Dan Olinger

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: The Days of Abraham | Part 3: Egypt | Part 4: Canaan | Part 5: David | Part 6: Egypt vs Jerusalem | Part 7: Assyria 

Babylon invaded and sacked Nineveh, Assyria’s capital, in 612 BC to become the dominant power in the Ancient Near East. Just seven years later, in a last gasp, Egypt and Assyria joined forces and confronted Babylon at Carchemish, on the Euphrates north of Israel and Syria. Babylon walked away victorious; it would dominate the region for most of the next century. 

In the meantime life went on in Jerusalem, with tribute payments now going to the new boss. As you would expect, archaeologists have found countless artifacts in Judah and specifically Jerusalem during this time. There are two that have particular relevance to this series, as connecting biblical and “secular” historical entities. 

The Ketef Hinnom Scrolls 

As Babylon was threatening to exile Judah, somebody died just southwest of Jerusalem, in the village of Ketef Hinnom, and was buried in the traditional way. About 26 centuries later, in 1979, an archaeologist named Gabriel Barkay discovered the burial chamber and found two small silver amulets, expensive versions of phylacteries, with just a bit of Scripture inside. What Scripture? Why, Numbers 6.24-26, the well-known Aaronic Blessing. 

Why are these amulets significant? 

First, they constitute the oldest written Scripture ever found, centuries older than the Dead Sea Scrolls. Second, they contain the name of Jehovah (YHWH), adding to the confirmed history of Israel’s use of the name. Third, they demonstrate that the Torah—or at least the Aaronic Blessing and the command to bind the Scriptures on your body (Dt 6.8)—was in existence and recognized as Scripture before the Babylonian Exile and thus during the First Temple Period, contrary to the imaginings of more radical biblical critics. And it correlates precisely with other Hebrew manuscripts, after the manner of the Dead Sea Scrolls—though the brevity of the quotations isn’t much data. 

The Baruch Bullae 

We all know that ancient documents were written on scrolls, which were rolled up for storage or transport. Many scrolls were also sealed with clay for security or authentication. For example, if the king sent out a pronouncement, recipients would need to know that the scroll was actually from the king, so he would impress his ring into the clay seal to verify its authenticity. 

Over time the clay seal would dry out and harden. Archaeologists have found many of these seals, which look like simple small rocks to the untrained eye. But those with seal impressions can often be dated and tied to a specific event. 

These “stones” are called bullae. In the 1970’s several bullae turned up bearing the name “Berechiahu, son of Neriahu, the scribe.” The Bible describes Jeremiah’s scribe as “Baruch, son of Neriah” (Jer 36.32). We know that names ending in “iah” (a reference to YHWH) often had a more formal spelling ending in “iahu” or “yahu.” 

So is this a big deal? 

Depends. 

The bullae have what we call a “provenance problem.” 

I said that they “turned up.” They were not found in situ, in an archaeological dig; they simply showed up in the antiquities market, like an old coin at a coin show. No one knows where they came from. And the antiquities market in Israel is loaded with fakes. We really can’t blame anyone for being suspicious. 

Almost immediately some experts began to find reasons to suspect forgery. More recently a scholarly paper has argued that none of those reasons disprove the bullae’s authenticity, though it isn’t possible to prove authenticity either. (See the arguments pro and con at the link just above. One of the authors of that paper, by the way, is Gabriel Barkay, the discoverer of the Ketef Hinnom Scrolls.) 

So. Maybe, maybe not. 

Wouldn’t it be cool if the seals had been on Jeremiah’s first manuscript, which King Jehoiakim threw into the fire (Jer 36.23)? Or the title deed to the property Jeremiah bought to demonstrate his confidence that Judah would return from Babylon after 70 years (Jer 32.10)? 

It sure would. But we’ll never know for sure in this life. 

And in the next, maybe we’ll be focused on other things. 

Next time, Babylon. 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: The Days of Abraham | Part 3: Egypt | Part 4: Canaan | Part 5: David | Part 6: Egypt vs Jerusalem 

With Egypt’s decline in the 9^th century BC, Assyria rose to dominate the Ancient Near East. Its part in the biblical narrative is significant; it threatens both Israel and Judah, imposes tribute payments, and eventually attacks them both militarily, conquering Israel and exiling its leadership, and conquering much of Judah (2K 18.13) until its siege of Jerusalem is, um, interrupted by the Angel of the Lord (2K 19.35-37). 

There are parallels in the ancient soil. 

The Black Obelisk 

The Black Obelisk was erected by Shalmanezer III (858-824 BC) to proclaim his fame, Ozymandius-style. Among other things, it includes carvings of five different kings paying tribute to him. The second of these is “Yaua of Bit Omri.” Elsewhere it refers to “Yahua, son of Hubiri.” 

The Bible does relate that Jehu’s reign as king of Israel overlapped Shalmanezer III’s by nearly 30 years. However, he was not of the “house of [bit] Omri”; he was a commoner who took the throne by force (2K 9.13-14) from Joram, who was Omri’s descendant. Given Omri’s significance, it is easy to see that the Assyrian king might have gotten the genealogy wrong. 

The Calah Inscription 

A large number of inscriptions was unearthed at Calah (modern Nimrud, near Mosul), Iraq, in the mid-1800s. One of them, by Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 BC; called “Pul” in the Bible,) mentions a biblical event: 

“The land of Bit-Humria [literally Omri-Land, that is Israel] …all of its people […to] Assyria I carried off. Pekah, their king, [I/they ki]lled…and Hoshea [as king] I appointed over them. 10 talents of gold, x talents of silver, [with] their [property] I received from them and [to Assyria I carried] them off.” 

This not only describes the deportation to Assyria, but it specifically mentions Pul’s replacing of Pekah with his puppet Hoshea (2K 15.29-39). The biblical account does not say here that Hoshea’s installation was at Pul’s insistence; perhaps it was, or perhaps the emperor just took credit for it. Megalomania was influential in those days. 

The Taylor Cylinder 

This is perhaps the most well-known Assyrian artifact having to do with the Bible. It describes Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem, which I mentioned at the beginning of this post. He besieges the city (2K 18.13ff), and Hezekiah prays to the Lord for deliverance (2K 19.14ff). God responds by slaughtering the entire besieging army as they sleep in their tents (2K 19.35ff), and Sennacherib returns to Nineveh. 

The Taylor Cylinder describes this campaign from the perspective of Sennacherib himself. He lists all the cities he has conquered—and they are many. But when he comes to Jerusalem, which of course would be the greatest prize, he says simply, 

“I locked [Hezekiah] up within Jerusalem, his royal city, like a bird in a cage. I surrounded him with earthworks, and made it unthinkable for him to exit by the city gate.” 

But he does not say he conquered the city. And he does not describe the outcome; Ancient Near Eastern dictators were not inclined to say, “And then, you know, the oddest thing happened … ” 

Tribute Sherd 

 Emek Tzurim National Park is an area in the City of David, south of the Temple Mount, where soil from various archaeological sites is taken to be sifted for artifacts. In 2025 scholars published a significant find: a small sherd (piece of broken pottery, used for paper in those days) with cuneiform writing, dated to about 700 BC. Of course, cuneiform was a Mesopotamian, not Israelite, script. The clay appears to come from Nineveh or thereabouts. 

The writing relates that Judah’s tribute payment is overdue. We know that Judah was paying tribute at this time, during the reigns of Hezekiah and Manasseh (2K 18.14). This places Assyrian dominance in Jerusalem in this period. 

We’re seeing the connections between biblical and archaeological history grow more frequent—unsurprisingly, since more recent finds are likely to be more plentiful. 

Next time, Jerusalem in the Babylonian period. 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: The Days of Abraham | Part 3: Egypt | Part 4: Canaan | Part 5: David 

After David and Solomon, civil war split the kingdom into Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah) entities. Both kingdoms fell into idolatry; God judged Israel with exile to Assyria in 722 BC, and Judah with exile to Babylon in 3 deportations, 606, 596, and 586 BC. Archaeological finds have spoken of biblical figures and places throughout the period. 

During this time the Ancient Near East was a battleground among 3 competitors for King of the Hill: Egypt, Assyria, and (later) Babylon. During Solomon’s reign Egypt still dominated the region. When Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam toward the end of his reign, Shishak, king of Egypt, gave him asylum (1K 11.40). Later, when Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, was king, Shishak invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem (1K 14.25; 2Ch 12.2). When the city’s residents humbled themselves and cried to God for help, he promised them deliverance (2Ch 12.7). Shishak did considerable looting, but he did not destroy the city (2Ch 12.9). 

⁶Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The Lord is righteous. ⁷And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of \ Shishak. ⁸Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. ⁹So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made (2Ch 12.6-9). 

Archaeologists have found several inscriptions mentioning a Pharaoh “Sheshonq” who reigned at this time. The most famous of these was found at a gateway called the Bubastite Portal, in Luxor, Egypt, at the Temple of Karnak. It lists the cities Sheshonq conquered in both Israel and Judah—more than 150 of them, including Megiddo, where a burn layer has been found from this period, indicating a major destruction. 

But there is no contemporaneous burn layer from Jerusalem. And the inscription does not appear to mention that city, which of course would have been the biggest prize had it been captured. 

But Megiddo? Another inscription was found there, in northern Israel, in 1925. Though little of the inscription remains, it does place Sheshonq in the area of Megiddo during the campaign described in the Bible, and consistent with the Bubastite inscription. 

One other interesting coincidence between the archaeological record of Sheshonq and the biblical account: the Bible mentions that the invading force included “the Lubim” and “the Sukkiim” (2Ch 12.3). These were from we today call Libya, to the west of Egypt and across miles of the Sahara Desert. What were they doing there? 

Well, the archaeological record shows that Sheshonq was not Egyptian, but Libyan; in fact he and his Pharaonic descendants are called “the Libyan Dynasty” by Egyptologists. 

What I find especially interesting about these coincidences, and many other similar ones, is that they’re so minor. By that I mean that they’re not the kinds of things that a later forger would insert into the biblical account to make it seem legitimate.  

Sukkiim? 

Seriously? 

As these finds and many others to come in this series robustly demonstrate, the Scripture is an accurate historical document. 

Next time: Assyria. 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: The Days of Abraham | Part 3: Egypt | Part 4: Canaan  

What followed the invasion of Canaan was a time of loose confederation that we call “the period of the Judges.” 

Snippets from this period are recorded for us in, not surprisingly, the book of Judges. A repeated theme in that book is that “there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdg 17.6; 18.1; 19.1; 21.25). Those days saw a regular cycle of apostasy, invasion, repentance, deliverance through a judge, and then apostasy again. 

There are a good many archaeological finds from this period—what archaeologists call the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages—but none that provide clear links to the wider “secular” history, so far as I am aware. No inscriptions naming any of the judges; no donkey jawbones with odd scratch marks. 

Given the biblical theme, we should expect that the political situation would be unstable and that yearning for a king and the resultant stability would grow—similar, I suppose, to the way the US Articles of Confederation eventuated in a robust Constitution and balanced but limited federal government. 

As we know, the first king, Saul, was a disappointment, but while he was still king, God had the prophet Samuel appoint his successor, the shepherd boy David (1S 16.12-13). David ended up reigning for 40 years, setting a standard that outshone all that followed, with the possible exception of his son Solomon. 

We have some interesting archaeology referencing David. 

Tel Dan Stele 

For more than two centuries after the rise of rationalism in the 18^th century, biblical criticism viewed the David / Solomon stories as the stuff of legends, attempts by an insignificant Levant-based tribe to legitimize its past. No historical Saul or Goliath or Bathsheba or visit of the Queen of Sheba. No wise Solomon, and no David. Legends all. 

Then, in 1993, archaeologists uncovered a paved courtyard in the northern city of Dan, which had been a worship center set up by Jeroboam I, the northern king after the split from Solomon’s son Rehoboam (1K 12.28-29). Upon turning over some of the paving stones, they found writing on the undersides. Three of the stones had been repurposed from a stele that had been broken up. The stele and inscription were ordered in the 9^th century BC, probably by Hazael, king of Syria/Damascus, in commemoration of his attack on the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. (You can understand why the memorial would have been broken up after Hazael’s dominance was over.) 

The key element in the inscription is the king’s reference to “Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of the house of David” (the phrase “the house of David” highlighted white in the photo linked above). This is the first known historical reference to David. 

In the years since its discovery, there have been arguments over details of interpretation (as there pretty much always are in archaeology), but most scholars agree that this is a reference to King David, and that he was a historical figure. 

Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone) 

Mesha was king of Moab, just east of the Dead Sea, in the mid-9^th century BC, during and just after the reigns of Jehoshaphat in Judah and Ahab in Israel. This stele, discovered in 1868, has been recognized for decades as containing the earliest historical reference to YHWH, the God of Israel. 

But after the discovery of the Tel Dan stele, scholars looked more closely at this artifact to see whether it too might contain a reference to the house (“BT”) of David (“DWD”). In “a badly damaged section” they found “BT[?]WD,” which would say that, if the damaged spot contained the letter “D.” 

Maybe, maybe not. 

(Yes, I just linked to a Wikipedia article, which is just not done in academic writing, but this article is actually pretty good.) 

So David has been rescued from the mists of legend to actual historical status. 

Ever onward. 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: The Days of Abraham | Part 3: Egypt  

The Bible records that after the Exodus from Egypt and the Wilderness Wanderings in Sinai, Moses died before the Israelites, under Joshua’s leadership, conquered the Canaanite tribes and settled into their allotted tribal areas. 

There are a couple of archaeological sites that connect the biblical story of the conquering of Canaan with “secular” history. 

Ugarit 

Ugarit was a major city on the Mediterranean coast just north of the Phoenician capital of Tyre, in modern Syria. It was there for a long time, but most of what we know from the site is from the Bronze Age, up to about 1200 BC. Ugarit was apparently at its peak between 1500 and 1200 BC. This coincides nicely with the conquest of Canaan by Joshua and by the succeeding period of the judges. 

The site has yielded a wealth of cuneiform tablets, written in a language (“Ugaritic”) similar to Hebrew in some ways but distinct from it. These tablets describe trade and political relations across the Ancient Near East, particularly with Egypt. There’s even a letter from Merneptah (remember him?). 

But the site’s two most significant contributions to biblical studies are in religion and language. There are numerous references to Baal and Dagan, with descriptions of religious practices that illuminate the reasons that God saw the Canaanite religions as reprehensible. 

Ugaritic has also helped greatly in our understanding of Ancient Near Eastern languages. An example that I particularly like has relevance to 1 Samuel 13.21. The verse describes a problem the Israelites had with making weapons: they had to go to the Philistines to get their tools sharpened, and of course the Philistines wouldn’t sharpen any tool with a military application. 

Here the KJV says, “They had a file for the mattocks.” The Hebrew word translated “file” is pim, and nobody had any idea what it meant. Working off the context, the KJV translators guessed that the Israelites had their own tools for sharpening their farm implements. But the word pim shows up in Ugaritic: it’s a monetary value, about 2/3 of a shekel. So the verse says that the Israelites had to pay that fee for getting a tool sharpened. The modern English translations, published after the archaeological work in Ugarit, reflect that understanding. 

Deir Alla 

Deir Alla is an archaeological site on the east side of the Jordan, about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The site includes a wall that collapsed, likely from a tremor. We know that the area suffered a major earthquake during the reign of Jeroboam II in the mid-8th century BC (Amos 1.1), so that’s interesting. 

But what’s really interesting is that the wall contains an inscription, written in red and black ink on plaster. This inscription records “the book of Balaam, son of Beor, a seer of the gods.” 

As you might expect, the inscription is not in good shape, and there are words missing and writing that is not completely unambiguous. But the great majority of scholars, conservative and liberal, agree that this is a reference to the biblical Balaam. 

Interestingly, the inscription does not include the prophecy recorded in Numbers 23 and 24. But the inscription’s existence argues strongly for the historical existence of this prophet, and the details coordinate nicely with how the biblical account describes him. 

Next time, we’ll proceed to the time of David.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: The Days of Abraham

As we proceed through Israel’s history, we find that Abraham’s grandson Jacob, in his old age, traveled to Egypt to live under the protection of his son Joseph, who had become the pharaoh’s assistant (Gen 47.1ff). At that time only 70 of his descendants came with him (Gen 46.27), but 400 years later they numbered in the millions; at the Exodus there were just over 600,000 men of fighting age (Num 1.46), so we can estimate that there were probably 2 million Israelites including old men, women, and children.

There’s not much if any archaeological evidence of these people in either Goshen or the Sinai Peninsula. However, this is exactly what we would expect. Since we know that Goshen was prime agricultural land (Gen 47.6), the Egyptians would have moved rapidly into it after the Israelites left, obliterating whatever material culture they left behind. And in the Sinai, while initially we would think that 2 million people would leave some traces behind, we must remember that Israel was itinerant for the entire 40 years; they would have built nothing, leaving behind just firepits and latrines, which would have decomposed and disappeared quickly.

But there are archaeological findings that raise our interest. I’d like to note two of them.

Thutmose IV Dream Stele

Between the paws of the Sphinx on the Giza Plateau, near the pyramids, stands a stele—what moderns might think looks like a large vertical tombstone. But stela do not normally mark a grave; they contain an inscription typically announcing some great person or deed. This one is about 12 feet tall and was erected by Pharaoh Thutmose IV, a son of Amenhotep II.

In the inscription Thutmose describes falling asleep on that spot one hot summer day and having a dream in which a god promised him that if he would clear the sand from the Sphinx, he would become Pharaoh.

Now, this interpretation is sketchy at best, but scholars have noticed that if Thutmose was Amenhotep’s eldest son, he would already have known that he was going to be Pharaoh, and he wouldn’t have had to do any landscaping for that to happen. Something must have happened, then, to an older brother.

Thutmose took the throne in 1401, 45 years after the exodus. He reigned just 10 years, which may mean that he was relatively old when he became pharaoh—perhaps, oh, 60 or 70.—and was perhaps 20 or so when he had the dream, just before his older brother died.

Of what?

Well, there was that whole firstborn thing.

Now, caution is due here. The timing seems right, but all we have is that he was told he would be pharaoh. Everything else is speculation.

But it’s interesting timing.

Merneptah Stele

This stele was placed by Pharaoh Merneptah (or Meren-ptah), who reigned from 1213 to 1203 BC, about two centuries after Israel occupied the land of Canaan. It contains 28 lines of hieroglyphic writing, most of which describe his military campaigns in North Africa. But the last 3 lines have drawn attention, because they describe a campaign in Canaan. One of the locations is “I.si.ri.ar” or “Ysrir.” Most scholars now agree that this is a reference to Israel. This would mean, then, that Israel is established in that land 200 years after Joshua.

Side note: Most critics place the Exodus, if they believe it happened at all, in the mid-13th century BC. Conservatives date it at 1446 BC, based on 1 Kings 6.1. That’s a large topic, too big to handle here. The Merneptah inscription could accommodate either date, but I would argue that the apparent solid establishment of the nation would favor the earlier date for the conquest.

So far this is the earliest inscriptional reference to Israel we have outside the Bible. Israel is established as settled in the land in the late 13^th century BC.

As we know, Israel’s history extends far beyond this date, and as time progresses, we would expect more and more artifacts to be extant. We’ll look at some of these in future posts.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash