This is significant because it allows us to absolutely date over 250 years of Assyrian History.ī. Astronomy as fixed the date for this eclipse as having occurred on June 15, 763 BC. One tablet in particular listed an eclipse of the sun that took place in the month of Simanu in the year of the limmu Bur-Sagale. Numerous other Assyrian Limmu Lists have been discovered and these have allowed scholars to cross-reference each year and expanded what we know about Assyrian history. When Austen Henry Layard excavated at Ninevah he discovered many cuneiform tablets including four copies of the Assyrian Limmu Lists which listed the over 250 years of Assyrian history dated to specific years named after specific individuals. Historical events were then dated in terms of the year named after the particular limmu. The Assyrians had a practice of naming each year after a person which the called the limmu: a high official of the court, the governor of a province or the king himself. a prophecy in relation to the specific year of a king’s reign or Nadab the son of Jeroboam beginning his reign over Israel “in the second year of Asa king of Judah” – 1 Ki 15:25)Ĭan we establish any absolute dates in order to reconstruct an accurate biblical chronology? Yes we can, thanks to the discovery of numerous Assyrian Limmu Lists. In the Old Testament no absolute dates are given…only relative dates (ie. Assyrian Limmu Lists Assyrian Limmu List Tablet Photo Credit: I’m going to cheat a bit and select the numerous Assyrian inscriptions as a whole because they work together to both confirm historical details of numerous kings of Israel, as well as help establish a biblical chronologyĪ. With that in mind, here are the discoveries that I would consider to be the top ten finds in biblical archaeology relating to the Old Testament. It’s a significant find which indirectly relates to Scripture, but it’s not on this list because I’ve chosen to narrow the focus by only including finds which are directly related to the Bible. Written in three languages – Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic and demotic scripts, as well as ancient Greek – it was the key to unlocking many Egyptian Inscriptions. The Rosetta Stone is a monument that was discovered by Napoleon’s army in 1799. It must be related to the composition of the Bible itself.įor example, an article in the ESV Archaeology Study Bible of the top ten discoveries in biblical archaeology lists the Rosetta Stone as the #1 discovery of all time.The discovery must be directly related to biblical people (or people groups), places or events or.In order to make these lists, I’ve used the following criteria: So I’ve decided to choose two top ten lists – one of finds relating to the Old Testament and one of finds relating to the New testament. I was going to compile a list of the top ten biblical discoveries of all time, but the list was simply too big. While no discovery in archaeology can “prove the Bible is true,” hundreds of finds over the past 150 years have continuously demonstrated the historical reliability of Scripture. Many of these finds relate directly to the Bible others shed light on different periods in biblical history. “These discoveries show us an extremely fascinating historical moment: one in which the Bible finds its final form,” said the Lugano professor.Every year hundreds of discoveries are made in archaeological digs in the lands of the Bible. He said the Cave of Horror scroll can help scholars understand a stage which led to the definitive text. “It was only later that the Scriptures were canonized, fixed, and then handed down with great fidelity to the present day.” Fidanzio noted that they provide evidence of “textual fluidity”, which was when the Biblical text was not yet stable or fixed. The fragments contain very small amounts of text from the Old Testament, but they still have something to offer scholars. Fidanzio, “but the discovery is also of great importance to Israelis, who highlight this research as being linked to their identity and the history of their presence in the land of Israel.” Witness of ‘textual fluidity’ “This is something we Bible scholars are passionate about,” according to Prof. Besides the announced discovery, some 20 caves could still contain important artifacts. The Israel Antiquities Authority says some 600-odd caves were mapped using drones and advanced survey technology. The Cave of Horror lies high above the Judean desert
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