Of course i'm joking with the backhoe as you would lose the precious irreplaceable ruins, bodies, coffins, mummies, fossilized creatures you find in the dirt. There are those however who enjoy doing this and some are very good at it. The information which can be gleaned from some of these finds tells us of our past as a history and society. We can learn about different cultures' rituals and customs, and in some cases we unearth accomplishments which cannot be duplicated today as in certain areas cultures of the past were more technologically advanced than we are today. (see Puzzle of Ancient Man by Donald Chittick) (and we may cover that topic in a future note)
Because of all the information we can examine from archaeological digs throughout the world this will be an excellent test base to confirm or deny the claims of the Bible. The Bible claims to chronicle the world's history from start to finish (Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning... to Revelation 21:1 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away")
If the claims of the Bible are to be shown as true, there cannot be in one instance a people who are not found to be in the part of the world the Bible claims, there cannot be mention of a people who never existed, and the customs and religions of different peoples in the world cannot be shown to be different than what is claimed in scripture. These finds MUST support the names dates and locations of nations and individuals mentioned in scripture.
This is a tall order, but one whose results may yield much fruit towards our test subject, determining the author(s) of the Holy Bible.
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Here are some examples:
The discovery of the Ebla clay tablet archive in northern Syria in the 1970s has shown the Biblical writings concerning the Patriarchs to be viable. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place names in the Patriarchal accounts are genuine. The name " Canaan" was in use in Ebla, a name critics once said was not used at that time and was used incorrectly in the early chapters of the Bible. The word tehom ("the deep") in Genesis 1:2 was said to be a late word demonstrating the late writing of the creation story. "Tehom" was part of the vocabulary at Ebla, in use some 800 years before Moses. Ancient customs reflected in the stories of the Patriarchs have also been found in clay tablets from Nuzi and Mari. *Excerp taken from http://www.christiananswer
* The Hittites were an example used for years by critiques against the bible. In the early histories there is a great civilization mentioned numerous times called the Hittites yet there was no evidence that there ever existed such a people. Now, if you've ever played the game "Age of Empires" you know the Hittites are known because you can be them when you play the game. Truthfully the Hittites capital and records were discovered at Bogazkoy, Turkey in 1820.
* Many thought the Biblical references to Solomon's wealth were greatly exaggerated. Recovered records from the past show that wealth in antiquity was concentrated with the king and Solomon's prosperity was entirely feasible.
* It was once claimed there was no Assyrian king named Sargon as recorded in Isaiah 20:1, because this name was not known in any other record. Then, Sargon's palace was discovered in Khorsabad, Iraq. The very event mentioned in Isaiah 20, his capture of Ashdod, was recorded on the palace walls. What is more, fragments of a stela memorializing the victory were found at Ashdod itself.
* Another king who was in doubt was Belshazzar , king of Babylon, named in Daniel 5. The last king of Babylon was Nabonidus according to recorded history. Tablets were found showing that Belshazzar was Nabonidus' son who served as coregent in Babylon. Thus, Belshazzar could offer to make Daniel "third highest ruler in the kingdom" (Dan. 5:16) for reading the handwriting on the wall, the highest available position. Here we see the "eye-witness" nature of the Biblical record, as is so often brought out by the discoveries of archaeology.
http://www.christiananswer
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Archaeology uncovered the Sumerian King List.
The Sumerian King List, lists kings who reigned for long periods of time. Then a great flood came. Following the flood, Sumerian kings ruled for much shorter periods of time. This is the same pattern found in the Bible. Men had long life spans before the flood and shorter life spans after the flood. The 11th tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic speaks of an ark, animals taken on the ark, birds sent out during the course of the flood, the ark landing on a mountain, and a sacrifice offered after the ark landed.
We shall discuss the flood, creation and evolution in another note.
http://www.christiananswer
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Archaeologist Dr. Joseph P. Free said "Archaeology has confirmed countless passages which have been rejected by critics as unhistorical or contradictory to known facts...Yet archaeological discoveries have shown that these critical charges... are wrong and that the Bible is trustworthy in the very statements which have been set aside as untrustworthy... We do not know of any cases where the Bible has been proven wrong."
Dr. Nelson Glueck said "It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries."
A stone slab was uncovered in the 60s which stated the name of Pontius Pilate a well known figure surrounding the death of Jesus Christ yet he was unknown to extra-biblical written record until the finding of this stone slab.
Any one find can be reasoned away or given a different interpretation, but the large amount of corroborating evidence lies in the volume of small finds. One find verifying the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, another documenting of the fall of Nineveh. Though I have only presented a few examples, scores of verifying evidence can back up at least two conclusions about the writer(s) of the bible
1. The Author(s) had the intent to write truthfully. If we can verify many things that a person wrote to be true, then we can conclude that those things we cannot verify are at least intended to be true by the character of the writer.
2. The writer(s) knew well about the world around them. Their knowledge extended far past their area of direct contact and indicates either a far traveling writer, or a writer who knew the locations, customs and events of vast amounts of civilizations. Due to the fact that there is no known find which disproves a person, place or event in the bible one could say that the writer(s) had full knowledge about the cultures around them.
To Be Continued...
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