Artifacts and the Bible

Artifacts, manmade objects often found during archaeological excavations, that make a contribution to our understanding of the Bible and/or the historicity of Biblical events.

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• King Hezekiah in the Bible: Royal Seal of Hezekiah Comes to Light

  Robin Ngo   •  02/21/2018

  

  For the first time, the royal seal of King Hezekiah in the Bible has been found in an archaeological excavation.   Read more…
  33 comments

• Ancient Amulets with Incipits

  Biblical Archaeology Society Staff   •  01/06/2018

  

  Ancient amulets containing incipits of Biblical passages have been uncovered in Egypt and were used as protective charms to ward off evil. Learn about early Christian amulets with incipits in   Read more…
  11 comments

• Lebanese Cedar—The Prized Tree of Ancient Woodworking

  Biblical Archaeology Society Staff   •  12/22/2017

  

  From Solomon’s Temple to the Jesus Boat, the Biblical world was built of cedar.   Read more…
  13 comments

• Word Play

  Glenn J. Corbett   •  12/10/2017

  

  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   Read more…
  15 comments

• Museum of the Bible: Part Museum, Part Holy Land Experience

  Robin Ngo   •  11/15/2017

  

  The Museum of the Bible is opening in Washington, DC. Take a look at some of the spectacular exhibition spaces and interactive rooms.   Read more…
  13 comments

• Ancient Latrine: A Peek into King Hezekiah’s Reforms in the Bible?

  Robin Ngo   •  11/13/2017

  

  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   Read more…
  17 comments

• 10 Great Biblical Artifacts at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem

  David Moster   •  11/12/2017

  

  The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem houses one of the world’s most important collections of Biblical artifacts.   Read more…
  8 comments

• The Museum of the Bible in the Spotlight

  Robin Ngo and Megan Sauter   •  10/20/2017

  

  A new museum dedicated to the best-selling book of all time will open in Washington, D.C.—just three blocks from the U.S. Capitol.   Read more…
  11 comments

• First Person: Should These Looters Go to Jail?

  Hershel Shanks   •  07/31/2017

  

  Looters sometimes indirectly alert archaeologists to the existence of valuable finds and are sent to jail if they are caught, while the archaeologists learn from the looters where to dig.   Read more…
  10 comments

• Biblical History at What Cost?

  Roberta Mazza   •  07/24/2017

  

  Recently, the Hobby Lobby corporation—owned by the Green family—agreed to pay a $3 million fine for the purchase of thousands of artifacts believed to have been smuggled out of Iraq.   Read more…
  40 comments

• The Nag Hammadi Codices and Gnostic Christianity

  Biblical Archaeology Society Staff   •  06/06/2017

  

  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—vilified especially since they were declared   Read more…
  22 comments

• Where Did the Philistines Come From?

  Biblical Archaeology Society Staff   •  05/20/2017

  

  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   Read more…
  13 comments

• The Doorways of Solomon’s Temple

  Megan Sauter   •  05/11/2017

  

  In the Bible, the inner shrine of Solomon’s Temple is described as having five mezuzot. What are they? The question has puzzled Biblical scholars for centuries. Does a recently discovered   Read more…
  7 comments

• Sold! Earliest Surviving 10 Commandments Stone

  Megan Sauter   •  02/08/2017

  

  A 10 Commandments stone tablet—believed by some to be the oldest stone copy of the 10 Commandments—was sold at an auction in November 2016 for $850,000.   Read more…
  2 comments

• Is the “Brother of Jesus” Inscription on the James Ossuary a Forgery?

  Biblical Archaeology Society Staff   •  01/31/2017

  

  Although the famous “brother of Jesus” inscription on the so-called James Ossuary has been authenticated by two world-class paleographers, not everyone is convinced that the inscription is authentic.   Read more…
  20 comments

• The Tel Dan Inscription: The First Historical Evidence of King David from the Bible

  Biblical Archaeology Society Staff   •  11/08/2016

  

  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   Read more…
  48 comments

• Herod’s Temple Mount Revealed in Al-Aqsa Mosque Restoration

  Noah Wiener   •  09/02/2016

  

  As a result of earthquakes, Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount had to be dismantled and reconstructed in the 1930s and 1940s. Massive Cedar of Lebanon and cypress beams were   Read more…
  17 comments

• Liberator of the Nag Hammadi Codices

  Charles W. Hedrick   •  07/31/2016

  

  A cache of ancient Christian Gnostic texts was found near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945—two years before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Similar to the situation with the   Read more…
  7 comments

• First Person: A Scepter from the Temple?

  Hershel Shanks   •  05/30/2016

  

  In his First Person column in the May/June 2016 issue of BAR, Hershel Shanks asks: Where is the paleographer who says the ivory pomegranate is fake?   Read more…
  4 comments

• Ivory Pomegranate Revisited: A Relic from Solomon’s Temple?

  Biblical Archaeology Society Staff   •  03/23/2016

  

  The famous inscribed ivory pomegranate, which, if authentic, may have been the head of a scepter from Solomon’s Temple, has endured decades of debate. Is the inscription real, or is   Read more…
  7 comments

• Tischendorf on Trial for Removing Codex Sinaiticus, the Oldest New Testament

  Ellen White   •  09/23/2015

  

  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.   Read more…
  18 comments

• The Ophel Treasure

  Noah Wiener   •  09/01/2015

  

  A striking cache, including a gold medallion inscribed with a menorah, shofar (ram’s horn) and a Torah scroll, was found at the foot of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.   Read more…
  8 comments

• Jeremiah, Prophet of the Bible, Brought Back to Life

  Biblical Archaeology Society Staff   •  08/24/2015

  

  Two small clay bullae (seal impressions) found in the course of Eilat Mazar’s City of David, Jerusalem, excavations are bringing Jeremiah, prophet of the last kings of Judah, back to   Read more…
  12 comments

• Shroud of Turin Exhibit Opens in Turin, Italy

  Robin Ngo   •  04/23/2015

  

  The Shroud of Turin—purported to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth—is back on public display in Turin, Italy.   Read more…
  11 comments

• First Person: Gold from the Temple?

  Hershel Shanks   •  07/15/2014

  

  In his First Person in the July/August 2014 issue of BAR, Hershel Shanks discusses two very different inscriptions—the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” papyrus fragment and the Jehoash Inscription—that are both   Read more…
  25 comments