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ARCHAEOLOGY VS. THE BIBLE
The Chronicle of Higher Education ^ | HAIM WATZMAN

Posted on 01/17/2007 10:38:52 AM PST by Hal1950

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1 posted on 01/17/2007 10:38:54 AM PST by Hal1950
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To: Hal1950
why is this in news/activism? the publishing date according to the article is:

Originally appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 21, 2000, p. A19.

2 posted on 01/17/2007 10:42:55 AM PST by APRPEH (id theft info available on my profile page)
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To: Hal1950

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RAVxaqA-qE


3 posted on 01/17/2007 10:43:34 AM PST by FLOutdoorsman (The Man who says it can't be done should not interrupt the man doing it!)
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To: Hal1950

Wow. I wasn't aware that Judaism had it's own flaky revisionist version of the Jesus Seminar folks.


4 posted on 01/17/2007 10:45:37 AM PST by FateAmenableToChange
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To: APRPEH

and since then, trashed.


5 posted on 01/17/2007 10:48:17 AM PST by Nathan Zachary
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To: Hal1950
What agenda compels you to post a six year old story as if it were recent?
6 posted on 01/17/2007 10:48:27 AM PST by Mr. Lucky
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To: Hal1950

Ze'ev Herzog invited such a comparison by concluding his Ha'aretz article with an explicit linkage to modern Israeli history: "It turns out that part of Israeli society is ready to recognize the injustice that was done to the Arab inhabitants of the country and is willing to accept the principle of equal rights for women -- but is not up to adopting the archaeological facts that shatter the biblical myth. The blow to the mythical foundations of the Israeli identity is apparently too threatening, and it is more convenient to turn a blind eye," he wrote.



To me, it sounds like he's the one with the agenda.


7 posted on 01/17/2007 10:48:47 AM PST by Brilliant
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To: Zionist Conspirator

This tissue of incompetent blasphemy is right up your alley.


8 posted on 01/17/2007 10:51:07 AM PST by wideawake
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To: Hal1950
The archaeological evidence of settlements and their origins is not never sufficient to determine conclusions. My sister works in Cholula, Mexico, studying settlements of volcanic worshipers at the base of the volcano, Popo. the settlements date from only two thousand years ago, and yet the origins and beginnings of the people who built and inhabited the dwellings cannot be determined.

My guess is the people who became the Israelites were distinct from the Canaanites; better in many ways. If they did not come from Egypt, what were their origins? Who were the slaves who built the pyramids, if not the Israelites?
If Solomon did not construct the Second Temple, who did? If David did not kill Goliath, what gave the tiny Jewish population the image of "Giant Slayer?"
9 posted on 01/17/2007 11:05:54 AM PST by gallaxyglue (Have we lost our civilization as we know it?)
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To: Hal1950
"This is what archaeologists have learned from their excavations in the Land of Israel: the Israelites were never in Egypt, did not wander in the desert, did not conquer the land in a military campaign and did not pass it on to the 12 tribes of Israel. Perhaps even harder to swallow is the fact that the united monarchy of David and Solomon, which is described by the Bible as a regional power, was at most a small tribal kingdom," he wrote.

What a flaming idiot!

10 posted on 01/17/2007 11:06:16 AM PST by AmericaUnited
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To: Hal1950

Interesting.


11 posted on 01/17/2007 11:06:34 AM PST by Tzimisce (How Would Mohammed Vote? Hillary for President! www.dndorks.com)
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To: Brilliant
[Here's an aside from a book I'm working on, regarding the veracity of the Bible.]

Where the scriptures translate in verse 5:2 of Daniel, the Hebrew word ‘av’ to read father, it can also be translated as ancestor or predecessor; Belshazzar was not the direct son of Nebuchadnezzar but he was descended from him through his mother who married Nabonides.

Nabonides is considered the last great king of Babylon. His relationship with the previous Kings of Babylon is unclear, perhaps he was once a great general, but he came to the throne by overthrowing a young king named Labashi-Marduk. It is likely Nabonides substantiated his claim to the throne by marrying Nitocris, a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, since he was not a blood relative to Nebuchadnezzar.

Being a religious eccentric, in 549 BC Nabonides left Babylon to live at Teyma (Tema) located in what is now Saudi Arabia northeast of Hijaz, where the ancient trade route between Medina and Dumah crosses the Nefud desert. Tayma is approximately 400 kilometers north of Medina. While on religious sojourn Nabonides left his son behind to rule in Babylon, but Belshazzar never fully came to the throne.

Skeptics believed that the writer of Daniel made an historical error in calling Belshazzar king, but when Belshazzar told Daniel that if he could interpret the strange writing on the wall he (Daniel) would be granted authority in the kingdom as third ruler, the scriptures show a detail which lends credence to the account. Belshazzar was not the first ruler of the kingdom, but he was in a secondary position, appointed to reign in Babylon while his father was away. By Babylonian tradition, all in the city with the secondary ruler would call him king. Belshazzar offered to Daniel third position, so the writer of the Book faithfully related the fact as a minor detail, and then much later archaeological evidence substantiated the trivia.

These findings in archaeology show that the writer of Daniel was telling of a real man named Belshazzar, thus the other details are likely true, also. These were no fables.

It is interesting to note that in the past some people stamped this passage and all of the Book of Daniel as mere myth-telling because Historians didn’t believe there was such a king as Belshazzar who ever reigned in Babylon. But in 1854, a member of the British Consul was exploring ancient ruins in southern Iraq and dug into a great tower built there. He found a time capsule: clay cylinders inscribed with cuneiform writing; the cylinders were inscribed at the time of Nabonidus, king of Babylon from 555-539 B.C., and commemorated repairs the king made to the tower; they included a prayer for long life of Nabonidus and his oldest son, Belshazzar, proving Belshazzar was not a fictional character.

12 posted on 01/17/2007 11:09:13 AM PST by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support. Promote life support for others.)
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To: Hal1950
re: "Mr. Herzog sees it differently. It is precisely because Israel is firmly established and no longer in danger of being wiped out....."

Israel is no longer in danger of being wiped out? So, all those threats from the surrounding fanatical Muslim countries vowing to wipe Israel off the face of the planet can be dismissed? Israel can disband their army and discontinue controlling their borders? The nutjob in Iran doesn't mean the Jews any harm? One could ignore everything else Herzog says in the article and get a pretty good idea of how disingenuous the man is just from that claim alone.
13 posted on 01/17/2007 11:09:55 AM PST by Nevadan
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To: Hal1950
This is an awesome sight! Anchor Stone International

THE EXODUS EVIDENCES

..."In our last newsletter, we examined the route taken by Moses and the great multitude as they fled Egypt. We will now examine the evidences which tell us exactly who were the Egyptian royalties involved and the approximate date the Exodus occurred. This is a subject that gets quite involved and we will only be able to present a bare frame of reference in this publication. Bear with us, as we will attempt to present a large amount of information in a short space.

From Ancient History and Archaeology: Insights into Biblical Understanding

In the last few centuries, scholars proclaimed there was no evidence for most events in the Biblical account, and it was nothing but a collection of Hebrew legends. Then, a massive amount of evidence emerged through the findings of archaeologists, such as the discovery of the Hittite civilization, which vindicated much in the Bible that had been touted as fictitious. But, then the cry went forth that the Hebrews "borrowed" or "copied" stories from the peoples around them.

So much has been shrouded in confusion brought about by "explaining away" evidences which absolutely vindicate the Biblical account in a manner which makes it appear that the original incident occurred at an earlier date, and therefore the Hebrews incorporated the tale into their "mythology".

A good example of this is the evidence found at Jericho. In the 1930s, Professor John Garstang excavated Jericho. In 1931, he found the cemetery that had been in use by the inhabitants of Jericho from the earliest times. Because it had been so well concealed by the sand of the plain, it had escaped the plundering that so often occurs. Carefully excavating through the various levels, in 1932 they made a discovery which absolutely confirmed the Biblical account.

They found a succession of eighty scarabs bearing the cartouches (royal name) of the eighteenth dynasty pharaohs. They end with Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty. Other archaeological evidence showed that the city ceased to exist at that time, which perfectly fit the account of the entry into the "promised land". ("New Bible Evidence", Sir Charles Marston, pub. by Fleming H. Revell Co., 1934, pps. 134-137.)

14 posted on 01/17/2007 11:13:35 AM PST by AmericaUnited
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To: MHGinTN

I don't know anything about Hebrew, but it seems pretty clear from even the English translations of the Bible that the term "son" can be used also to mean "descendent." Christ was the son of David, for example.

And Adam means "man" so the phrase "son of man" or "son of Adam" might mean the same thing, or at least might be easily confused and misinterpreted where they are used in the Bible.

If you keep this in mind while reading the genealogies, you find that these ambiguities can potentially rebut a lot of the doubts people have that are based on apparent discrepancies in the genealogies. They also enable you to construct a time line that does not necessarily lead you to conclude that the world is only 5,000 years old, as my pastor often claims. Personally, I don't believe that, yet when you actually read the Bible, you can see how that conclusion could be drawn from the text.

Some of the atheists I've known over the years ridicule that claim as proof that the Bible is not accurate. Of course, you can't say for certain that the devil did not create fossils to mislead us, as my pastor claims, but on the other hand, I suppose God could have created the world yesterday and planted false memories in our minds about what happened last week. Somehow, I don't think that's what happened though. If you can rebut the 5,000 year time line, you don't need to confront that issue.


15 posted on 01/17/2007 11:34:58 AM PST by Brilliant
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To: FateAmenableToChange

History is constantly being revised. That doesn't mean its
all accurate or inaccurate. Of course the bible tells a story as Israelites saw it. If it can be proven the bible is a bunch of fairy tales designed to win over a nomadic people-so be it.
There will always be those who will believe anything in the face of absolute proof to the contrary.


16 posted on 01/17/2007 11:42:50 AM PST by Duffboy
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To: gallaxyglue

And the bottom line is that since none of us were there, and the evidence is not exactly overwhelming, people will tend to believe what they want, depending on their own personal agenda and background.

We all tend to view the past through the lense of the present, or our own culture. It always introduces flaws, sometimes dramatic, in interpretations of the meanings of the tangible evidence we find.


17 posted on 01/17/2007 11:42:57 AM PST by RobRoy (Islam is a greater threat to the world today than Nazism was in 1938.)
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To: MHGinTN

the cylinders were inscribed at the time of Nabonidus, king of Babylon from 555-539 B.C

How did they know it was 555-539 B.C.????????


18 posted on 01/17/2007 11:44:49 AM PST by Pafreedom
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To: gallaxyglue

Who was it that said slaves built the pyramids?
I always read locals did it. Perhaps a few Nubians thrown into
the mix.....NBA basketball players would be considered giants in biblical days....Ptooey!


19 posted on 01/17/2007 11:47:09 AM PST by Duffboy
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To: Hal1950
Mr. Herzog sees it differently. It is precisely because Israel is firmly established and no longer in danger of being wiped out, he says, that he and other scholars can ask questions that were unaskable before. "The Jews in Israel no longer need the Bible to justify their presence in the Middle East. We're here because we're here. We no longer need excuses -- we're natives," he insists.

This is the problem, "scientists" who let their political and ideological necessities drive their research. Everything they say is suspect. Just for the record, I will believe the Biblical record regardless of what they may "discover". It's 3000 years in the past, and they are politically motivated. I need something more than their "professional" opinions to discard the Word of God.

20 posted on 01/17/2007 11:48:26 AM PST by chesley ("Socialism" - compassion for those that don't have any.)
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