The town of Magdala is located on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee.
In modern times, this ancient place was called al-Majdal.
I’ve been there twice, to visit an archaeologically significant synagogue in Magdala.
The synagogue contained the Magdala Stone, which has a carved depiction on its sides and top, of the synagogue itself, giving us a visual representation of what the old synagogue must have looked like.
The synagogue also contained a cache of artifacts dated to the time of Jesus, and it’s possible—though not certain—Jesus taught there.
None of the apostles came from Magdala, yet we know from Matthew’s Gospel that Jesus visited the region.
And we can surmise why. Magdala was the hometown of Mary of Magdala, also known as Mary Magdalene.
See the famous painting of her below by Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo.
Mary is sometimes depicted as a repentant sinner or even a prostitute, although there is no indication in the Bible of her being a “loose woman.”
Luke 8: 1-3 says she supported Jesus’ ministry with her own funds which means she came from a relatively wealthy family.
She is an important figure, mentioned around a dozen times in the Gospels.
John 19:25 tells us she stood alongside Jesus’ own mother at the foot of the cross, and the Gospels list her as one of the women who discovered Jesus’ empty tomb.
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Before debating free will, you have to start with the Calvinist view of God.
In Calvinism, God doesn’t merely permit or allow events to happen—He decrees them.
That distinction changes the entire debate over predestination.
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.
The Bible says that Joseph, an Israelite sold into slavery in Egypt, rose up to become one of the most influential high officials in Egypt.
For two centuries, skeptics said this was ridiculous.
The Pharaohs would never—they said—elevate a foreigner, let alone a lowly Semite, to such a position.
But archaeologist James Hoffmeier has shown that there is precedent.
Hoffmeier gives several samples of Semites and Canaanites who served as viziers and in other high positions under the pharaohs.
Moreover, from 1650 to 1550 B.C., the lower part of Egypt was ruled by foreigners.
These were the Hyksos, whose name literally means “foreign rulers.”
The Hyksos, as it turns out, were Semites from Canaan.
It would hardly be unusual for these Semites to pick one of their own to be a high official.
In the painting below by Giambattista Tiepolo, Joseph is shown receiving pharaoh’s ring.
Now admittedly the dates here don’t match perfectly. Joseph would seem to have lived before the ascension of ...
The Bible is archaeologically interesting not merely for what it says but also for what it doesn’t say.
For example it’s there is no mention of writing in the Book of Genesis.
The Hebrew words for writing, book or document never appear in this book.
When Abraham purchased a burial cave from Ephron the Hittite, the price and bargaining process are outlined in detail in Genesis 23.
The account concludes:
“Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,
Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.” (Genesis 23: 10-11)
The reason Ephron makes this declaration in front of his people is there is no written contract, only a public assembly of witnesses to the oral transaction.
So the arts of reading and writing were absent, or at least uncommon, in the Judean Hills of Israel at the time of the ...
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