. 2181 BC), Egyptian influence was virtually nonexistent, and Egyptian royal names are absent even in the copper mines of Sinai. The collapse of the urban order is synchronous with the fall of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and with the collapse of the Akkadian empire in Mesopotamia. The reason for such widespread destruction must have been manifold and complex. Ethnic movements from the north have been singled out as a decisive factor, but climatic and internal changes have also been emphasized. …Coppersmiths produced tools and weapons which, though seldom outstanding, were always effective and well made. It is therefore astonishing that so few objects of high artistic quality have been unearthed: a handful of human or animal representations, some bone carvings, a few small ivories and sculptures, and some jewelry. Cylinder-seal impressions add some lively designs but are simple and crudely made. There is a striking contrast between the somewhat utilitarian (practical) material culture of the Early Bronze Age and the richly artistic achievements of the preceding Chalcolithic period” (Miriam Tadmor, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, p. 90).
Scripture reading:
Gen. 5:25 – Methuselah lived 187yrs. and begat Lamech. 3025
Genesis 5:5 – Adam died after living 930 years. – 2969 B.C.
Gen. 5:28 – Lamech lived 182 yrs. and begat… Noah. 2843
Gen. 5:32 – Noah was 500 yrs. old and begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 2343
Genesis 6:5-9a – …every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen. 9:28-29 – The Flood – 2243 B.C. (Noah lived 950 yrs. – 350 yrs. after the flood)
Gen. 11:10 – Shem was 100 yrs. old, and begat Arphaxad 2 years after the flood. 2241
Archaeological evidence:
Author Barbara Bell, who, in the early 1970s, published several journal articles on the connection of climate variability to the fall of Egyptian dynasties, wrote, “Although the details remain obscure and the primary cause open to dispute, some aspects of the trouble which occurred at the end of Dynasty VI (ca. 2345 BC–ca. 2181 BC) seem clear: texts from the period indicate that hardly any form of civil order was absent, ranging from strife between districts to looting and killing by infiltrating Asiatics in the Delta, to individual crime run riot, to revolution and social anarchy. Reference to famine occurs in several texts” (Barbara Bell, The First Dark Age in Egypt, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan. 1971), p.7).
Miriam Tadmor, Senior curator of Chalcolithic and Canaanite Periods, Israel Museum, wrote, “The emergence of the Bronze Age civilization heralds a decisive departure from the earlier Chalcolithic culture. Reasons for these far-reaching and as yet unexplained changes have been sought in climatic fluctuations and in population influx from the north. Settlement patterns changed: villages in the semiarid northern Negev and in the Golan, abandoned at the end of the Chalcolithic period, were not resettled” (Miriam Tadmore, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, p.88).
“In the last stage of the early Bronze Age, there was a deterioration in traditional pottery forms... By the time of the Sixth Dynasty (ca. 2345 BC–ca. 2181 BC), Egyptian influence was virtually nonexistent, and Egyptian royal names are absent even in the copper mines of Sinai. The collapse of the urban order is synchronous with the fall of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and with the collapse of the Akkadian empire in Mesopotamia. The reason for such widespread destruction must have been manifold and complex. Ethnic movements from the north have been singled out as a decisive factor, but climatic and internal changes have also been emphasized. …Coppersmiths produced tools and weapons which, though seldom outstanding, were always effective and well made. It is therefore astonishing that so few objects of high artistic quality have been unearthed: a handful of human or animal representations, some bone carvings, a few small ivories and sculptures, and some jewelry. Cylinder-seal impressions add some lively designs but are simple and crudely made. There is a striking contrast between the somewhat utilitarian (practical) material culture of the Early Bronze Age and the richly artistic achievements of the preceding Chalcolithic period” (Miriam Tadmor, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, p. 90).
Early Bronze Period Jar with globular body, short, everted neck (crude repair), three evenly spaced button knobs, red burnished slip, and flat base. Found in Jerusalem. Purchased in 1984 from the City of David Museum (Prop. Abed Abu Sbeih), Silwan: Near Gihon Spring, Jerusalem, Israel.
Barbara Bell wrote, "In Egypt, where the chronology is best established, the first Dark Ages began around 2200 B.C., when at the end of Dynasty VI (ca. 2345 B.C.–ca. 2181 B.C.) Egypt, until then a very stable society, with seeming suddenness fell into anarchy. About the same time the Akkadian Empire disintegrated. …In western and southern Anatolia ‘the end of the Early Bronze II period is marked by a catastrophe of such magnitude as to remain unparalleled until the very end of the Bronze Age’ (Melcart 1962); widespread destruction is followed by general decline in material culture and a decrease of about 75 percent in the number of known settlements. We may probably include also the decline of the Indus Valley civilization.”
“…As supporting evidence for a dust storm interpretation, we note Butzer’s (1959b:66) finding that at Hierakonopolis, nearby, a predynastic cemetery was denuded by wind action, which removed up to 2 M. (6.56168 feet) of fairly resistant silt and exposed the burials, probably sometime after the end of Dynasty VI. At Abydos, some 100 km. to the north, the ‘funerary palace’ of Queen Merneith of Dynasty I (c. 3150 B.C. – c. 2890 B.C.) suffered such denudation that its walls were reduced to only a few courses of bricks, partly buried beneath a layer of sand by the time of Dynasty XII, when a few small mastabas were constructed over the ruins. (B.J. Kemp 1966, JEA 52)” (Barbara Bell, The First Dark Age in Egypt, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan. 1971), 1-26).
Isn’t it more likely that the predynastic cemetery was denuded by the action of water? More than 6 feet of “fairly resistant silt” was removed to expose the burials. Regardless of what you believe about the flood, you must admit that, regarding this specific period in time, the parallels are remarkable between what Scripture says and what the archaeologists have found.
APPENDIX 1 -
"Abrupt climatic change expressed by appreciable worsening of the drought occurred during the second half of Intermediate Bronze between 4200 and 3900 B.P. Results were more devastating than manmade changes during military occupation and produced the longest and most overwhelming cultural break recorded in Canaan and neighboring countries involving massive desertion and dwindling of Canaan's population (Kochavi, 1967; Kenyon, 1979; R. Amiran and Kochavi, 1985; Gophna, 1992). "
"Marked increase in aridity occurred abruptly also in north Mesopotamia at 4200 B.P. when extensive dry farming territories were deserted by local inhabitants who migrated toward south Mesopotamia, generating an economic disintegration process that led to collapse of the Akkadian Empire (Weiss et al., 1993). This period of drought and cultural hiatus lasted for 300 years ending at 3900 B.P. when climatic conditions ameliorated. Deserted areas then were reoccupied under the rule of an emerging Amorite or Amurru regime. This sequence of events agrees with climatic chronology for the Dead Sea region at exactly the same time. Weiss et al. identified three earlier periods of drought at 7900, 6500, and 5000 B.P. based on similar cultural-sedimentological evidence in north Mesopotamia."
"An intensive resettling process then occurred in Canaan at sometime between 4000 and 3800 B.P. with the beginning of Climatic Wet Phase III" (David Neeve, K. O. Emery, The Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Jericho - Geological, Climatological, and Archaeological Background, 1995, p. 117).
APPENDIX 2
Carchemish
"From the earliest levels we discovered that the first inhabitants did not settle just in the area that would become the tell of Jerablus Tahtani. Rather they were also based on the active floodplain immediately beside the Euphrates, one of the world’s formidable high-energy rivers, presumably for direct access to riverine trade and communications. This lower settlement, which has been granted the title of ‘lower town’, was occupied for part of the 4th millennium BC, and apparently the very beginning of the 3rd millennium. It appears to have taken the form of a straggle of pits, middens (waste dumps), and other functional areas to the west and north of the mound.
Soon after the site was settled, a number of new features more at home in southern Mesopotamia some 900km downstream began to appear in the settlement. These include changes in agriculture, stone bowl-making, metalworking, architecture with highly distinctive multicoloured bricks, and especially in the pottery repertoire with shapes indicating new methods of transport, storage, cuisine, and beliefs. This pottery includes the proliferation of coarse bowls, many of which were found in dense scatters just like Woolley had observed at Carchemish. Hundreds of these have viscous black bitumen adhering to their sides and rims. Inhabitants were apparently engaged in processing this material which is known to be used for caulking boats. According to chemical analyses, it was brought to Jerablus Tahtani from as far away as southern Iran. Sealings, such as one bearing an impression of spirals, are another new feature suggestive of the administration of commodities.
Debate continues about the meaning of these intrusive features that occur widely along the great bend of the Euphrates. Who left them? Some say they point to the establishment of new colonies and enclaves in order to procure desirable raw materials lacking in the lowlands. They are therefore referred to as ‘Uruk’, after the great city in the south. Other researchers suggest the situation was more mixed, with southerners having to accommodate to developed political and economic infrastructures in the highland zone, and indigenous peoples adopting Uruk features.
The changes we noted at Jerablus Tahtani were abrupt but there was no destruction separating indigenous deposits from the overlying Uruk deposits. So how to explain this? One possibility is that Jerablus Tahtani was a small outpost of Carchemish, located where there was easier access to the river.
After the Uruk phase, Jerablus Tahtani’s open settlement still retained long-distance contacts. For example, the link with South West Iran, and its great cities, may have continued since one sealing on a jar is closely similar to another from Susa in Iran.
However, during the early 3rd millennium BC, the outer ‘lower town’ then disappeared, and settlement was confined within the walls of the site itself. This settlement ‘implosion’ is known at a number of other Near Eastern sites, notably Tell Brak. This time, for Jerablus Tahtani, the change was not a peaceful process since the village was destroyed and a compact but massively walled fort was erected over its ruins.
Climate change and mega-floods
Much debate exists about world-wide climate change in the later 3rd millennium BC, one that may have led to aridification in the east of Syria. In the west, the Euphrates regime had become more unstable even before that date, exacerbated by soil erosion caused by over-exploitation of the land. The results in the valley bottom around Jerablus Tahtani were devastating. We found evidence in the much refurbished mound of Tomb 302 for exceptionally high and recurrent Euphrates flood waters. When the mound was damaged, caretakers patched it up again, giving us a precious record of inundations. Because of the height of these Euphrates intrusions in the mound, we know that flood waters must have washed several metres over the adjacent fields. Since floods most likely occurred during spring snow melts just before harvest, they must have devastated surrounding crops and perhaps rendered the site uninhabitable.
In any case, the fort was suddenly abandoned about 2300 BC, and Jerablus Tahtani lay deserted for some 1700 years. Perhaps the fort’s inhabitants moved to better protected Carchemish, so helping to lay the very foundations of its greatness. If this was part of a more general pattern, we may infer that Carchemish expanded appreciably at the end of the 3rd millennium.
Thereafter, Carchemish grew in importance, becoming one of the most vital centres in the Hittite Empire, and reaching its apogee around the 9th century BC. However, when Carchemish was attacked and fell in the 7th century BC, Jerablus Tahtani was once again fitfully re-occupied for more than a millennium.
Changes in the land of Carchemish
After the initial abandonment of Jerablus Tahtani at around 2300 BC, other tells in the area continued to be occupied into the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods." (Current World Archaeology Magazine, ISSUE 27/FEATURES/SYRIA - Jerablus and the Land of Carchemish, January 7, 2008).
NEXT – Lesson Two
The Middle Bronze period (2200 – 1550 B.C.) through the Late Bronze period (1550 – 1200 B.C.) – From the Flood to the Judges.
“…As supporting evidence for a dust storm interpretation, we note Butzer’s (1959b:66) finding that at Hierakonopolis, nearby, a predynastic cemetery was denuded by wind action, which removed up to 2 M. (6.56168 feet) of fairly resistant silt and exposed the burials, probably sometime after the end of Dynasty VI. At Abydos, some 100 km. to the north, the ‘funerary palace’ of Queen Merneith of Dynasty I (c. 3150 B.C. – c. 2890 B.C.) suffered such denudation that its walls were reduced to only a few courses of bricks, partly buried beneath a layer of sand by the time of Dynasty XII, when a few small mastabas were constructed over the ruins. (B.J. Kemp 1966, JEA 52)” (Barbara Bell, The First Dark Age in Egypt, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan. 1971), 1-26).
Isn’t it more likely that the predynastic cemetery was denuded by the action of water? More than 6 feet of “fairly resistant silt” was removed to expose the burials. Regardless of what you believe about the flood, you must admit that, regarding this specific period in time, the parallels are remarkable between what Scripture says and what the archaeologists have found.
APPENDIX 1 -
"Abrupt climatic change expressed by appreciable worsening of the drought occurred during the second half of Intermediate Bronze between 4200 and 3900 B.P. Results were more devastating than manmade changes during military occupation and produced the longest and most overwhelming cultural break recorded in Canaan and neighboring countries involving massive desertion and dwindling of Canaan's population (Kochavi, 1967; Kenyon, 1979; R. Amiran and Kochavi, 1985; Gophna, 1992). "
"Marked increase in aridity occurred abruptly also in north Mesopotamia at 4200 B.P. when extensive dry farming territories were deserted by local inhabitants who migrated toward south Mesopotamia, generating an economic disintegration process that led to collapse of the Akkadian Empire (Weiss et al., 1993). This period of drought and cultural hiatus lasted for 300 years ending at 3900 B.P. when climatic conditions ameliorated. Deserted areas then were reoccupied under the rule of an emerging Amorite or Amurru regime. This sequence of events agrees with climatic chronology for the Dead Sea region at exactly the same time. Weiss et al. identified three earlier periods of drought at 7900, 6500, and 5000 B.P. based on similar cultural-sedimentological evidence in north Mesopotamia."
"An intensive resettling process then occurred in Canaan at sometime between 4000 and 3800 B.P. with the beginning of Climatic Wet Phase III" (David Neeve, K. O. Emery, The Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Jericho - Geological, Climatological, and Archaeological Background, 1995, p. 117).
APPENDIX 2
Carchemish
"From the earliest levels we discovered that the first inhabitants did not settle just in the area that would become the tell of Jerablus Tahtani. Rather they were also based on the active floodplain immediately beside the Euphrates, one of the world’s formidable high-energy rivers, presumably for direct access to riverine trade and communications. This lower settlement, which has been granted the title of ‘lower town’, was occupied for part of the 4th millennium BC, and apparently the very beginning of the 3rd millennium. It appears to have taken the form of a straggle of pits, middens (waste dumps), and other functional areas to the west and north of the mound.
Soon after the site was settled, a number of new features more at home in southern Mesopotamia some 900km downstream began to appear in the settlement. These include changes in agriculture, stone bowl-making, metalworking, architecture with highly distinctive multicoloured bricks, and especially in the pottery repertoire with shapes indicating new methods of transport, storage, cuisine, and beliefs. This pottery includes the proliferation of coarse bowls, many of which were found in dense scatters just like Woolley had observed at Carchemish. Hundreds of these have viscous black bitumen adhering to their sides and rims. Inhabitants were apparently engaged in processing this material which is known to be used for caulking boats. According to chemical analyses, it was brought to Jerablus Tahtani from as far away as southern Iran. Sealings, such as one bearing an impression of spirals, are another new feature suggestive of the administration of commodities.
Debate continues about the meaning of these intrusive features that occur widely along the great bend of the Euphrates. Who left them? Some say they point to the establishment of new colonies and enclaves in order to procure desirable raw materials lacking in the lowlands. They are therefore referred to as ‘Uruk’, after the great city in the south. Other researchers suggest the situation was more mixed, with southerners having to accommodate to developed political and economic infrastructures in the highland zone, and indigenous peoples adopting Uruk features.
The changes we noted at Jerablus Tahtani were abrupt but there was no destruction separating indigenous deposits from the overlying Uruk deposits. So how to explain this? One possibility is that Jerablus Tahtani was a small outpost of Carchemish, located where there was easier access to the river.
After the Uruk phase, Jerablus Tahtani’s open settlement still retained long-distance contacts. For example, the link with South West Iran, and its great cities, may have continued since one sealing on a jar is closely similar to another from Susa in Iran.
However, during the early 3rd millennium BC, the outer ‘lower town’ then disappeared, and settlement was confined within the walls of the site itself. This settlement ‘implosion’ is known at a number of other Near Eastern sites, notably Tell Brak. This time, for Jerablus Tahtani, the change was not a peaceful process since the village was destroyed and a compact but massively walled fort was erected over its ruins.
Climate change and mega-floods
Much debate exists about world-wide climate change in the later 3rd millennium BC, one that may have led to aridification in the east of Syria. In the west, the Euphrates regime had become more unstable even before that date, exacerbated by soil erosion caused by over-exploitation of the land. The results in the valley bottom around Jerablus Tahtani were devastating. We found evidence in the much refurbished mound of Tomb 302 for exceptionally high and recurrent Euphrates flood waters. When the mound was damaged, caretakers patched it up again, giving us a precious record of inundations. Because of the height of these Euphrates intrusions in the mound, we know that flood waters must have washed several metres over the adjacent fields. Since floods most likely occurred during spring snow melts just before harvest, they must have devastated surrounding crops and perhaps rendered the site uninhabitable.
In any case, the fort was suddenly abandoned about 2300 BC, and Jerablus Tahtani lay deserted for some 1700 years. Perhaps the fort’s inhabitants moved to better protected Carchemish, so helping to lay the very foundations of its greatness. If this was part of a more general pattern, we may infer that Carchemish expanded appreciably at the end of the 3rd millennium.
Thereafter, Carchemish grew in importance, becoming one of the most vital centres in the Hittite Empire, and reaching its apogee around the 9th century BC. However, when Carchemish was attacked and fell in the 7th century BC, Jerablus Tahtani was once again fitfully re-occupied for more than a millennium.
Changes in the land of Carchemish
After the initial abandonment of Jerablus Tahtani at around 2300 BC, other tells in the area continued to be occupied into the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods." (Current World Archaeology Magazine, ISSUE 27/FEATURES/SYRIA - Jerablus and the Land of Carchemish, January 7, 2008).
NEXT – Lesson Two
The Middle Bronze period (2200 – 1550 B.C.) through the Late Bronze period (1550 – 1200 B.C.) – From the Flood to the Judges.
Bible Study from an Archaeological Perspective
Lesson Two
The Middle Bronze period through the Late Bronze period – From the Flood to the Judges.
Review
Genesis 1:26 – And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Man is made up of body, soul, and spirit (I Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12). It is spirit – “God-awareness” that sets us apart from the beast of the earth and cattle.
Archaeology is the study of the material remains of past human life and activities.
Pottery Neolithic Period (ca. 6000 B.C. – ca. 4500 B.C.) Archaeologists claim that they have found evidence of “cultivation of plants and the domestication of animals, followed by the growth of settlements” from this period (Gen. 4:2).
According to Scripture (figuring backwards from the time of the Exodus), Adam “hit the ground running” about 3899 B.C., being able to understand, speak, and write words (Gen, 5:1 – 2nd toledot). This would have occurred during what archaeologists call the Chalcolithic period (ca. 4500 – ca. 3150 B.C.).
Using the chronological data in Genesis 5 and 11, which gives an unbroken male lineage, with numbers of years, from the creation to Abraham, we were able to place Noah and his children into the Early Bronze period (ca. 3150 – ca. 2200 B.C.).
Gen. 5:32 – Noah was 500 yrs. old and begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth – 2343 B.C.
Genesis 6:5-9a – …every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (3rd toledot).
Archaeological evidence:
Author Barbara Bell wrote, “texts from the period indicate that hardly any form of civil order was absent, ranging from strife between districts to looting and killing by infiltrating Asiatics in the Delta, to individual crime run riot, to revolution and social anarchy. Reference to famine occurs in several texts” (Barbara Bell, The First Dark Age in Egypt, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan. 1971), p.7).
“…As supporting evidence for a dust storm interpretation, we note Butzer’s (1959b:66) finding that at Hierakonopolis, nearby, a predynastic cemetery was denuded by wind action, which removed up to 2 M. (6.56168 feet) of fairly resistant silt and exposed the burials, probably sometime after the end of Dynasty VI” (Barbara Bell, The First Dark Age in Egypt, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan. 1971), 1-26).
At the completion of lesson one, we concluded that it was more likely that the predynastic cemetery at Hierakonopolis was denuded by the action of water, not wind.
Lesson Two
Gen. 9:28-29 – The Flood – 2243 B.C. (Noah lived 950 yrs. – 350 yrs. after the flood). Noah was born in 2843 B.C. - 950 = 1893 when he died. 350 years before his death would have been 2243, when Noah was 600 yrs. old. Genesis 8:13 says, And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
Scripture reading:
Genesis 9:1 – And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Genesis 9:7 – And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
Genesis 10:1 – Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth… (4th toledot). The first three tablets may have been carried on the ark.
Genesis 11:1-9 – …lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth (man’s way).
Gen. 11:10 – Shem was 100 yrs. old, and begat Arphaxad 2 years after the flood. 2241
The Middle Bronze period (2200 – 1550 B.C)
Gen. 11:12 – Arphaxad lived 35 yrs. and begat Salah. 2206
Gen. 11:14 – Salah lived 30 yrs. and begat Eber. 2176 Gen. 11:16 – Eber lived 34 yrs. and begat Peleg. 2142 Gen. 11:18 – Peleg lived 30 yrs. and begat Reu. 2112
Gen. 11:20 - Reu lived 32 yrs. and bagat Serug. 2080 Gen. 11:22 – Serug lived 30 yrs. and begat Nahor 2050
Archaeological evidence:
Miriam Tadmor, Senior curator of Chalcolithic and Canaanite Periods, Israel Museum, wrote, “The principal sources for the study of this short period were traditionally tomb offerings – pottery, weapons, and some jewelry – unearthed in excavations of extensive cemeteries. Traces of contemporaneous settlements were encountered in the excavation of only a few mounds. Without exception these settlements were poor, limited in size, and of short duration. The absence of towns is in sharp contrast to the rich remains of the preceding and succeeding urban civilizations. To date, no true urban centers of that period have been uncovered.”
“In Egypt this time corresponds to the turbulent First Intermediate period, ending with the Eleventh Dynasty (2134 B.C.-1991 B.C.), and no Egyptian activity or influence can be detected, not even in the southern regions bordering Egypt” (Miriam Tadmor, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, p. 90).
Lesson Two
The Middle Bronze period through the Late Bronze period – From the Flood to the Judges.
Review
Genesis 1:26 – And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Man is made up of body, soul, and spirit (I Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12). It is spirit – “God-awareness” that sets us apart from the beast of the earth and cattle.
Archaeology is the study of the material remains of past human life and activities.
Pottery Neolithic Period (ca. 6000 B.C. – ca. 4500 B.C.) Archaeologists claim that they have found evidence of “cultivation of plants and the domestication of animals, followed by the growth of settlements” from this period (Gen. 4:2).
According to Scripture (figuring backwards from the time of the Exodus), Adam “hit the ground running” about 3899 B.C., being able to understand, speak, and write words (Gen, 5:1 – 2nd toledot). This would have occurred during what archaeologists call the Chalcolithic period (ca. 4500 – ca. 3150 B.C.).
Using the chronological data in Genesis 5 and 11, which gives an unbroken male lineage, with numbers of years, from the creation to Abraham, we were able to place Noah and his children into the Early Bronze period (ca. 3150 – ca. 2200 B.C.).
Gen. 5:32 – Noah was 500 yrs. old and begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth – 2343 B.C.
Genesis 6:5-9a – …every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (3rd toledot).
Archaeological evidence:
Author Barbara Bell wrote, “texts from the period indicate that hardly any form of civil order was absent, ranging from strife between districts to looting and killing by infiltrating Asiatics in the Delta, to individual crime run riot, to revolution and social anarchy. Reference to famine occurs in several texts” (Barbara Bell, The First Dark Age in Egypt, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan. 1971), p.7).
“…As supporting evidence for a dust storm interpretation, we note Butzer’s (1959b:66) finding that at Hierakonopolis, nearby, a predynastic cemetery was denuded by wind action, which removed up to 2 M. (6.56168 feet) of fairly resistant silt and exposed the burials, probably sometime after the end of Dynasty VI” (Barbara Bell, The First Dark Age in Egypt, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan. 1971), 1-26).
At the completion of lesson one, we concluded that it was more likely that the predynastic cemetery at Hierakonopolis was denuded by the action of water, not wind.
Lesson Two
Gen. 9:28-29 – The Flood – 2243 B.C. (Noah lived 950 yrs. – 350 yrs. after the flood). Noah was born in 2843 B.C. - 950 = 1893 when he died. 350 years before his death would have been 2243, when Noah was 600 yrs. old. Genesis 8:13 says, And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
Scripture reading:
Genesis 9:1 – And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Genesis 9:7 – And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
Genesis 10:1 – Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth… (4th toledot). The first three tablets may have been carried on the ark.
Genesis 11:1-9 – …lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth (man’s way).
Gen. 11:10 – Shem was 100 yrs. old, and begat Arphaxad 2 years after the flood. 2241
The Middle Bronze period (2200 – 1550 B.C)
Gen. 11:12 – Arphaxad lived 35 yrs. and begat Salah. 2206
Gen. 11:14 – Salah lived 30 yrs. and begat Eber. 2176 Gen. 11:16 – Eber lived 34 yrs. and begat Peleg. 2142 Gen. 11:18 – Peleg lived 30 yrs. and begat Reu. 2112
Gen. 11:20 - Reu lived 32 yrs. and bagat Serug. 2080 Gen. 11:22 – Serug lived 30 yrs. and begat Nahor 2050
Archaeological evidence:
Miriam Tadmor, Senior curator of Chalcolithic and Canaanite Periods, Israel Museum, wrote, “The principal sources for the study of this short period were traditionally tomb offerings – pottery, weapons, and some jewelry – unearthed in excavations of extensive cemeteries. Traces of contemporaneous settlements were encountered in the excavation of only a few mounds. Without exception these settlements were poor, limited in size, and of short duration. The absence of towns is in sharp contrast to the rich remains of the preceding and succeeding urban civilizations. To date, no true urban centers of that period have been uncovered.”
“In Egypt this time corresponds to the turbulent First Intermediate period, ending with the Eleventh Dynasty (2134 B.C.-1991 B.C.), and no Egyptian activity or influence can be detected, not even in the southern regions bordering Egypt” (Miriam Tadmor, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, p. 90).
Middle Bronze Four-spouted lamp with traces of burning, flat base - Amiran – plate 22, #11; plate 59, #1. Found in Jerusalem. Purchased in 1984 from Mount Ophel Antiquities (Prop. Mohammad Abdolah), Silwan: Near Gihon Spring, Jerusalem, Israel.
“The beginning of the second millennium B.C. was marked by the gradual return of urban institutions, which ultimately led to the creation of city-states. These remained the paramount political divisions in Canaan throughout this and the following Late Canaanite period until ca. 1200 B.C. In Egyptian New Kingdom sources, cuneiform inscriptions, and numerous verses in the Bible, the country is known as Canaan and its inhabitants as Canaanites. Cultural continuity corroborated by excavations indicates that both terms can be safely applied to the entire second millennium.”
“At the beginning of this era, under the vigorous Twelfth Dynasty, Egypt recovered its stability. In the course of this period Canaan came under its cultural influence, though it was never actually incorporated into Egypt.”
“In Mesopotamia and in northern Syria, Amorite dynasties established themselves in numerous kingdoms. In Mesopotamia the foremost were Assyria under Shamshi Adad I and Babylonia in the age of Hammurabi” (Miriam Tadmor, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, p. 91-92).
“The beginning of the second millennium B.C. was marked by the gradual return of urban institutions, which ultimately led to the creation of city-states. These remained the paramount political divisions in Canaan throughout this and the following Late Canaanite period until ca. 1200 B.C. In Egyptian New Kingdom sources, cuneiform inscriptions, and numerous verses in the Bible, the country is known as Canaan and its inhabitants as Canaanites. Cultural continuity corroborated by excavations indicates that both terms can be safely applied to the entire second millennium.”
“At the beginning of this era, under the vigorous Twelfth Dynasty, Egypt recovered its stability. In the course of this period Canaan came under its cultural influence, though it was never actually incorporated into Egypt.”
“In Mesopotamia and in northern Syria, Amorite dynasties established themselves in numerous kingdoms. In Mesopotamia the foremost were Assyria under Shamshi Adad I and Babylonia in the age of Hammurabi” (Miriam Tadmor, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, p. 91-92).
Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet in Clay Envelope. This is an administrative document from the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2094–c. 2047 B.C.). Purchased in 2021 from the Estate of F. Richards Ford III, Greenwich, Connecticut.
Egyptian clay figurine dating from ca, 19th century B.C. The inscription on hieratic script lists Egypt's enemies, amongst them Jerusalem. The figurine, in the shape of a kneeling prisoner, was smashed in a ritual cursing ceremony. © Royal Museums of Art and History, Bruxelles.
Scripture reading:
Gen. 11:24 – Nahor lived 29 yrs. and begat Terah 2021 Gen. 11:26 – Terah lived 70 yrs. and begat Abram 1951
Gen. 25:26 – Isaac was 60 yrs. old when Jacob was born. 1791
The Late Bronze Period (1550 – 1200 B.C.)
Exodus 12:40-41 – Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt (According to Genesis 12:10, the sojourning began with Abraham in Egypt).
Genesis 12:10 – Abram went into Egypt to sojourn there. 1876 – 430 = 1446
Galatians 3:17 – And this I say, that the covenant (Gen. 12:1-3), that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 1876 – 430 = 1446
Gen. 47:9 – Jacob (along with his children) arrived in Egypt exactly 215 years after Abram did. 1876-1661 = 215 years
The Children of Israel’s 215 years in Egypt would end with the Exodus. 1446
Deuteronomy 10:1-5 – two tables of stone…
I Kings 8:9 – two tables of stone…
Deuteronomy 34:1-5 – Moses died
Joshua 1:1-2 – …go over this Jordan…
Joshua 5:13-6:2
NEXT – Lesson Three – The Late Bronze Period (1550 – 1200 B.C.) – From the time of Joshua and the Destruction of Jericho
Scripture reading:
Gen. 11:24 – Nahor lived 29 yrs. and begat Terah 2021 Gen. 11:26 – Terah lived 70 yrs. and begat Abram 1951
- Gen. 9:28 – 1893 B.C. – Noah lived after the flood 350 yrs.
- Gen. 12:10 – 1876 B.C. – And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
- Genesis 15:1-6 …And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. This occurred before the Law.
- Romans 4:20-25
Gen. 25:26 – Isaac was 60 yrs. old when Jacob was born. 1791
- Gen. 25:7 – Abraham lived 175 years – 1776 B.C. (1951 – 175 = 1776).
- Gen. 35:28 – Days of Isaac 180 yrs. – 1671 B.C. (1851 – 180 = 1671).
The Late Bronze Period (1550 – 1200 B.C.)
Exodus 12:40-41 – Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt (According to Genesis 12:10, the sojourning began with Abraham in Egypt).
Genesis 12:10 – Abram went into Egypt to sojourn there. 1876 – 430 = 1446
Galatians 3:17 – And this I say, that the covenant (Gen. 12:1-3), that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 1876 – 430 = 1446
Gen. 47:9 – Jacob (along with his children) arrived in Egypt exactly 215 years after Abram did. 1876-1661 = 215 years
The Children of Israel’s 215 years in Egypt would end with the Exodus. 1446
Deuteronomy 10:1-5 – two tables of stone…
I Kings 8:9 – two tables of stone…
Deuteronomy 34:1-5 – Moses died
Joshua 1:1-2 – …go over this Jordan…
Joshua 5:13-6:2
NEXT – Lesson Three – The Late Bronze Period (1550 – 1200 B.C.) – From the time of Joshua and the Destruction of Jericho
Bible Study from an Archaeological Perspective
Lesson Three
The Late Bronze Period (1550 – 1200 B.C.) – From the time of Joshua and the Destruction of Jericho
Scripture reading:
Joshua 1:1-2 – …go over this Jordan…
Joshua 5:13-6:2
Archaeological evidence:
In addition to the biblical references, archeology also affirms the 1446 B.C. date for the Exodus. John Garstang, who excavated Jericho in the 1930s, dated the destruction of Jericho around 1400 B.C. Jericho was the first city that the Israelites conquered under the leadership of Joshua when they entered the land of Canaan. Adding forty years to Garstang’s date (to account for Israel’s wandering before entering Canaan) puts the exodus shortly before 1440 B.C. Garstang also concluded that the walls of the city toppled outward, which would compare favorably with Josh. 6:5, 20 (The fallen walls became as a ramp for the Israelites to go up into the city).
Lesson Three
The Late Bronze Period (1550 – 1200 B.C.) – From the time of Joshua and the Destruction of Jericho
Scripture reading:
Joshua 1:1-2 – …go over this Jordan…
Joshua 5:13-6:2
Archaeological evidence:
In addition to the biblical references, archeology also affirms the 1446 B.C. date for the Exodus. John Garstang, who excavated Jericho in the 1930s, dated the destruction of Jericho around 1400 B.C. Jericho was the first city that the Israelites conquered under the leadership of Joshua when they entered the land of Canaan. Adding forty years to Garstang’s date (to account for Israel’s wandering before entering Canaan) puts the exodus shortly before 1440 B.C. Garstang also concluded that the walls of the city toppled outward, which would compare favorably with Josh. 6:5, 20 (The fallen walls became as a ramp for the Israelites to go up into the city).
Archaeologist John Garstang discovered several scarabs and a seal in a cemetery near Jericho. Pictured (from left to right): a scarab of Hatshepsut (c. 1473–1458 B.C.), a scarab of Thutmose III (reigned c. 1479–1426 B.C.), reverse side of a seal of Thutmose III, and scarab of Amenhotep III (c. 1390–1353 B.C.). Collectively they demonstrate that the city’s cemetery was in active use during the time that Kathleen Kenyon believed that Jericho was abandoned. Photo Credit, Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem.
The scarab on the right is part of the Chrysler Collection and features the cartouche of Thutmose III (reigned c. 1479–1426 B.C.) – Men-Kheper-Ra. To the left, the god Thoth (scribe of the gods). Purchased in 2016 from Tarrab Coins & Antiquities – Salem Oregon.
The scarab on the right is part of the Chrysler Collection and features the cartouche of Thutmose III (reigned c. 1479–1426 B.C.) – Men-Kheper-Ra. To the left, the god Thoth (scribe of the gods). Purchased in 2016 from Tarrab Coins & Antiquities – Salem Oregon.
Archaeologist, Dr. Bryant Wood discovered that Kenyon had based her dating of the destruction of Jericho solely on the absence of imported pottery. During her excavations at Jericho (1952 to 1958), Kenyon did not find any imported bichrome (two-color) pottery from Cyprus, which is a prime indicator of Late Bronze I occupation. Thus, she concluded that it was unoccupied at Joshua’s time and had been destroyed 150 years earlier. (She would have done well to follow esteemed Egyptologist, Kenneth Kitchen’s maxim, “The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”)
Examples of locally made bichrome pottery discovered by archaeologist John Garstang at Tell es-Sultan (ancient Jericho). Photos Credit: Associates for Biblical Research
Inexplicably, Kenyon seems to have failed to consider the pottery discovered by Garstang. He had unearthed numerous examples of a locally made, imitation bichrome “Cypriot” pottery from the destruction layer of the final Canaanite city of Jericho. Garstang called it “red ware” and several of the pieces he published have classic Cypriot bichrome motifs.
Late Bronze Age pottery excavated by Kathleen Kenyon. 1. flaring carinated bowl (Jericho 4, fig. 110:1); 2-4. bowls decorated with internal concentric circles (Jericho 5, fig. 206:2; Jericho 4, fig. 110:8 and Jericho 5, fig. 206:1); 5-7. bowls (Jericho 5, fig. 191:16, Jericho 4, fig. 109:34 and Jericho 5, fig. 189:2); 8. storage jar (Jericho 5, fig. 199:6); 9. lamp (Jericho 5, fig. 197:2.); 10-12. cooking pots (Jericho 5, fig. 198:10; Jericho 4, figs. 150:22 and 121:11); 13. decorated water jar (Jericho 5, fig. 206:11); 14. dipper juglet (Jericho 5, fig. 196:5).
The dipper juglet on the right is from the Chrysler Collection. It is considered transitional between the long dipper juglet of the Middle Bronze and the Late Bronze II short dipper juglet and is the common form for Late Bronze I. Amiran – Plate 46, #7; Kenyon – Jericho V, Fig. 196, #5. Purchased in 2016 from Licensed Dealer in Israel – Uri Shovanov.
The dipper juglet on the right is from the Chrysler Collection. It is considered transitional between the long dipper juglet of the Middle Bronze and the Late Bronze II short dipper juglet and is the common form for Late Bronze I. Amiran – Plate 46, #7; Kenyon – Jericho V, Fig. 196, #5. Purchased in 2016 from Licensed Dealer in Israel – Uri Shovanov.
Scripture reading:
Joshua 6:17-19; 24 – Instructions about plunder
Joshua 6:26 – The curse
Archaeological evidence:
Joshua 6:17-19; 24 – Instructions about plunder
Joshua 6:26 – The curse
Archaeological evidence:
Jars full of grain found by John Garstang at Jericho. They were charred in the fire that the Israelites set to destroy the Canaanite city. A total of six bushels of grain were discovered in a single excavation season amid the charred debris of City IV.
Jericho summary:
The city was heavily fortified (Josh 2:5,7,15; 6:5,20); it was destroyed in harvest time (Josh 2:6; 3:15; 5:10-12); the inhabitants of Jericho had no opportunity to flee with their food (Josh 6:1); the siege was short (Josh 6:15); the walls fell down flat (Josh 6:20); the invaders did not plunder the city (Josh 6-17-18); the city was burned (Josh 6:24). These things all point to the accuracy of the Biblical account. When archaeology is correctly interpreted, the evidence uncovered supports the historical accuracy of the Bible, even in the smallest detail.
The Amarna tablets
British palaeographer and biblical scholar, Frederic George Kenyon wrote, “In the year 1887 an Egyptian woman found, amid the ruins of an ancient city about half-way between Thebes and Memphis, a collection of some 350 clay tablets inscribed with strange markings. [The tablets are now mainly divided between Berlin and the British Museum.] The city is now well known as Tell el-Amarna, the capital of the remarkable king Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaten, who made a vain attempt to revolutionize the religion of his country, and was the father-in-law of Tutankhamen, the discovery of whose tomb by Lord Carnarvon made such a sensation at the end of 1922. The tablets of Tell el-Amarna, however, raised an almost equal sensation among Oriental scholars; for here, in the middle of Egypt, were documents written not after the manner of the country, in the Egyptian language and upon papyrus, but engraved upon clay in the unmistakable cuneiform, or wedge-shaped script characteristic of Mesopotamia. Nor did their surprise lessen as the writings were deciphered and their meaning ascertained. For these tablets proved to be the official correspondence of Egyptian governors or vassal-princes, from various places in Palestine and Syria, with their overlord, the king of Egypt. Their date is about the year 1380 B.C., which, according to the view now generally accepted, and which seems to be confirmed by the recent excavations at Jericho, is the period when Joshua and the Hebrews were overrunning southern Palestine, while the Hittites were conquering Damascus, and the Amorites were invading Phoenicia. Jerusalem, Lachish, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, are mentioned by name; and complaints are made of the assaults of the Habiru, who have been generally regarded as the Hebrews, though the identification is not accepted by all scholars” (Sir Frederick Kenyon, Our Bible & the Ancient Manuscripts, 1939, p. 5).
The city was heavily fortified (Josh 2:5,7,15; 6:5,20); it was destroyed in harvest time (Josh 2:6; 3:15; 5:10-12); the inhabitants of Jericho had no opportunity to flee with their food (Josh 6:1); the siege was short (Josh 6:15); the walls fell down flat (Josh 6:20); the invaders did not plunder the city (Josh 6-17-18); the city was burned (Josh 6:24). These things all point to the accuracy of the Biblical account. When archaeology is correctly interpreted, the evidence uncovered supports the historical accuracy of the Bible, even in the smallest detail.
The Amarna tablets
British palaeographer and biblical scholar, Frederic George Kenyon wrote, “In the year 1887 an Egyptian woman found, amid the ruins of an ancient city about half-way between Thebes and Memphis, a collection of some 350 clay tablets inscribed with strange markings. [The tablets are now mainly divided between Berlin and the British Museum.] The city is now well known as Tell el-Amarna, the capital of the remarkable king Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaten, who made a vain attempt to revolutionize the religion of his country, and was the father-in-law of Tutankhamen, the discovery of whose tomb by Lord Carnarvon made such a sensation at the end of 1922. The tablets of Tell el-Amarna, however, raised an almost equal sensation among Oriental scholars; for here, in the middle of Egypt, were documents written not after the manner of the country, in the Egyptian language and upon papyrus, but engraved upon clay in the unmistakable cuneiform, or wedge-shaped script characteristic of Mesopotamia. Nor did their surprise lessen as the writings were deciphered and their meaning ascertained. For these tablets proved to be the official correspondence of Egyptian governors or vassal-princes, from various places in Palestine and Syria, with their overlord, the king of Egypt. Their date is about the year 1380 B.C., which, according to the view now generally accepted, and which seems to be confirmed by the recent excavations at Jericho, is the period when Joshua and the Hebrews were overrunning southern Palestine, while the Hittites were conquering Damascus, and the Amorites were invading Phoenicia. Jerusalem, Lachish, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, are mentioned by name; and complaints are made of the assaults of the Habiru, who have been generally regarded as the Hebrews, though the identification is not accepted by all scholars” (Sir Frederick Kenyon, Our Bible & the Ancient Manuscripts, 1939, p. 5).
A letter from Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem to the Egyptian Pharaoh. 1st half of the 14th century B.C. Akkadian cuneiform text. From Tell el-Amarna, Egypt. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin.
“The present interest in the Habiru is primarily caused by three factors: (1) the resemblance between the names Habiru and Hebrew, (2) the chronological relationship between the Amarna Habiru and the Israelites, and (3) the proximity of their location within the land of Canaan to that of the Hebrews in Joshua’s time” (S. Douglas Waterhouse, Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, Who are the Habiru of the Amarna Letters? 12/1 (2001): 31–42. Andrews University).
“The Amarna Letters from Jerusalem are of interest for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that they come from Jerusalem a few centuries before King David would ostensibly vanquish the Canaanite (Jebusite) population of Jerusalem and make it his own capital (II Samuel 5). Also, the correspondence with a Jerusalem ruler in the 14th century provides evidence for occupation in the city in a period (Late Bronze Age II) for which there is little archaeological evidence. Recently a fragment of an Akkadian tablet (now called ‘Jerusalem Tablet 1’) was found in excavations at Jerusalem, and some scholars have claimed that this tablet contained some correspondence between a king of Jerusalem and a king of Egypt. But this tablet is ultimately too fragmentary to determine if it was a letter. Among the most important things that these tablets demonstrate is that there was a vibrant and sophisticated scribal apparatus in Jerusalem during the Late Bronze Age. This Canaanite city was certainly not a backwater, but precisely the reverse” (Christopher Rollston, Jerusalem in the Amarna Letters).
“The Amarna Letters from Jerusalem are of interest for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that they come from Jerusalem a few centuries before King David would ostensibly vanquish the Canaanite (Jebusite) population of Jerusalem and make it his own capital (II Samuel 5). Also, the correspondence with a Jerusalem ruler in the 14th century provides evidence for occupation in the city in a period (Late Bronze Age II) for which there is little archaeological evidence. Recently a fragment of an Akkadian tablet (now called ‘Jerusalem Tablet 1’) was found in excavations at Jerusalem, and some scholars have claimed that this tablet contained some correspondence between a king of Jerusalem and a king of Egypt. But this tablet is ultimately too fragmentary to determine if it was a letter. Among the most important things that these tablets demonstrate is that there was a vibrant and sophisticated scribal apparatus in Jerusalem during the Late Bronze Age. This Canaanite city was certainly not a backwater, but precisely the reverse” (Christopher Rollston, Jerusalem in the Amarna Letters).
Fragment of Cuneiform tablet (‘Jerusalem Tablet 1’) found in Jerusalem. Hebrew University excavations unearthed a clay fragment dating back to the 14th century B.C.
The Mount Ebal Scarab
Deuteronomy 27:12-13
Deuteronomy 28:1-5; 15-17
Deuteronomy 27:12-13
Deuteronomy 28:1-5; 15-17
Scarab found just north of the Mt. Ebal altar.
This scarab displays a kneeling Egyptian archer and the cartouche of Tuthmosis III (1479–1426 B.C.). What looks like a capital letter "B" in the center of the scarab is a double bow held by a kneeling archer, far left. The cartouche of the great conqueror Tuthmosis III appears at the far right. At the top is a crawling salamander, an Egyptian symbol of abundance.
Scripture reading:
Joshua 24:1-13 – Summary
NEXT – Lesson Four – The Iron Period – Part One - The Iron I A – II B Period (1200 – 800 B.C.) – From the Judges unto King Hazael of Damascus.
Scripture reading:
Joshua 24:1-13 – Summary
NEXT – Lesson Four – The Iron Period – Part One - The Iron I A – II B Period (1200 – 800 B.C.) – From the Judges unto King Hazael of Damascus.
Bible Study from an Archaeological Perspective
Lesson Four
The Iron Period - PART ONE: The Iron I A – II B Period (1200 – 800 B.C.) – From the time of the Judges to King David
Scripture reading:
Deuteronomy 6:10-12 – Beware lest thou forget the Lord
Deuteronomy 7:1-2; 9:4-6 – The wickedness of these nations
Archaeological evidence:
Michal Dayagi-Mendels, Curator of Israelite and Persian Periods, Israel Museum wrote, “It is clear from archaeological evidence that the decline of the Canaanite culture and the appearance of the Israelites in the country were not discrete historical events but were rather a historical process that lasted for roughly two hundred years” (Michal Dayagi-Mendels, Treasures of the Holy Land, Israelite Period/ Iron Age, 1986, p. 137).
Lesson Four
The Iron Period - PART ONE: The Iron I A – II B Period (1200 – 800 B.C.) – From the time of the Judges to King David
Scripture reading:
Deuteronomy 6:10-12 – Beware lest thou forget the Lord
Deuteronomy 7:1-2; 9:4-6 – The wickedness of these nations
Archaeological evidence:
Michal Dayagi-Mendels, Curator of Israelite and Persian Periods, Israel Museum wrote, “It is clear from archaeological evidence that the decline of the Canaanite culture and the appearance of the Israelites in the country were not discrete historical events but were rather a historical process that lasted for roughly two hundred years” (Michal Dayagi-Mendels, Treasures of the Holy Land, Israelite Period/ Iron Age, 1986, p. 137).
Merneptah Stele. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Discovered in western Thebes, Egypt, in 1896
The inscription says it was carved in the 5th regnal year of Pharaoh Merneptah (1208 B.C.) of the 19th dynasty and contains the earliest reference to “Israel” outside of the text of the Bible. Most of the text glorifies Merneptah's victories over enemies from Libya and their Sea People allies, but the final three lines (out of twenty-eight) mention a campaign in Canaan, where Merneptah says:
“Now that Tehenu has come to ruin, Hatti is pacified. Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe. Ashkelon has been overcome. Gezer has been captured. Yano‘am was made non-existent. Israel is laid waste – his seed is not. Hurru has become a widow because of Egypt. All lands have united themselves in peace. Anyone who was restless, he has been subdued by the King of Upper and Lower Egypt…” (Biblical Archaeology Review, 16:05, Sept/Oct 1990).
“Now that Tehenu has come to ruin, Hatti is pacified. Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe. Ashkelon has been overcome. Gezer has been captured. Yano‘am was made non-existent. Israel is laid waste – his seed is not. Hurru has become a widow because of Egypt. All lands have united themselves in peace. Anyone who was restless, he has been subdued by the King of Upper and Lower Egypt…” (Biblical Archaeology Review, 16:05, Sept/Oct 1990).
• This Israel was well enough established by around 1200 B.C. among the other peoples of Canaan to have been perceived by Egyptian intelligence as a possible challenge to Egyptian authority. Israel was no less significant than Ashkelon and Gezer, two of the more important city-states in Palestine at the time.
Scripture reading:
Judges 2:8-10 – Another generation which knew not the Lord
Judges 2:16 – The Lord raised up judges which delivered them
Judges 7:1-4, 7, 12, 16-23 – Gideon (ca. 1180 B.C.)
Archaeological evidence:
Scripture reading:
Judges 2:8-10 – Another generation which knew not the Lord
Judges 2:16 – The Lord raised up judges which delivered them
Judges 7:1-4, 7, 12, 16-23 – Gideon (ca. 1180 B.C.)
Archaeological evidence:
Single-spouted lamp from Iron Age I with traces of burning. Found in Hebron – Amiran – Plate 100, #7. Purchased in 1984 from Omar Kahyam Museum – Old City, Jerusalem.
Scripture reading:
Judges 15:20 – and he (Samson) judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Judges 16:28-31; 21:24-25
I Samuel 3:19-20
I Samuel 8:4-9; 19-22 – Israel’s demand for a king
I Samuel 9:15-17 – …thou shalt anoint him…
Archaeological evidence:
Judges 15:20 – and he (Samson) judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Judges 16:28-31; 21:24-25
I Samuel 3:19-20
I Samuel 8:4-9; 19-22 – Israel’s demand for a king
I Samuel 9:15-17 – …thou shalt anoint him…
Archaeological evidence:
Black juglet – Israel Grey ware with burnished black slip. Handle stretching from the middle of the straight neck to the shoulder, an ovoid body, and a button base (type C3). Used to contain anointing oil and may be synonymous with a “horn of oil.” Amiran – Plate 86, #12. Purchased in 2016 from David Axlerod, David Street 89, Jerusalem.
I Samuel 10:1, 23-25 – Saul anointed and made king
The use of fragrant oil in cultic ritual entailed the pouring of sacred oil on a person or object, which symbolically designated the person or object as set aside for sacred service or use. This sacred anointing was reserved for the priests and kings of Israel, who were designated to serve these roles by having sacred fragrant oil poured on their heads by a holy man at the behest of the deity (e.g., Exodus 29:7). In 1 Samuel 10:1 the expression pak ha emen, “juglet of oil,” is used in the narrative of the anointing of Saul as the first king of Israel by the prophet Samuel, an event set in the late Iron Age I. This narrative provides a glimpse into the use of an oil juglet during the time that black juglets were in vogue.
Scripture reading:
I Samuel 13:13-14 – First mention of David
I Samuel 16:1-3, 10-13 – David anointed
I Samuel 31:6-7 – Saul’s death
II Samuel 1:11-12 – David mourned Saul’s death
II Samuel 2:3-4, 11 – David anointed king over Judah (1010 B.C.) 70 yrs. after Gideon
II Samuel 5:1-5 – David anointed king over Israel
II Samuel 5:6-10 – Jerusalem conquered
II Samuel 5:11 – And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.
Archaeological evidence:
The use of fragrant oil in cultic ritual entailed the pouring of sacred oil on a person or object, which symbolically designated the person or object as set aside for sacred service or use. This sacred anointing was reserved for the priests and kings of Israel, who were designated to serve these roles by having sacred fragrant oil poured on their heads by a holy man at the behest of the deity (e.g., Exodus 29:7). In 1 Samuel 10:1 the expression pak ha emen, “juglet of oil,” is used in the narrative of the anointing of Saul as the first king of Israel by the prophet Samuel, an event set in the late Iron Age I. This narrative provides a glimpse into the use of an oil juglet during the time that black juglets were in vogue.
- The black juglets have played a prominent role in recent excavations in the dating of stratigraphy and material remains.
Scripture reading:
I Samuel 13:13-14 – First mention of David
I Samuel 16:1-3, 10-13 – David anointed
I Samuel 31:6-7 – Saul’s death
II Samuel 1:11-12 – David mourned Saul’s death
II Samuel 2:3-4, 11 – David anointed king over Judah (1010 B.C.) 70 yrs. after Gideon
II Samuel 5:1-5 – David anointed king over Israel
II Samuel 5:6-10 – Jerusalem conquered
II Samuel 5:11 – And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.
Archaeological evidence:
This Phoenician-style capital was found by Kathleen Kenyon among a tumble of large ashlars in her site XVIII, which is just north and east of the Stepped-Stone Structure. It had fallen from an important building on top of the ridge and, according to Kenyon, dates to the time of David and Solomon.
I Kings 1:9-10 – Adonijah by En-rogel
I Kings 1:32-49 – Solomon anointed king
I Kings 1:32-49 – Solomon anointed king
Cave entrance to Gihon Spring (Credit: Bud Chrysler 1984)
View to the south from the area of the Gihon Spring. En-rogel lies at bottom of the Kidron Valley in the distance. (Credit: Bud Chrysler 1984)
View to the north from the area of En-rogel in the Kidron Valley (Credit: Bud Chrysler)
Scripture reading:
I Kings 6:1 – And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.
1446 – 480 = 966
NEXT – Lesson Five – The Iron Period (1200 – 586 B.C.)
Part Two – The Iron I A – II B Period (1200 – 800 B.C.) – From the Judges unto King Hazael of Damascus.
Bud Chrysler, July 2022 – www.biblicalarchaeologytruth.com
I Kings 6:1 – And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.
1446 – 480 = 966
NEXT – Lesson Five – The Iron Period (1200 – 586 B.C.)
Part Two – The Iron I A – II B Period (1200 – 800 B.C.) – From the Judges unto King Hazael of Damascus.
Bud Chrysler, July 2022 – www.biblicalarchaeologytruth.com
Bible Study from an Archaeological Perspective
Lesson Five
The Iron Period (1200 – 586 B.C.)
Part Two – The Iron I A – II B Period (1200 – 800 B.C.) – From King David to the Assyrian King Sennacherib
Lesson Five
The Iron Period (1200 – 586 B.C.)
Part Two – The Iron I A – II B Period (1200 – 800 B.C.) – From King David to the Assyrian King Sennacherib
Scripture reading:
I Kings 6:1 – And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.
1446 – 480 = 966
• If the fourth year of his reign was 966 B.C., then Solomon became king in 970 B.C. (966 + 4).
I Kings 2:11 – And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
• David became king in 1010 B.C. (970 + 40).
I Kings 11:42 – And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
• 970 – 40 = 930 B.C. Rehoboham became king
I Kings 11:29-32, 34-36, 40, 42-43
I Kings 6:1 – And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.
1446 – 480 = 966
• If the fourth year of his reign was 966 B.C., then Solomon became king in 970 B.C. (966 + 4).
I Kings 2:11 – And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
• David became king in 1010 B.C. (970 + 40).
I Kings 11:42 – And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
• 970 – 40 = 930 B.C. Rehoboham became king
I Kings 11:29-32, 34-36, 40, 42-43
So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David (I Kings 2:10) And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead (I Kings 11:43). Credit: Bud Chrysler 1984.
I Kings 14:25-26 – And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboham, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
The majority of scholars agree that Shoshenq I was Pharaoh in Egypt from 945-924 B.C. and that the Egyptian ruler referred to in the Bible as Shishak (I Kings & II Chronicles) is, in fact, Pharaoh Shoshenq I. He was the first Egyptian king to be mentioned by name in the Bible (I Kings 11:40; 14:25; II Chronicles 12:2-9).
Pharaoh Shishshak (Shoshenq I) left an account of his campaign on a wall in the temple of Amun at Karnak, in Upper Egypt. The Bubastite portal includes a large, weathered relief in which the pharaoh lists more than 150 towns (including Megiddo) he conquered during his military campaign into Israel and Judah.
The majority of scholars agree that Shoshenq I was Pharaoh in Egypt from 945-924 B.C. and that the Egyptian ruler referred to in the Bible as Shishak (I Kings & II Chronicles) is, in fact, Pharaoh Shoshenq I. He was the first Egyptian king to be mentioned by name in the Bible (I Kings 11:40; 14:25; II Chronicles 12:2-9).
Pharaoh Shishshak (Shoshenq I) left an account of his campaign on a wall in the temple of Amun at Karnak, in Upper Egypt. The Bubastite portal includes a large, weathered relief in which the pharaoh lists more than 150 towns (including Megiddo) he conquered during his military campaign into Israel and Judah.
The archaeological evidence suggests that Shishak (Shoshenq I) was Pharaoh from 945-924 B.C.
“Today the vast majority of scholars believe that the Bubastite Portal records a real Egyptian campaign by Pharaoh Shoshenq in the mid-to-late tenth century B.C.E. As concluded by Israel’s leading Biblical geographer Anson Rainey: “This inscription can only be based on intelligence information gathered during a real campaign by Pharaoh Shoshenq.” Kenneth Kitchen has called the reality of Shoshenq’s campaign during the reign of Rehoboam “beyond reasonable doubt.” If this campaign occurred in 925 B.C.E. and, as the Bible says, this was the fifth year of Rehoboam’s rule in Judah, Rehoboam would have become king, and Solomon’s reign would have ended in 930 B.C.E. (925 + 5)” (Yigal Levin, Did Pharaoh Sheshonq Attack Jerusalem?, Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2012, pp. 48-49).
At the site of Megiddo a portion of a commemorative stela of Shishak (Shoshenq I) was found by the University of Chicago Oriental Institute excavations in 1926. His name can be clearly read, and the stela is undoubtedly related to the 925 B.C. campaign. Photo: D. Ellis/P. Van der Veen
Scripture reading: II Kings 3:4–8
The Mesha Stele, or Moabite Stone
The Mesha Stele, or Moabite Stone
The Mesha Stele, or Moabite Stone was set in place around 840 B.C. by King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in what is now Jordan).
The stele refers to the kingdom of Israel (the "House of Omri") and it bears the earliest certain extrabiblical reference to the Israelite god Yahweh. André Lemaire reconstructed a portion of line 31 to read "House of David" which would mean it might contain the earliest extra-Biblical witness to David. Lemaire's reading is contested.
The Tel Dan Stele
The Tel Dan Stele
The Tel Dan Stele, ca. 840 B.C. containing the House of David inscription was discovered in 1993 at the site of Tel Dan in northern Israel in an excavation directed by Israeli archaeologist Avraham Biran. Photo courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority.
The writing on the stones is dated through paleography to the mid-9th century B.C. Although the Aramaic king’s name is not found in the surviving text, the most likely candidate is Hazael of Damascus, whose rivalry with Israel is recorded in the Bible (II Kings 8:7-15).
The most notable feature of the inscription is the use of the expression “House of David” (Hebrew, BYT DWD) in line 9, making it the earliest known extra-biblical mention of David and the dynasty he founded. This is crucial for corroborating the biblical account, since many scholars have at least minimized the importance of the actual David, if not relegated him to fictional myth. The expression “House of David” is used repeatedly in the Bible for the Davidic Dynasty (for example, I Kings 12:19, 13:2; Isaiah 7:2; Psalm 122:5). It reigned over all Israel in the period of the United Monarchy (10th century B.C.) and over Judah during the Divided Monarchy until the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.
The identification of the Aramaic king who authored the stele as Hazael fits well with the Bible’s account of his frequent attacks on Israel. Hazael fought against the combined forces of Jehoram and Ahaziah at Ramoth-gilead (II Kings 8:28, 29; 9:14, 15). He frequently defeated Jehu in battle, devastating all his country east of the Jordan from the Arnon in the south to Bashan in the north (II Kings 10:32, 33). During the reign of Jehoahaz, Jehu’s successor, he repeatedly encroached upon the territory of Israel, which was kept from complete destruction only by God’s mercy (II Kings 13:3, 22, 23). Hazael also moved into southwest Palestine, taking Gath; he compelled the king of Judah to pay a heavy bribe for sparing Jerusalem (II Kings 12:17, 18). It was not until the death of Hazael that Israel was able successfully to check the aggression of Syria under Benhadad III, the son of Hazael (II Kings 13:24, 25).
Cuneiform inscriptions show that Hazael played a large role in some of the campaigns of Shalmaneser III. In a pavement slab from Calah, Shalmaneser records that in 842 B.C. he joined battle with Hazael. He recorded that the Syrian king was defeated. Among his tributary kings he mentioned the name of Jehu son of Omri.
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
The most notable feature of the inscription is the use of the expression “House of David” (Hebrew, BYT DWD) in line 9, making it the earliest known extra-biblical mention of David and the dynasty he founded. This is crucial for corroborating the biblical account, since many scholars have at least minimized the importance of the actual David, if not relegated him to fictional myth. The expression “House of David” is used repeatedly in the Bible for the Davidic Dynasty (for example, I Kings 12:19, 13:2; Isaiah 7:2; Psalm 122:5). It reigned over all Israel in the period of the United Monarchy (10th century B.C.) and over Judah during the Divided Monarchy until the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.
The identification of the Aramaic king who authored the stele as Hazael fits well with the Bible’s account of his frequent attacks on Israel. Hazael fought against the combined forces of Jehoram and Ahaziah at Ramoth-gilead (II Kings 8:28, 29; 9:14, 15). He frequently defeated Jehu in battle, devastating all his country east of the Jordan from the Arnon in the south to Bashan in the north (II Kings 10:32, 33). During the reign of Jehoahaz, Jehu’s successor, he repeatedly encroached upon the territory of Israel, which was kept from complete destruction only by God’s mercy (II Kings 13:3, 22, 23). Hazael also moved into southwest Palestine, taking Gath; he compelled the king of Judah to pay a heavy bribe for sparing Jerusalem (II Kings 12:17, 18). It was not until the death of Hazael that Israel was able successfully to check the aggression of Syria under Benhadad III, the son of Hazael (II Kings 13:24, 25).
Cuneiform inscriptions show that Hazael played a large role in some of the campaigns of Shalmaneser III. In a pavement slab from Calah, Shalmaneser records that in 842 B.C. he joined battle with Hazael. He recorded that the Syrian king was defeated. Among his tributary kings he mentioned the name of Jehu son of Omri.
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
Archaeological drawing of the black obelisk.
The earliest ancient depiction of a biblical figure - Jehu King of Israel. Panel showing king Israelite bowing to the king of Assyria. The text reads: “Tribute of Jehu, son of Omri….”
Instead of resisting, Jehu decided to bring tribute and make peace for which he likely received the protection of Assyria from his nearby foe, Hazael of Damascus. Within a few years, however, it would become abundantly clear that Jehu had made a poor choice (II Kings 10:32-33).
Part two: The Iron II C Period (800 B.C. – 586 B.C.) – From Sennacherib’s Assyrian campaign unto Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian campaign.
II Kings 18:13 – Hezekiah and Sennacherib king of Assyria.
II Chronicles 32:1-5; Isaiah 37:33-36
II Chronicles 32:2-4 – And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him. So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?
II Chronicles 32:30 – This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
Part two: The Iron II C Period (800 B.C. – 586 B.C.) – From Sennacherib’s Assyrian campaign unto Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian campaign.
- An important era (7th century B.C.) is well defined historically and archaeologically beginning with the destruction layers left behind by Sennacherib’s Assyrian campaign (Lachish, 701 B.C.) and ending with levels of destruction resulting from Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian campaign (Jerusalem, 605–586 B.C.).
II Kings 18:13 – Hezekiah and Sennacherib king of Assyria.
II Chronicles 32:1-5; Isaiah 37:33-36
II Chronicles 32:2-4 – And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him. So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?
II Chronicles 32:30 – This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
The beginning of Hezekiah’s tunnel
Topographical map of the City of David and Hezekiah’s Tunnel
The ending of Hezekiah’s Tunnel on the west side of the City of David. Credit: Bud Chrysler 1984
All the features of the script on the Siloam Tunnel Inscription agree with a date in the reign of Hezekiah.
Seal impressions of King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah
Seal impressions (bullae) of Isaiah and King Hezekiah were found less than 10 feet apart in the Ophel excavations led by Eilat Mazar just south of Jersualem’s Temple Mount.
II Kings 19:20 – Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
All the features of the script on the bullae agree with a date in the reign of Hezekiah. The script is almost identical to that on the royal jar handles known from the inscriptions stamped on them as LMLK (belonging to the king) handles. These handles date to the reign of Hezekiah, as shown by David Ussishkin's excavations at Lachish (The initial destruction of this fortified city is attested in both archaeological remains from the site and a pictorial relief of the Assyrian siege of the city on the wall of Sennacherib’s palace in Nineveh).
II Kings 19:20 – Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
- The appearance of these bullae sees the perfect meeting between text, geography, and material culture.
All the features of the script on the bullae agree with a date in the reign of Hezekiah. The script is almost identical to that on the royal jar handles known from the inscriptions stamped on them as LMLK (belonging to the king) handles. These handles date to the reign of Hezekiah, as shown by David Ussishkin's excavations at Lachish (The initial destruction of this fortified city is attested in both archaeological remains from the site and a pictorial relief of the Assyrian siege of the city on the wall of Sennacherib’s palace in Nineveh).
Lidded, storage jar with a stamp on the handle "Belonging to the king, Hebron" Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, by Amalyah Oren
Storage jars found in all of Judah's major cities and bearing royal stamps on their handles appear to have been used for the collection of food in anticipation of war. Each stamp bears the inscription "Belonging to the King" along with the name of one of four Judahite cities - Hebron, Socoh, Zif, or the unidentified MMST.
Royal Jar Handle with two-winged “lmlk mmst” seal impression – Type m2d. Attributed to the reign of Hezekiah. The script on the royal jar handles is very similar to that of the Siloam Tunnel Inscription, which is also attributed to Hezekiah's reign. Purchased in 2015 from Licensed Dealer in Israel – Uri Shovanov.
Scripture reading:
II Kings 19:32-35 – Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
Archaeological evidence:
II Kings 19:32-35 – Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
Archaeological evidence:
Sennacherib’s Prism, British Museum. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
Discovered at Nineveh in 1880, this prism describes Sennacherib’s invasion of 46 cities in Judah. Jerusalem and Hezekiah were untouched. “Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage”.
Esarhaddon tablet – 680-669 B.C. Found in Nineveh
The tablet: “On the twentieth day of the month Tebet, Sennacherib king of Assyria - his son slew him in rebellion… Esarhaddon his son sat on the throne of Assyria.”
II Kings 19:36-37 – So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
(The perfect meeting between text, geography, and material culture)
NEXT – Lesson Six – The Iron Period (1200 – 586 B.C.)
Part Three– The Iron II C Period (800 B.C. – 586 B.C.) – From Sennacherib’s Assyrian campaign unto Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian campaign.
II Kings 19:36-37 – So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
(The perfect meeting between text, geography, and material culture)
NEXT – Lesson Six – The Iron Period (1200 – 586 B.C.)
Part Three– The Iron II C Period (800 B.C. – 586 B.C.) – From Sennacherib’s Assyrian campaign unto Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian campaign.
Bible Study from an Archaeological Perspective
Lesson Six
The Iron Period (1200 – 586 B.C.)
Part Three – The Iron II Period (800 B.C. - 586 B.C.) - From Sennacherib's Assyrian campaign unto Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian campaign.
Lesson Six
The Iron Period (1200 – 586 B.C.)
Part Three – The Iron II Period (800 B.C. - 586 B.C.) - From Sennacherib's Assyrian campaign unto Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian campaign.
II Kings 20:16-21
II Kings 21:1-2 – Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem… And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.
Jeremiah 15:4 – And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
II Kings 21:1-2 – Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem… And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.
Jeremiah 15:4 – And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
Mold-made head of Judean Pillar Figurine
The mold-made heads display hairstyles resembling Egyptian wigs, with rows of curls, and defined facial features. A solid cylindrical pillar was used for the bodies of the pillar figurines made with oversized breasts, under which the arms curve. The figurines are interpreted as either fertility goddesses, most frequently Asherah or Astarte.
Although these figurines have been found all over Judah, about half (405 out of 822, to be exact) were found in Jerusalem, many only a short distance from the Temple Mount. About 5 or 6 inches tall, the handmade body is solid and shaped like a column, while the mold-made head was manufactured separately. All of the figurines pre-date the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem.
(609 B.C.) II Kings 23:36 – Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem…
(605) Jeremiah 46:1-2 – The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
(606/605) Daniel 1:1-3, 6-7 – In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the LORD gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes… Now among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego.
(605) Jeremiah 25:1-3 – The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
Jeremiah 36:1-2, 4 – And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him, upon the roll of a book.
Jeremiah 36:29-31 – And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? Therefore thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David… and I will bring… upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
Jeremiah 25:11-12 – And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
Daniel 1:17-21 – …unto the first year of king Cyrus (535).
Archaeological evidence:
Rosette-Stamped Jar Handles originate in this period (Iron II C – 800-586 B.C.) Scholars have suggested that the rosette may be a royal Judean Symbol. Analysis of the stratigraphic settings of these rosette impressions suggests that they were introduced during the reign of Jehoiakim.
Although these figurines have been found all over Judah, about half (405 out of 822, to be exact) were found in Jerusalem, many only a short distance from the Temple Mount. About 5 or 6 inches tall, the handmade body is solid and shaped like a column, while the mold-made head was manufactured separately. All of the figurines pre-date the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem.
- In 612 B.C., the city of Nineveh fell to the Babylonian-Mede coalition and this date is recognized as the end of the Assyrian Empire. Even so, the last Assyrian king, Ashur-uballit, struggled to regain power with the help of the Egyptians under pharaoh Necho II (r. 610-595 B.C.). Necho II was defeated in battle by Nebuchadnezzar II in 605 B.C. near Carchemish.
(609 B.C.) II Kings 23:36 – Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem…
(605) Jeremiah 46:1-2 – The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
(606/605) Daniel 1:1-3, 6-7 – In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the LORD gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes… Now among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego.
(605) Jeremiah 25:1-3 – The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
Jeremiah 36:1-2, 4 – And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him, upon the roll of a book.
Jeremiah 36:29-31 – And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? Therefore thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David… and I will bring… upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
Jeremiah 25:11-12 – And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
Daniel 1:17-21 – …unto the first year of king Cyrus (535).
Archaeological evidence:
Rosette-Stamped Jar Handles originate in this period (Iron II C – 800-586 B.C.) Scholars have suggested that the rosette may be a royal Judean Symbol. Analysis of the stratigraphic settings of these rosette impressions suggests that they were introduced during the reign of Jehoiakim.
Royal storage jar with rosette stamp on the handles
Jar handles with rosette impression. Purchased in 2015 from Licensed Dealer in Israel – Uri Shovanov
“The rosette motif enjoyed a long history in the realm of ancient Near Eastern art, where it became a popular manifestation of divine kingship. The royal significance of the rosette motif indicates that the vessels on which they appear were manufactured under royal sponsorship and intended for official use. The stratigraphic analysis of the well-stratified impressions from the City of David and elsewhere leads to the conclusion that the rosette-impressed vessels date to the very last phase of the Iron Age II. They appear to have been introduced during the reign of Jehoiakim, possibly in response to the threat of Babylonian invasion that followed Egypt’s defeat at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE (Cahill 1995: 247-50)” (Qedem 41 Cahill 2000: 99).
“Each of the seven well-stratified rosette stamp seal impressions from the City of David can be dated on the basis of the accompanying pottery and artifacts to the final phase of the Iron Age II. The chronological peg to which these cultural assemblages may be linked is 587/6 BCE, the year in which the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the fortified cities of Azekah, Lachish and Jerusalem” (Malamat 1968; Tadmor 1976: 157).
“Well-stratified rosette impressions from other sites also derive exclusively from the destruction levels marking the end of the Iron Age II” (Cahill 1995: 244-46). “In addition to those from the City of David, 26 rosette-impressed handles have been found in well-stratified contexts at seven other sites” (Cahill 1995: 245-46).
(598) II Kings 24:6, 8 – So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: (Reigned eleven years – II Kings 23:36) and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead… Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months… [II Chronicles 36:6-8].
(597) II Kings 24:12 – And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. [II Chronicles 36:9-10]. (See Babylonian ration lists below).
“Each of the seven well-stratified rosette stamp seal impressions from the City of David can be dated on the basis of the accompanying pottery and artifacts to the final phase of the Iron Age II. The chronological peg to which these cultural assemblages may be linked is 587/6 BCE, the year in which the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the fortified cities of Azekah, Lachish and Jerusalem” (Malamat 1968; Tadmor 1976: 157).
“Well-stratified rosette impressions from other sites also derive exclusively from the destruction levels marking the end of the Iron Age II” (Cahill 1995: 244-46). “In addition to those from the City of David, 26 rosette-impressed handles have been found in well-stratified contexts at seven other sites” (Cahill 1995: 245-46).
(598) II Kings 24:6, 8 – So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: (Reigned eleven years – II Kings 23:36) and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead… Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months… [II Chronicles 36:6-8].
(597) II Kings 24:12 – And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. [II Chronicles 36:9-10]. (See Babylonian ration lists below).
Bullae from Area G in the City of David
Dr. Yigal Shilo of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem conducted extensive excavations in the City of David from 1978 to 1985. 51 bullae (clay seal impressions) were discovered in his Area G near the Stepped-Stone Structure. One read, “Gemariah/son of Shaphan.”
Seal impression of Gemariah son of Shaphan. Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority/Clara Amit
This bulla, which the late Yigal Shiloh excavated along with 50 others in the City of David, reads, “Belonging to Gemaryahu / son of Shaphan.” Found in a stratum that securely dates it to shortly before the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 587 / 586 B.C.E., about the same time as the events described in Jeremiah 36, this bulla can be identified with the Biblical Gemariah, mentioned in Jeremiah 36:10 – Then read Baruch in the book of the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe…
Jehucal son of Shelemiah
The Jehucal bulla was found by Eilat Mazar above the Stepped Stone Structure, "We found the bulla of Jehucal inside the palace structure," Mazar said. "We found the bulla of Gedaliah outside the wall, just at the foot of the same spot we found Jehucal. The two must have been connected somehow."
Jeremiah 38:1 - Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people...
Jeremiah 38:1 - Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people...
Gedaliah son of Pashur
Jeremiah 38:4 – Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city…
Jeremiah’s Dungeon
Jeremiah 38:12-13, 28 – And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. …So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.
Jeremiah 32:2 – For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.
Jeremiah 32:2 – For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.
Sign posted above the cistern near the remains of the palace.
SINGLE-SPOUTED JUDAEAN LAMP, Iron Age II (ca. 800 - 586 B.C.) Sussman, BAR, 2/1985, p. 47. Amiran – Plate 100, #19; Plate 101, #22. “In Iron II C, in the South, a completely new type evolved. It has a relatively small, shallow bowl placed on a thick, high disc base.”
(597) II Kings 24:17-18 – And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem… [II Chronicles 36:10-11]. (See Babylonian chronicle below).
(589/588) II Kings 25:1 – And it came to pass in the ninth year of his (Zedekiah’s) reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. [Jer. 39:1; Ezek. 24:1] *Here begins the seventy-year era of “desolations” (Ezekiel 24:2).
Ezekiel 24:1-2 – Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.
Haggai 2:10 – In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Haggai 2:15-19 – And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord: Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord. Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
(586) II Kings 25:2 – And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. [Jer. 39:2]
(586) Jeremiah 39:11-12 – Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying, Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
(586) II Kings 25:8-11 – And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire. And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away.
(589/588) II Kings 25:1 – And it came to pass in the ninth year of his (Zedekiah’s) reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. [Jer. 39:1; Ezek. 24:1] *Here begins the seventy-year era of “desolations” (Ezekiel 24:2).
Ezekiel 24:1-2 – Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.
Haggai 2:10 – In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Haggai 2:15-19 – And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord: Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord. Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
- “Now from the tenth day of Tebeth B.C. 589 (Ezekiel 24:1-2), to the twenty-fourth day of Chisleu B.C. 520 (the second year of Darius Hystaspes – Haggai 2:10, 15-19) was a period of 25,202 days; and seventy years of 360 days contain exactly 25,200 days. We may conclude, therefore, that the era of the ‘desolations’ was a period of seventy years of 360 days, beginning with the day after the Babylonian army invested Jerusalem, and ending the day before the foundation of the second temple was laid” (Sir Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince, 1954, pp.70-71).
(586) II Kings 25:2 – And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. [Jer. 39:2]
(586) Jeremiah 39:11-12 – Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying, Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
(586) II Kings 25:8-11 – And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire. And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away.
The Babylonian Chronicle – March 16, 597 B.C.
The cuneiform text records the Battle of Carchemish and the accession of Nebuchadnezzar. The fifth paragraph says, “In the seventh year [598], the month of Kislîmu, the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched to the Hatti-land and besieged the city of Judah. On the second day of the month of Addarunote [597] he seized the city and captured the king. He appointed there a king of his own choice, received its heavy tribute and sent to Babylon.”
II Kings 24:15, 17 – And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon , and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
First published by Donald J. Wiseman in 1956, the Babylonian Chronicle records the last year of the reign of Nabopolassar and the first 11 years of his son Nebuchadnezzar. Among Nebuchadnezzar’s accomplishments was the capture of Jerusalem, dated precisely to March 16, 597 B.C. This document is on display in the British Museum, London.
II Kings 24:15, 17 – And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon , and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
First published by Donald J. Wiseman in 1956, the Babylonian Chronicle records the last year of the reign of Nabopolassar and the first 11 years of his son Nebuchadnezzar. Among Nebuchadnezzar’s accomplishments was the capture of Jerusalem, dated precisely to March 16, 597 B.C. This document is on display in the British Museum, London.
Three-inch-tall cuneiform tablet dating to Nebuchadnezzar’s 13th year (592 B.C.). It contains the monthly rations for “Ya’u-kīnu, king of the land of Yahudu” (Babylonian for “Jehoiakhin, king of Judah”).
At the beginning of the 20th century, German archaeologists excavating the massive southern palace in Babylon discovered nearly three hundred cuneiform texts that record the disbursal of rations from the royal storehouses. There are four texts that show monthly rations for “Ya’u-kīnu, king of the land of Yahudu” (Babylonian for “Jehoiachin, king of Judah”).
Jeremiah 52:28-30 – …three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar = 582 B.C.
(561) Jeremiah 52:31-34
(561) Jeremiah 52:31-34
Last King of Lydia, Croesus, Silver 1/2 stater (siglos), 560-546 B.C., 5.2g.
Lion and bull coin types such as this were the world's first silver coins. Kroisos was famous for his extraordinary wealth, but with his defeat by King Cyrus in 546 B.C. Lydia became a Persian satrapy. In the past all Kroisos-type lion and bull coins, or croeseids, were thought to be minted by Kroisos, but hoard evidence over the past 70 years has caused virtually all numismatists to believe that some or many of these coins were minted by the Persian conquerors of Lydia after Kroisos' defeat c. 546 B.C., including Cyrus II (reigned c. 550-529 B.C.). Some sources indicate that Kroisos died at the time of the Persian defeat of Lydia, but others indicate that the Persian king Cyrus spared Kroisos' life, with Kroisos becoming his advisor.
(539) Daniel 5:25-31 – And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
- Professor D. J. Wiseman wrote the following regarding this Darius and Cyrus as being one and the same person: "In 1957 I put forward a working hypothesis the possibility that Darius the Mede is to be identified with Cyrus the Persian king. ...The basis of the hypothesis is that Daniel 6:28 can be translated 'Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, even (namely, or i.e.) the reign of Cyrus the Persian.' Such a use of the appositional or explicative Hebrew waw construction has long been recognized in I Chronicles 5:26 ('So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria even the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria') and elsewhere. Granted such an interpretation it remains to examine how far Darius might be a bi-name of Cyrus in the light of the scriptural statements."
- "Herodotus represents Cyrus correctly as son of a Median princess and Xenophon as heir to the Median throne."
- " The identification of Cyrus the Persian king with Darius the Mede accords well with the prophecies of Isaiah (13:17) and Jeremiah (51:11, 28), who saw in the Medes the conquerors of Babylon. "
- "From the Babylonian Chronicle it is clear that Cyrus was welcomed in Babylon, received the citizens' submission and took over the kingship."
- "That Cyrus was about sixty-two years of age in 539-538 BC has already been noted by Bengel and Sydney Smith."
- "Cyrus died in 529 BC after a reign of nine years over Babylon dating from 539 BC, by which time he had already ruled Persia for thirty years. His reign over Anshan could have begun in 558 BC, and a date of c. 600 BC for his birth is not impossible, his grandfather being already King of Parsumas in 640 BC."
- "It is submitted that, while it must only remain a theory and be further tested, the view that the 'Darius the Mede' could be another name used of 'Cyrus the Persian' and as such specifically noted in Daniel 6:28 has support from the text itself in that Cyrus was about sixty-two years old, received the kingdom and appointed governors" (D. J. Wiseman, Notes on Some Problems in the Book of Daniel, 1965, pp. 12-15).
Other examples in Scripture which seems to reinforce Wiseman's theory are found in
Ezra 4:5 - And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Ezra 5:13 - But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.
Ezra 6:3 - In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits.
Daniel 5:31 - In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
Daniel 9:1-2 - In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
(605) Jeremiah 29: 10-14 – For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
(539) Daniel 9:21-25 – Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
NEXT – Lesson Seven – Persian, Hellenistic, Roman Periods (539 B.C. – A.D. 70) and a summary.
Bible Study from an Archaeological Perspective
Lesson Seven
Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods (c. 539 B.C. - A.D. 70)
Lesson Seven
Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods (c. 539 B.C. - A.D. 70)
THE DUAL EMPIRE (539 B.C. to 333 B.C.)
Daniel 8:1-4 – In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel… And I saw in a vision...there stood before the river a ram which had two horns...one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward and northward, and southward…
Daniel 8:20 – The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
According to World History, the dual kingdom of Medo-Persia followed Babylon. The Medo-Persian empire was a dual power, but the Persians, under Cyrus, were the stronger of the two.
(c. 700 B.C.) Isaiah 44:24, 28 – That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
Isaiah 45:1-4 – Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
Isaiah 46:10-11 – Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
According to Josephus, Daniel may have shown Cyrus these verses in Isaiah: “Thus says Cyrus the king: Since God Almighty has appointed me to be king of the habitable earth, I believe that he is the God which the nation of the Israelites worship; for indeed he foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build him a house at Jerusalem, in the country of Judah” (Antiquities 11. 1.1).
“This was known to Cyrus by his reading the book of his prophecies which Isaiah left behind him two hundred and twenty years before.* For that prophet had said, that God had spoken thus to him in a secret vision: ‘My will is that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to be king over many great nations, shall send back my people to their own land, and build my temple.’ This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished. Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, and admired the divine power, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfil what was written; so he called the most eminent Jews that were in Babylon, and told them that he gave them leave to go back to their own country, and to rebuild their city Jerusalem and the temple of God, for he would be their friend, and would write to the governors and satraps that were in the neighbourhood of their country of Judaea, to contribute to them gold and silver for the building of the temple, and besides that beasts for their sacrifices” (Antiquities 11.1.2). [*It was 161 yrs. between Isaiah and Cyrus.]
(539 B.C.) Ezra 1:1-2 – Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Archaeological evidence:
Excavated at Babylon in 1879, the Cylinder was written in Babylonian cuneiform on the orders of the Persian king Cyrus the Great after the capture of Babylon. Among other things, the cylinder records how he restored shrines and allowed deported peoples to return home, prompting some people to call it “the world’s first charter of human rights.”
Daniel 8:1-4 – In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel… And I saw in a vision...there stood before the river a ram which had two horns...one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward and northward, and southward…
Daniel 8:20 – The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
According to World History, the dual kingdom of Medo-Persia followed Babylon. The Medo-Persian empire was a dual power, but the Persians, under Cyrus, were the stronger of the two.
(c. 700 B.C.) Isaiah 44:24, 28 – That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
Isaiah 45:1-4 – Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
Isaiah 46:10-11 – Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
According to Josephus, Daniel may have shown Cyrus these verses in Isaiah: “Thus says Cyrus the king: Since God Almighty has appointed me to be king of the habitable earth, I believe that he is the God which the nation of the Israelites worship; for indeed he foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build him a house at Jerusalem, in the country of Judah” (Antiquities 11. 1.1).
“This was known to Cyrus by his reading the book of his prophecies which Isaiah left behind him two hundred and twenty years before.* For that prophet had said, that God had spoken thus to him in a secret vision: ‘My will is that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to be king over many great nations, shall send back my people to their own land, and build my temple.’ This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished. Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, and admired the divine power, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfil what was written; so he called the most eminent Jews that were in Babylon, and told them that he gave them leave to go back to their own country, and to rebuild their city Jerusalem and the temple of God, for he would be their friend, and would write to the governors and satraps that were in the neighbourhood of their country of Judaea, to contribute to them gold and silver for the building of the temple, and besides that beasts for their sacrifices” (Antiquities 11.1.2). [*It was 161 yrs. between Isaiah and Cyrus.]
(539 B.C.) Ezra 1:1-2 – Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Archaeological evidence:
Excavated at Babylon in 1879, the Cylinder was written in Babylonian cuneiform on the orders of the Persian king Cyrus the Great after the capture of Babylon. Among other things, the cylinder records how he restored shrines and allowed deported peoples to return home, prompting some people to call it “the world’s first charter of human rights.”
The Cyrus Cylinder
Darius I-Xerxes I. Circa 510/505-486 B.C. Silver Siglos (5.4 g). Persian king in kneeling-running stance right, drawing bow / Incuse punch. Carradice Type II.
(539 B.C.) Daniel 9:1-3 – In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the LORD God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel 9:21-24 – Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
The 70 weeks (70 sevens) are seventy 7-year periods or 490 prophetic years, which relate to Daniel’s people, and the city of Jerusalem. As will be shown, the fulfillment of this prophecy began in 445 B.C. Had there been continuous fulfillment, the glorious ending (v. 24) would have occurred about A.D. 39 (7 years after the triumphal entry and the crucifixion).Daniel 9:25 – Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Nehemiah, writing by divine inspiration, records the exact date of this decree:
Nehemiah 2:1-8 – And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Dr. Alva McClain, former president of Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana wrote:
“For those who believe in biblical inspiration and the genuineness of predictive prophecy, it will be no surprise to learn that the date fixed by Nehemiah happens to be one of the best-known dates in ancient history. Even the latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, certainly not biased in favor of prophecy, sets the date of Artaxerxes accession as 465 B.C.; and therefore, his twentieth year would be 445 B.C. …Here we have the beginning of the Seventy Weeks” (Alva J. McClain, Daniel’s prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, 1962, pp. 18-19).
Daniel 9:25c …the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times – read Nehemiah 4:7-8, 17-21; Nehemiah 12:27, 31, 38, 43.
Daniel 9:21-24 – Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
The 70 weeks (70 sevens) are seventy 7-year periods or 490 prophetic years, which relate to Daniel’s people, and the city of Jerusalem. As will be shown, the fulfillment of this prophecy began in 445 B.C. Had there been continuous fulfillment, the glorious ending (v. 24) would have occurred about A.D. 39 (7 years after the triumphal entry and the crucifixion).Daniel 9:25 – Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Nehemiah, writing by divine inspiration, records the exact date of this decree:
Nehemiah 2:1-8 – And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Dr. Alva McClain, former president of Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana wrote:
“For those who believe in biblical inspiration and the genuineness of predictive prophecy, it will be no surprise to learn that the date fixed by Nehemiah happens to be one of the best-known dates in ancient history. Even the latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, certainly not biased in favor of prophecy, sets the date of Artaxerxes accession as 465 B.C.; and therefore, his twentieth year would be 445 B.C. …Here we have the beginning of the Seventy Weeks” (Alva J. McClain, Daniel’s prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, 1962, pp. 18-19).
Daniel 9:25c …the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times – read Nehemiah 4:7-8, 17-21; Nehemiah 12:27, 31, 38, 43.
Persian period walkway atop Hezekiah’s rebuilt wall in Area D2. Credit: Bud Chrysler
The first seven weeks of years (7 x 7 = 49 years) in Daniel’s vision cover the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, the period of rebuilding during the “troublous times” between 445 B.C. and 396 B.C.
From this point (396 B.C.), the “threescore and two weeks” (62 x 7 = 434 years) of Daniel 9:25 will bring us “unto Messiah the Prince,” A.D. 32. [Luke 19:28-42]
From this point (396 B.C.), the “threescore and two weeks” (62 x 7 = 434 years) of Daniel 9:25 will bring us “unto Messiah the Prince,” A.D. 32. [Luke 19:28-42]
JUDAEA, Achaemenid Province (Yehud). Jerusalem mint. Circa 375-332 B.C. Silver Gerah (7mm, 0.50g).
HELLENISTIC AND EARLY ROMAN PERIODS (332 B.C. – A.D. 70
JUDAEA. “YHD” Hellenistic period. Ptolemy II, Silver. Jerusalem mint. Ca. 272-260 B.C. Hemiobol (0.25 g – 8mm).
Uri Avida, Rodney E. Soher Curator of Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Periods, Israel Museum, wrote, “In purely political terms the early phase of the Hellenistic period can be subdivided as follows: the conquests of Alexander and the wars of the Diadochs (332 – 301 B.C.); Egyptian Ptolemaic rule (301 – 200 B.C.); Syrian Seleucid rule (200 – 167 B.C.). During these periods most of the country was a vast battleground for the warring kingdoms to the north and the south. At the same time, it was a fertile ground – especially in the coastal strip, in Transjordan, and in some other areas – for the insemination of Greek culture and the adoption of the Greek polis as the favored form of political organization. Consequently, there was an influx of settlers from other parts of the Hellenistic world, as well as the introduction of Greek cults and the formation of a Greek-speaking elite. These aspects of the Greek culture so permeated the local non-Jewish civilization that they survived throughout Roman rule” (Uri Avida, Treasures of the Holy Land – Ancient Art from the Israel Museum, 1986, p. 192).
The prophet Daniel predicted that war would be fought between the Medo-Persian and Grecian empires and prophesied its outcome--[a Greek victory]. It was precisely fulfilled just as he predicted over 200 years later in 332 B.C. This remarkable vision of Daniel Chapter 8 begins with this prophecy regarding the conflict between Medo-Persia and Greece:
Daniel 8:5,7,8,21 – And as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes... and smote the ram and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him... the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king (Alexander the Great).
Archaeological/historical evidence:
At 20 years of age Alexander began his military campaign and conquered all the civilized world from Greece to India and from Southern Russia to Northern Africa, in only 10 years! [He conquered the Persian Empire in 332 B.C. at the battle of Issus]. But just as he was at the height of his power `when he was strong' at the young age of only 33 years, Alexander died. When Alexander fell, his four generals divided his empire up into four major divisions (Daniel 11:3-4). Two of these divisions are prominent in Daniel’s vision in chapter 11 – the kings of the North and South. We know them as the Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties.
The prophet Daniel predicted that war would be fought between the Medo-Persian and Grecian empires and prophesied its outcome--[a Greek victory]. It was precisely fulfilled just as he predicted over 200 years later in 332 B.C. This remarkable vision of Daniel Chapter 8 begins with this prophecy regarding the conflict between Medo-Persia and Greece:
Daniel 8:5,7,8,21 – And as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes... and smote the ram and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him... the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king (Alexander the Great).
Archaeological/historical evidence:
At 20 years of age Alexander began his military campaign and conquered all the civilized world from Greece to India and from Southern Russia to Northern Africa, in only 10 years! [He conquered the Persian Empire in 332 B.C. at the battle of Issus]. But just as he was at the height of his power `when he was strong' at the young age of only 33 years, Alexander died. When Alexander fell, his four generals divided his empire up into four major divisions (Daniel 11:3-4). Two of these divisions are prominent in Daniel’s vision in chapter 11 – the kings of the North and South. We know them as the Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties.
3rd century B.C. Greek – Terracotta amphora with long neck and pointed bottom, of unpainted clay.
Stamped Rhodian amphora handle found in Jerusalem. Credit: Bud Chrysler
“The stamped Rhodian amphora handle reads EPI [ = from the year of] KLEONYMOY [ Kleonumos, the eponym’s name] DIOSTHNYOY [Diosthnuos, the name of the Rhodian month]. This is a handle dated by Kleonumos II, who officiated in ca. 197 B.C.” (Donald Ariel – Head of coin department - Israel Antiquities Authority).
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175 B.C. to 164 B.C.).
Daniel 8:8-9 – Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.
The “little horn” here is a prophecy fulfilled in Antiochus IV Epiphanes, B.C. 175, who profaned the temple and persecuted the Jews. He is not to be confused with the “little horn” of Daniel 7, who is yet to come, and who will dominate the earth during the great tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week).
Until the time of Antiochus IV, the Seleucid Kingdom governed Judaea with a hands-off approach that did not interfere with Jewish laws or custom. Antiochus reversed this policy, outlawing Jewish dietary rules and outlawing the study of the Torah. He went so far as to declare himself "God Manifest," and to place that inscription on his coinage. He placed an altar to Zeus in the Temple and sacrificed a pig on it in 167 B.C. This outrage led to the Maccabee Revolt.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175 B.C. to 164 B.C.).
Daniel 8:8-9 – Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.
The “little horn” here is a prophecy fulfilled in Antiochus IV Epiphanes, B.C. 175, who profaned the temple and persecuted the Jews. He is not to be confused with the “little horn” of Daniel 7, who is yet to come, and who will dominate the earth during the great tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week).
Until the time of Antiochus IV, the Seleucid Kingdom governed Judaea with a hands-off approach that did not interfere with Jewish laws or custom. Antiochus reversed this policy, outlawing Jewish dietary rules and outlawing the study of the Torah. He went so far as to declare himself "God Manifest," and to place that inscription on his coinage. He placed an altar to Zeus in the Temple and sacrificed a pig on it in 167 B.C. This outrage led to the Maccabee Revolt.
Antiochus IV, 175-164 B.C. Bronze 34 mm, 36.88 grams, Antioch mint 169-168 B.C. Obverse: Laureate head of Serapis right, wearing tainia with Osiris cap. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY ΘEOY EΠIΦANOYΣ (King Antiochus – God Manifest).
“The latest phase of the Late Hellenistic and the Early Roman periods can be subdivided as follows: the Hasmonaean uprising against the Seleucids (167 – 141 B.C.); the Hasmonaean state (141 – 63 B.C.); Pompey’s conquest and the establishment of a Roman vassal state (63 – 40 B.C.); Herod’s kingdom (40 B.C. – A.D. 6); direct Roman rule (A.D. 6 – 66); the Jewish War against the Romans and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (A.D. 66 – 70)” (Uri Avida, Treasures of the Holy Land – Ancient Art from the Israel Museum, 1986, p. 192).
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears on the scene.
Matthew 2:1-3 - Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears on the scene.
Matthew 2:1-3 - Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Judaea. Herod the Great. 8 Prutah – Obverse: HPΩΔO[Y] [BAΣI]ΛEΩΣ Tripod, ceremonial bowl (lebes) above, date LΓ (year 3 = 37 B.C.) and monogram [TP] in field right. Reverse: Military helmet, facing, with cheek pieces and straps, [star] above flanked by two palm branches.
Daniel 9:25 – Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
The 69th week (62 + 7) of Daniel’s prophecy ended in A.D. 32 (unto Messiah the Prince – Luke 19), which leaves us with one-week (7 years) remaining to complete the prophecy of the seventy weeks. 32 A.D. + 7 = 39 A.D. But notice that mention of the 70th week does not begin until verse 27, and we have yet to read verse 26.
Daniel 9:26 – And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Daniel 9:26a And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself…
Isaiah 53:8 …for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Arno Gaebelein (assistant to C.I. Scofield) wrote: “He appeared in Jerusalem on exactly the day on which the 69 prophetic year weeks expired and a few days later He was put to death on the cross” (Gaebelein, 1911, p. 141).
The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ was an event which followed the close of the 69th week but preceded the beginning of the 70th week. One more event must occur following the close of the 69th week but preceding the beginning of the 70th week.
Daniel 9:26b …and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood (the symbol of invading armies).
Luke 19:43-44 – For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
Gabelein wrote: “The Romans under Titus Vespasianus in the year A.D. 70 fulfilled this prediction and in that year the prophecy before us became history. But Titus is not ‘the prince that shall come’ (Gaebelein, 1911, p. 142).
Luke 21:5-6 – And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
The 69th week (62 + 7) of Daniel’s prophecy ended in A.D. 32 (unto Messiah the Prince – Luke 19), which leaves us with one-week (7 years) remaining to complete the prophecy of the seventy weeks. 32 A.D. + 7 = 39 A.D. But notice that mention of the 70th week does not begin until verse 27, and we have yet to read verse 26.
Daniel 9:26 – And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Daniel 9:26a And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself…
Isaiah 53:8 …for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Arno Gaebelein (assistant to C.I. Scofield) wrote: “He appeared in Jerusalem on exactly the day on which the 69 prophetic year weeks expired and a few days later He was put to death on the cross” (Gaebelein, 1911, p. 141).
The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ was an event which followed the close of the 69th week but preceded the beginning of the 70th week. One more event must occur following the close of the 69th week but preceding the beginning of the 70th week.
Daniel 9:26b …and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood (the symbol of invading armies).
Luke 19:43-44 – For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
Gabelein wrote: “The Romans under Titus Vespasianus in the year A.D. 70 fulfilled this prediction and in that year the prophecy before us became history. But Titus is not ‘the prince that shall come’ (Gaebelein, 1911, p. 142).
Luke 21:5-6 – And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Evidence of the Roman siege of 70 A.D
Evidence of Roman siege of 70 A.D. Cooking pots and lamp found in a cistern in a drainage channel near Robinson’s Arch, Jerusalem. IAA Photo by Vladimir Naykhin.
COOKING POT – JERUSALEM – Herodian period (37 B.C. – A.D. 70). Round-bodied with a short neck terminating in a grooved rim. Cooking pots were pierced to render them unusable due to purity concerns (as proposed by Avigad, Meir Ben-Dov, and others). Reference: Holy Land Pottery At The Time Of Jesus, Stanisiao Loffreda, 2003, pp. 73-81.
HERODIAN OIL LAMP – ISRAEL – Herodian period (37 B.C. – A.D. 70). Wheel-made with crescent-shaped nozzle attached.
- Did the 70th and final week of Daniel's vision begin after the destruction of the Temple? Again, I ask, would you consider the Children of Israel to be free from sin today? Do they currently possess everlasting righteousness? We are experiencing a pause in fulfillment of this prophecy; a time-gap which, as we have shown, began in A.D. 32 (after 69 weeks [483 prophetic years] of fulfillment). Fulfillment of the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy will resume in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, with the trump of God when we (believers) are caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air!
- II Thessalonians 2:6-9
We began this series talking about the first man, Adam, and we will end this series now with mention of the last Adam, who was made a quickening spirit.
Romans 5:12; 17-18
Romans 6:22-23 – But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
© 2022 Arthur Chrysler
FROM ADAM TO ADAM – The Paper Trail
By Arthur Chrysler – 2022
Genesis 1:26-27 (Adam) 3899 B.C.
Genesis chapter 5 (Seth to Noah) 3769-2343
Genesis chapter 11 (Shem to Abram) 2241-1951
- Gen. 12:1-4 – Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 1876
- Gen. 12:10 – And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
Genesis 25:26 (Jacob) 1791
Genesis 47:9 (Jacob was 130 years-old when he went down into Egypt) 1661
Exodus 12:40-41 – Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt (According to Genesis 12:10 and Galatians 3:17, the sojourning began with Abram in Egypt).
- Galatians 3:17 – And this I say, that the covenant (Gen. 12:2-3), that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.) [1876 – 430 = 1446]
If the fourth year of Solomon’s reign was 966 B.C., then he became king in 970 B.C. (966 + 4). David would have become king 40 years earlier in 1010 B.C. (970 + 40).
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David reigned 40 years (I Kings 2:11). 1010-970
Solomon reigned 40 years (I Kings 11:42). 970-930
Rehoboam reigned 17 years (II Chronicles 12:13). 930-913
Abijah reigned 3 years (II Chronicles 13:2). 913-910
Asa reigned 41 years (II Chronicles 16:13). 910-869
Jehoshaphat reigned 25 years (II Chronicles 20:31). 869-844 Jehoram reigned 8 years (II Chronicles 21:5, 20). 844-836
Ahaziah reigned 1 year (II Chronicles 22:2). 836-835
Athaliah reigned 6 years (II Chronicles 22:12). 835-829
Joash reigned 40 years (II Chronicles 24:1). 829-789
Amaziah reigned 29 years (II Chronicles 25:1). 789-760
- Amaziah’s son Azariah (or Uzziah, as he is variously known,) became coregent (possibly when Amaziah was taken captive to Israel by Jehoash ben Jehoahaz, king of Israel – II Kings 14:13-14).
Uzziah (Azariah) reigned 52 years (II Chronicles 26:3). 783-731
- Uzziah’s son Jotham became coregent (possibly when his father was stricken with leprosy – II Kings 15:5.
Jotham reigned 16 years (II Chronicles 27:1, 8). 743-727
Ahaz reigned 16 years (II Chronicles 28:1). 727-711
Hezekiah reigned 29 years (II Chronicles 29:1). 711-682
- Hezekiah’s son Manassah became coregent (possibly when his father was sick unto death – II Kings 20:1).
Manasseh reigned 55 years (II Chronicles 33:1). 697-642
Amon reigned 2 years (II Chronicles 33:21). 642-640
Josiah reigned 31 years (II Chronicles 34:1). 640-609
Jehoahaz reigned 3 months (II Chronicles 36:2) 609
Eliakim (Jehoiakim) reigned 11 years (II Chronicles 36:5). 609-598
Jehoiachin reigned 3 months and 10 days (II Chronicles 36:9). 598-597
Mattaniah (Zedekiah) reigned 11 years (II Chronicles 36:11). 597-586
- II Chronicles 36:20-21 – And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
- If we begin calculating from when Daniel was taken to Babylon (605 B.C.), the seventy years of captivity would have ended in 535 B.C. (605 – 70).
Daniel 9:21-25 – Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks (weeks of years – 70 x 7 = 490 prophetic years) are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks (49 prophetic yrs.), and threescore and two weeks (434 prophetic yrs.): the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
When was the commandment given?
Nehemiah 2:5-8 – And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. Nehemiah, writing by divine inspiration, records the exact date of this decree: “in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king” (Nehemiah 2:1).
Dr. Alva McClain, former president of Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana wrote: “For those who believe in biblical inspiration and the genuineness of predictive prophecy, it will be no surprise to learn that the date fixed by Nehemiah happens to be one of the best-known dates in ancient history. Even the latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, certainly not biased in favor of prophecy, sets the date of Artaxerxes accession as 465 B.C.; and therefore, his twentieth year would be 445 B.C. …Here we have the beginning of the Seventy Weeks” (Alva J. McClain, Daniel’s prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, 1962, pp. 18-19).
Daniel 9:25c “…the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”
The “going forth of the commandment” has been shown to have occurred in 445 B.C., therefore, the first “seven weeks” of years (7 x 7 = 49 prophetic years) in Daniel’s vision (Dan. 9:25) cover the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, the period of rebuilding during the “troublous times,” and the remaining “threescore and two weeks” (62 x 7 = 434 prophetic years), bring us “unto Messiah the Prince” (Matthew 21:1-11).
There are 69 weeks of years or 483 years (49 + 434) mentioned in Daniel 9:25 and biblical evidence supports the use of a 360-day-year in prophecy. When this is factored into the calculation (starting from 445 B.C.), the terminating point is A.D. 32.
483 prophetic years x 360 = 173,880 days
173,880 days divided by 365 = 476 Gregorian years
445 B.C. – 476 yrs. = A.D. 32
I Corinthians 15:45 - And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
© 2022 Arthur Chrysler