“The Assyrians had widely been written off my scholars as a mythical empire. That is, until the middle nineteenth century when it was discovered by Austen Henry Layard and Paul Emile Botta.”
The same could be said of Troy until it was discovered by Schliemann but I presume that doesn’t mean that you have developed a faith in Zeus.
My post was in response to a previous comment. In this respect, your post is irrelevant. Furthermore, it’s a weak analogy.
I'm reminded of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, in which there are atheists despite thousands of gods objectively existing. They just keep quiet about it, since the ones that yell "There are no gods!" tend to be hit by lightning bolts moments later.
A fantasy version of "suicide by cop" if you will...