Artifacts and the Bible

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Earliest History of Bethlehem Documented by First Temple Period Bulla from the City of David Jesus’ Birthplace in Ancient Bethlehem Confirmed as an Israelite City Centuries Earlier

By: Robin Ngo

An ancient stone toilet recently unearthed at Lachish may provide archaeological evidence of King Hezekiah’s religious reforms throughout Judah in the eighth century B.C.E. The toilet had been placed in what is interpreted to be a gate-shrine within the largest ancient city gate found in Israel.

By: Marek Dospěl

Evidence shows that preserved early Christian manuscripts are more often codices than the then-established bookrolls. Why?

By: Robin Ngo

For the first time, the royal seal of King Hezekiah in the Bible has been found in an archaeological excavation.

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Few modern Biblical archaeology discoveries have attracted as much attention as the Tel Dan inscription—writing on a ninth-century B.C. stone slab (or stela) that furnished the first historical evidence of King David from the Bible.

By: Megan Sauter

An impressive new seal impression has been uncovered in the City of David in Jerusalem.

By: Ellen White

Constantine Tischendorf’s chance finding of Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest New Testament manuscript, at St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai—and his later removal of the manuscript—made him both famous and infamous. Is he a hero or thief?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices in 1945, the Gnostic view of early Christianity had largely been forgotten. The teachings of Gnostic Christianity had been virtually erased from history by the early church fathers.

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Excavators at Tell es-Safi/Gath, the site of Gath of the Philistines mentioned in the Bible, found an exceptionally well preserved horned altar reminiscent of the Israelite horned altars described in the Bible. What can this find tell us about the cultural origins of the Philistines?

By: Glenn J. Corbett

Three thousand years ago, when alphabetic writing had just begun to spread across the masses of the ancient Near East, written words were far more than idle marks meant simply to be read.