Biblical Archaeology


High Places in Ancient Israel

High Places in Ancient Israel

There are numerous references in the Hebrew Bible to religious centers known as “high places” (Heb. bamah, or plural bamot). Many English speakers assume this refers to elevated ground, a hill or summit of some kind, and in some cases this was surely true. However, Ahaz king of Judah “sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree” (2 Kgs 16:4). If “high place” means “hill,” why is this verse so redundant? And it gets more interesting. Ezekiel speaks of high places being built......


Roman Altar to an Unknown God

Roman Altar to an Unknown God

When Paul was at Athens, he infamously made mention of “an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD'” (Acts 17:23). A number of altars to “unknown” Greco-Roman deities have been discovered at Palmyra, an active trade hub in the Roman east (located in modern Syria). An example can be seen here. No such altar has yet been uncovered at Athens, but there is a contemporary  example from ancient Rome. This altar to an unknown god was discovered on Palatine Hill in Rome in the 1820’s. Palatine Hill was the location of......


Earliest Depiction of the Crucifixion?

Earliest Depiction of the Crucifixion?

It is somewhat ironic that the oldest known depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus comes from Rome, and its in the form of a grafitto that mocks a follower of Jesus. This grafitto was discovered in a room on Palatine Hill (the area of the palaces of the Roman emperors) around 1856. It dates to about AD 200. The inscription features two characters: a soldier who has a hand raised in worship, and a donkey-headed figure on a cross. To the Roman mind, the idea of a crucified God was scandalous. Of......


Portrait Art in the 1st Century AD

Portrait Art in the 1st Century AD

Among the many interesting discoveries from Pompeii and Herculaneum are the frescoes that graced the walls of the 1st century homes. They reveal a mastery of painting that would have been largely lost to us were it not for the preservation of these amazing 1st century AD towns. In fact, two frescoes from Pompeii actually depict artists (both women) in the process of painting portraits. One is the cover photo for this post; the other (below) is even more well-preserved. Artists had been experimenting with various pigments for centuries, and the Egyptians......


A Stone Altar Southeast of Shiloh

A Stone Altar Southeast of Shiloh

A large, stone-built altar has been discovered southeast of the ancient city of Shiloh. Like the altar at nearby Givat Harel, this one is about a mile from the ancient city. Unlike the altar at Givat Harel, this altar is not monolithic, but is built of un-worked field stones. This is in accordance with the guidelines in the Hebrew Bible for the construction of an altar built to Yahweh. “‘If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool......


An Altar West of Shiloh

An Altar West of Shiloh

A rock-hewn altar was discovered west of ancient Shiloh in 2002. It is situated at the edge of the Israeli settlement of Givat Harel, about a mile west of Shiloh. The altar is hewn from a single, massive stone, and features four horns. The altar was studied by Yoel Elitzur, an archaeologist who lives in nearby Ophrah. Part of what makes this altar so interesting is its massive size, as well at its proximity to Shiloh, home of the Israelite tabernacle for over three centuries. The altar is located about half way......


"Manoah's Altar" Near Ancient Zorah

“Manoah’s Altar” Near Ancient Zorah

I recently had the opportunity to visit the site of a large stone altar near the ancient city of Zorah. This altar has been known to scholars since the late 1800’s, but to my knowledge it has never been thoroughly investigated. The name “Manoah’s altar” reflects its proximity to Zorah, the hometown of Samson and his father Manoah (Judg 13:2). When Manoah and his wife were informed that they would have a son, Manoah made an offering. “So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the......


Where are all the Roman seal impressions?

Where are all the Roman seal impressions?

In Revelation 5-8, John describes a scroll in heaven that is sealed with seven seals, each of which is broken in turn. One would assume this imagery was based on current practice, yet almost no Roman-era seal impressions from a scroll or other document have been found. Why not? There are plenty of literary references to the practice of sealing or unsealing various things, including documents. Among those in the NT: Matthew 27:66 – a seal was set on the stone blocking the tomb of Jesus; Eph 1:13, 4:30 – followers of......


"Hot or Cold" at Laodicea

“Hot or Cold” at Laodicea

A common myth regarding Laodicea has to do with Jesus’s statement to the church there, “I wish that you were hot or cold; because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16). The misconception is that this figure of speech is based on water supplied to Laodicea from the hot springs at Hierapolis and the cold springs at Colossae. The Romans mastered the construction of aqueducts to bring large amounts of water to cities, but water was never brought to Laodicea from......


More Evidence of Crucifixion

More Evidence of Crucifixion

Despite numerous historical references to crucifixion in the ancient literature, it was not until 1968 that the first physical evidence for the practice was discovered. It came in the form of a heel bone that was recovered from an ossuary in a 1st century AD tomb in the neighborhood of Giv’at ha-Mivtar, outside of Jerusalem. The heel bone still had an iron nail embedded in it. Then in 2019 a skeleton was uncovered in Gavello, Italy, that included a heel bone that had been pierced by a nail, indicating that the man had......


Fibbing for the Faith

Fibbing for the Faith

Definition of fib: a trivial or childish lie Its a sad fact that some Christians are willing to make up “evidence” to prove the Bible. An example was brought to my attention recently in the form of a book by Harry Rimmer, published in the early 20th century. He tells breathlessly of an excavator who discovered a lion’s den at ancient Babylon, complete with an inscription identifying it as “The place of execution where men who angered the king died torn by wild animals.” What!? Nothing about this account is credible. Archaeologists......


Name of Gideon Discovered in Israel

Name of Gideon Discovered in Israel

Archaeologists have discovered a very early inscription with Gideon’s other name, “Jerubbaal” (see Judges 6:32; 7:1).  The discovery was made at Khirbet al-Ra‘i, a site in southern Israel, west of the better known city of Lachish. The name is inscribed in ink on a potsherd that comes from a small bottle. It dates to roughly 1100 BC, which is toward the end of the Judges period, about the time of Ruth and Boaz. The name “Jerubbaal” means “May Baal be great.” Although biblical writers often associated the name Baal with the Canaanite......


Joshua's Altar on Mount Ebal

Joshua’s Altar on Mount Ebal

It is unusual for a structure that is mentioned in the Bible to be uncovered by archaeologists. A short list might include examples like the “Temple of Baal-berith” at Shechem (Judg 9:4), the palace of Eglon at Jericho (Judg 3:20), the palace/fortress of Saul at Gibeah (1 Sam 15:34), or the palace of Omri and Ahab at Samaria (1 Kgs 16:29).  We can probably add to this list the altar built by Joshua on Mount Ebal. After the conquest of Ai, Joshua and the Israelites traveled up to Mount Ebal to offer......


Joshua's Memorial at Gilgal

Joshua’s Memorial at Gilgal

The memorial set up by Joshua and the Israelites to commemorate the crossing of the Jordan River is described in Joshua 4. The narrative slows way down and becomes a bit repetitive, indicating how important this event was for the Israelites. So what can be said about the memorial itself? The text indicates that the memorial was composed of 12 stones. They were to be carried from the place in the dry riverbed where the feet of the priests stood as the Israelites crossed. The stones were to be carried on the......


New Evidence of Crucifixion

New Evidence of Crucifixion

Archaeologists were excited in 1968 to uncover the very first physical evidence of ancient crucifixion. The find came from a tomb of the 1st century AD near Jerusalem. Among the bones recovered from an ossuary was a heel bone that was still pierced by an iron nail. When the nail was driven into the wood of the cross it hit a knot that bent the end of nail, making it impossible to remove it. The body was buried with the nail still embedded in the heel bone. The ossuary was inscribed with......


No Room in the Inn?

No Room in the Inn?

As the KJV renders it, Jesus was laid in a manger “because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). Was Joseph turned away by some hard-hearted inn-keeper who had run out of rooms? A closer look at the context reveals a different story. The word rendered “inn” by some versions is the Greek word kataluma (Gk. κατάλυμα). This word does not refer to an inn, hotel, or motel, i.e. sleeping quarters up for rent. There were such establishments in those days, but they were referred to by a......


Daniel's Library

Daniel’s Library

Daniel 9:2 records that Daniel “observed in the books” that the exile would last 70 years, and apparently realized that the time was nearly up. The book of Jeremiah is mentioned specifically, but the reference to plural “books” begs the question of what kind of collection Daniel had. One of the first questions, which can be answered with a fair amount of certainty, is the nature of these “books.” The book with pages as we know it, otherwise referred to as a codex, can be excluded altogether since it would not be......


A Den of Lions in Babylon?

A Den of Lions in Babylon?

In a previous post we argued that the most likely location for the events of Daniel 6 was Babylon, the place where Daniel had spent nearly his entire life. So what kind of den might have been located in Babylon? Lions do not naturally live in caves or dens. Their natural habitat is open grassland or open forest. Clearly the place where Daniel was to be executed was the place where captive lions were held. No such place has been found in Babylon (or elsewhere in the ancient Near East), but there......


Who was Darius the Mede?

Who was Darius the Mede?

Darius the Mede is mentioned several times in the book of Daniel: Dan 5:31 – Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of 62; he was “made king” over Babylon. Dan 6:28 – “So Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” Dan 9:1 – Darius was the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent. Dan 11:1 – in the first year of Darius the Mede . . . The question comes from the fact that no ancient document or historian other than......


A Letter About the Temple

A Letter About the Temple

The small potsherd with writing shown here (also known as an ostracon) was discovered by archaeologists digging at a Judean fortress in southern Israel. The name of the site is Arad; this ostracon and the others found at the same site are known as the Arad Letters. They date to about 600 BC, not long before the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. Arad is located in the desert, about 35 miles straight south of Jerusalem. Both Arad and Jerusalem can be seen on this Google Earth map. What is most interesting about......


Babylon - How to Take a Strong City

Babylon – How to Take a Strong City

Ancient Babylon was a mighty city. Although ancient historians greatly exaggerated its size as well as the height and width of its walls, it was likely the largest city of its day. Excavations have shown that the city walls were built of mudbrick, using bitumen as mortar. The Ishtar Gate , which was located near the palace, was 45 feet tall and 32 feet wide, which probably reflects the approximate size of the rest of the city walls. The city proper was about 2 by 3 miles in size, although there may......


He Will Sit as a Smelter

He Will Sit as a Smelter

Malachi uses the word picture of a metal refiner to describe how God will separate those who are truly his own from those who are not. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness” (Malachi 3:2-3).......


Name of Another Biblical Figure Identified

It’s always exciting to hear of the discovery of another name in an archaeological setting that also appears in the Bible. In this case, it is a bullah that bears the name of Nathan-melek. The archaeological context and the writing style place the bullah at about 600 BC, give or take 25 years or so. A man by this very name, and in this place at this time, is known from the Bible. “And Josiah did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the......


Samuel and the Tabernacle

Samuel and the Tabernacle

The tabernacle was a portable structure that had every sign of being a temporary structure. Constructed as a semi-permanent tent, it had walls made of wooden panels set in metal sockets. The whole was covered with several layers of material (linen, woven goat hair, and leather). The tabernacle was surrounded by posts, between which were hung linen curtains. The entire structure could be taken apart for transportation, and it was moved with the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness. When the land was initially subdued, Joshua and the Israelites met at......


Did Jesus Have an Ossuary?

Did Jesus Have an Ossuary?

Jewish burials in the first century AD in the area of Jerusalem followed a regular pattern. The tomb itself was dug as a cave in the rock. The typical tomb included a small room that had one or more benches located around it, each about 5 or 6 feet long, as well as smaller cavities or niches that were dug into the walls. When a person was buried, they were brought into the tomb and laid on one of the benches (blue in the diagram above). The tomb was then sealed for......


A Rolling Stone

A Rolling Stone

The Gospel accounts tell that a large stone was used to block the entrance to Jesus’ tomb (Matt 27:60). Many modern artists incorrectly depict that stone as a massive 5-6′ stone disk. Archaeology tells a different story, and one that fits better with the Gospel accounts. Archaeologists have excavated hundreds of rock-hewn burial caves around Jerusalem from the time of Jesus. Three different types of tomb closures have been found: swinging stone doors, large circular disks, and heavy square blocking stones. The first two types, swinging stone doors and large circular disks,......


Where was Jesus' Tomb?

Where was Jesus’ Tomb?

Christian tourists who visit Jerusalem nearly always want to see the tomb of Jesus. There are two locations that they most often visit. Is either more likely to be the actual tomb of Jesus than the other? History and archaeology give a clear answer. The so-called “Garden Tomb” is located north of the Old City of Jerusalem. It provides a serene, outdoor garden setting that allow the visitor to contemplate the resurrection in a pleasant setting. For that reason it is worth visiting. However, it is not the tomb of Jesus. The......


Crucifixion in Antiquity

Crucifixion in Antiquity

The practice of crucifixion is known from as early as the 5th century in Greece.  Herodotus mentions the crucifixion of a captured Persian general at the hands of the Athenians in 479 BC. Numerous other historical examples are known, including the following: Alexander the Great crucified 2,000 survivors of his siege of Tyre. Alexander Jannaeus, king of Judea from 103 to 76 BC, crucified 800 rebels, said to be Pharisees, in the middle of Jerusalem. In Hannibal’s day, crucifixion was an established mode of execution which could even be imposed on generals......