According to the Bible, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
But for centuries no Bethlehem was known in the whole region of Israel.
Skeptics pounced on that to say the story of Jesus’ birth was made up. Fictional location, fictional story!
Then in 2012, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced that researchers in Jerusalem discovered a clay seal with a small marking or inscription on it.
This seal impression, known as a bulla, was about half an inch across, hardly bigger than a thumbnail.
Clay seals were used in ancient times to secure correspondence or to tag certain items, like silver or wine or grain, as they were transported from one town to another.
This bulla contained a Hebrew inscription from 2,700 years ago, documenting that it came from the town of Bethlehem (Bat Lehem) in Judah, the birthplace of Jesus.
Archaeologist Eli Shukron says the bulla proves Bethlehem was an actual town in Judah, not an invented literary name.
The so-called Bethlehem seal is the oldest extrabiblical archaeological evidence of the town of Bethlehem.
“O little town of Bethlehem!”
It was from this town that the prophet Micah predicted the Messiah would come, approximately seven centuries before Jesus was born (Micah 5:2).
And the bulla dates to right around the time of Micah, between 800-700 B.C.
More here: https://a.co/d/03CXlRKO
This video illustrates how biblical archaeology works by examining a clay seal dated to the 8th century BC and attributed to the prophet Isaiah. It was produced by the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (http://www.armstronginstitute.org) and narrated by Stephen Flurry.
In the mid-9th century BC, the Assyrians under Shalmaneser III waged war against the northern kingdom of Israel.
This was the Battle of Qarqar, dated to 853 B.C.
Shalmaneser’s campaign reflected the rising power of Assyria, a ruthless conquering force from Mesopotamia.
And not surprisingly, Shalmaneser was victorious and forced the king of Israel to pay tribute to him.
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser is a remarkable stone monument discovered in 1846 by Austen Henry Layard in his excavations at the Assyrian capital of Nimrud, now in northern Iraq.
One panel depicts a man paying homage and presenting gifts to the Assyrian king.
The accompanying inscription identifies the man as “Jehu, son of Omri.”
Jehu and Omri are two kings in the Bible. Jehu followed Omri as a ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Previously their existence had to be taken on faith. Now they have solid historical attestation.
Moreover, on the Black Obelisk we don’t merely read about Jehu; we see him.
Never ...
It is commonly asserted that “there is no evidence for the Israelites in Egypt.”
Archaeological evidence has confirmed the presence of Semites in Egypt.
Their roots are Canaanite and Amorite and they came from the larger territory of Israel.
You can see what these Semitic people looked like from the Ibscha Relief, a 19th century B.C. tomb painting found at Beni Hassan in central Egypt.
A Semitic dynasty called the Hyksos even ruled Egypt for a time, before they were overthrown.
But were there really Semitic slaves in Egypt as the Bible says?
Here’s a scene from the Tomb of Rekhmire, dated to the 15th century B.C.
It shows foreign laborers making bricks for the Karnak temple.
Other scenes depict the slaves working under the watchful supervision of Egyptian overseers.
The Rekhmire art supports Exodus 5 where Pharaoh orders the Hebrew slaves to make bricks using mud and straw.
Archaeological excavations in Egypt also confirm the customary use of bricks and straw to build cities like ...
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