Archaeology may seem exotic, as we picture Indiana Jones deciphering magical clues, digging about for trophies that wow the public.  Almost two hundred years ago, entrepreneurs began bulldozing famous places, like Troy or Jericho, hunting for tumbled walls, Agamemnon's armor, the ark of the covenant, Noah's ark.

   How many adventurers have scaled what they believe to be Mt. Ararat, hauling down scraps of petrified wood allegedly from Noah's ark?  If a bona fide boat, with S.S. Noah etched in some paleographic script on the bow, were discovered and verified, would everyone suddenly become holy?  The tabloids would rejoice, some Indiana Jones look-alike would reel in talk-show appearances and vast wealth.  But would the churches overflow?  Would poverty and injustice be eradicated?

   Real archaeologists are not swashbuckling detectives, but painstaking scientists who proceed soberly, digging long trenches into the mounds (called tells) that are the debris of ancient Israelite villages, sifting through broken pieces of pottery, garbage, toppled walls, animal bones, human skeletons, tablets.  Carefully they sort through and meticulously record everything, even the dirt, laboring over a massive jigsaw puzzle with many pieces missing and gone forever.  What emerges is a fascinating snapshot of life in biblical times.  Megiddo (or Armegeddon!) is a great example:  a 70 foot tall hill stands above a flat valley.  Digging a slice through the hill, archaeologists realized that two dozen cities were piled on top of each other, each destroyed by invaders or fire, the next built on top of the remains of the last one.  Archaeologists map each layer and discern the history of an ancient village (with a Canaanite altar predating Abraham and gates built by Solomon).  James Michener's epic novel, The Source, rambles through the excavation of a fictional tell based on the Megiddo digs, imagining the stories of successive civilizations.

   Archaeology, then, does not "prove" or "disprove" any big events in the Bible. Every now and then you will read in the paper about some sensational discovery - and it is wise to keep a little distance, as time is required to sort out, debate and clarify just what has been found.  A few highlights that are real (click on the links!):  Jericho (with a tower from 8000 BC, 6000 years before Abraham!), walls and a house from the time of King David in Jerusalem, an impressive underground tunnel cut by King Hezekiah, the Dead Sea Scrolls found in caves at Qumran, a Galilean fishing boat from the time of Jesus, the synagogue at Capernaum where Jesus taught (and the house of Peter!), an inscription from Pontius Pilate, the box in which the bones of Jesus' brother James were buried (a find many regard as a forgery), the Merneptah stele (the earliest nonbibilical mention of Israel), the Sennacherib prism (telling of Assyria's siege of Jerusalem)... and so much more!

James

james@mpumc.org

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eBibleQuestions18 - What was daily life like in Bible times?

eBibleQuestions19 - What was the role of women in Bible times?

eBibleQuestions20 - Why all the bloody sacrifices in the Old Testament?