Description of the Find l. The Sumerian King List, One of Survivingcopies of the Sumerianking list date to The king list says, "After the flood had swept over the History's First Mentions of a c. 2100 ec. What is strikingabout the list of earth and when kingshipwas loweredagain from Great Flood Sumeriankings is that the kings are divided into heaven. ." Mentionof a flood, hardlynecessary in a The Sumeriansestablished the first two groups-those who ruled before a great flood list of kings,is an argumentfor the biblicalflood civilizationin the biblicalworld. Several and those who ruledafter it. Equallystriking is that describedin Genesis7-8. clay tabletsand prismscontaining the list the lengthsof reigns(and life spans)of these kings of their kings have been found in the drastically decreased after the flood, as did life ruinsof Mesoootamia. spans of peoplerecorded in the Bible. 2. An Ancient Flood Story Tablet11 (right)of the Copiesof the Epic and other e Accountsof a massiveflood are found GilgameshEpic tells of a flood storieshave been found in E in many culturesaround the world. The greatflood broughton the Near East.The popularityof !' GilgameshEpic (thesaga of an ancient earth by the wrath of the flood theme arguesfor its Babylonianking, Gilgamesh)includes gods and includesa historicityand supportsthe flood E an expandedflood story on Tablet1 1, hero who is told to build of Noah'stime. similarto the flood story in Genesis6-9. a ship, to take everykind The best known copy of the Epic was of animalalong, and to Left: Fragment (6 inches high) of a copy of the Babylonian epic of found at Ninevehon a seriesof baked use birdsto check if the Gilgamesh dating from the 7th century BC,found at Nineveh. clay tablets. water had receded. Above: Copied piece from the 15th century Bc, 3. Ur, Hometown of Abraham The famous Royal Tombs Findsshow that Abraham'sancestral home at Ur (c. 2500 BC)reveal Ur is mentionedfour times in the Bible gold and silver objects of had been a powerful city-state before it fell. lf as the hometownof Abraham.lt was Ur's declineand fall came duringAbraham's occupiedfrom the 4th millenniumec. Left and right: Paft of the time, perhapsarchaeology has provided "Standard of Ur," from anotherclue as to why Abraham'sfather Excavationsof Ur (in lraq today) have tho* tombs, made continuedoff and on since the 1800s. before Abraham, show relocatedhis familyto Haran.Genesis 11:3'1 ; Sumeian people. 15:7;Nehemiah 9:7; Acts 7:2-4. 4. Beni Hasan Tomb Painting Datingto around1900 Bc, this tomb painting,with This ancientEgyptian tomb painting, words and pictures on it, shows how Old Testament datingclose to the time of Abraham, peoplefrom the time of Abrahamand Sarahlooked, shows a caravan of people from how they dressed,their hairstyles, and evena Palestinecarrying merchandise for musicalinstrument of the day (lyre).The weaponsthey trade in Egypt.They carriedeye paintto used (spear,bow and arrow, ax, sword) depici some sell and armedthemselves with bows of the armamentsavailable to Abraham(Gen. 14). anc sDears. Len. Pil oI uc ifit Wt tqnb patnLng showing Semitic people from Cnaan. 5. The Law Gode of Hammurapi On too of the Code of Some of the laws, and the way they are written, are This black dioritestele (a carvedupright Hammurapi(right), the king remarkablysimilar to those found in Exodus, stone slab)was commissionedaround is shown in front of a Leviticus,and Deuteronomy,indicating that a 1750 ac by Hammurapi(Hammurabi), seateddeity, Marduk. The "common law" exisled in the ancientNear East. king of Babylon.lt containsabout 300 king's laws are written on For example, Iex talionis ("an eye for an eye") is laws.The stelewas found, partially the remainderof the stele found in both the law code of Hammuraoiand in defaced, at Susa (in lran today) where it for publicdisplay. The stele Exodus21:24. Unlike Hammurapi's law, the biblical was taken as loot in the 12th centurvBc. is over seven feet tall. law is betweenGod and His people. Hittite aftifacts shown at the AlthoughHittites are mentionedoften in the Old Hittite Gapital Museum of Testament,almost nothing was knownabout them until Anatolian moderntimes. One hundred years ago, critics thought ancientHittites' large Civiliations at capitalcity has been Ankaru, Turkey. the Hittiteswere an imaginarypeople made up by the recoverbdabout 90 miles biblicalauthors. Finding the Hittite'sempire forced that uncovered claimto be withdrawnand supportedthe biblicalrecord. east of Ankara, Turkey.The fottified gateways, Hittite'srule extendedto temples, and a Thefind alsohelps explain the language,history and Syriaand Lebanon. large archive. The literatureof peoplewho appearin the Old Testament city fell around andruled in the Right: Wador god from King's Gate. 1200 Bc. 2nd millenniumec. 7. Nuzi Tablets Datingbetween 1500-1401 Bc, many of these Becauseculture changed very slowly in the ancient Excavationsat the ancientcity of Nuzi tablets,with cuneiformwriting on them, reveal Near East, the tablets help explain some of the east of the TigrisRiver turned up over customsand storiesvery similarto those found in common practices and background which are found 20.000baked clav tablets. Genesis15-3.1 , such as marriage,adopting an heir, in earlierbiblical events of the patriarchalperiod surrogatemothers, and inheritance. (2000-1500ac). 8. Haran, Home of the Patriarchs Also found near Haranare villagesthat still bear The cities of Ur and Haranboth had the moon god as A villageof Harran(Haran) exists in the namesof Abraham'sgreat-grandfather and their main deity.Terah, father of Abraham,worshiped Turkeytoday, and has beenfound to grandfather,Serug and Nahor,as mentionedin "other gods" (Joshua24:2) and moved his familyfrom stand atop the ancientone from the OId Genesis11:22-26. Haran was the fatherof Lot Ur, in southernMesopotamia (lraq today), to Haranin Testamentoeriod. (Genesis11:27). the north (Genesis11:27-31). 9. Shechem The most important find is a fortress-templeof Shechemis importantin many biblicalstories. lt Shechemwas strat€ically placedin the Baal from the story of Abimelech (Judges 9:46). was a city of refuge for anyone who unintentionally central hill country. lt controlled all the People could find refuge in the temple from causeddeath (Joshua20), In the 1Othcentury ac, roads in the area, but its location made enernies.Before Abimelech, Abraham and Jacob King Jeroboam I fortified the city and made it the the city vulnerableto attack. Excavations buih ahars to God in the area of Shechem capital of the kingdom of lsrael (1 kings 12:25).The in the city of Shechem reveal a city with (Genesis12, 33) and after the Exodus, the vulnerabilityof Shechem to attack may be one reason walls made of large megalithic stones lsraelites renewed their covenant with God the capital was moved shortly after Jeroboam I died. '1 ExoduslO. Pithom and Raamses, Store Ongoingexcavations at Tellel-Dab'a (Raamses) According to Exodus , the Hebrews were slaves Gities of the Pharaoh have revealeda prosperous ancient city with many in the Egyptiancities of Pithomand Raamses The locationof Raamsesis now monuments,temples, and buildings.Tell el-Retaba beJorethe Exodus.The Egyptiansforced the associatedwith Qantir[rell el-Dab'a). is thoughtto be the most probablelocation of Hebrewsto make bricks,both with and without Pithomwas withinthe Wadi Tumilat,a Pithom,but sufficientexcavation has not been straw (Exodus1 :1 4a : 5:7-19). naturalcorridor in and out of Egypt,but done at the site. its exact location is not yet settled. Exodusll, Horned Horned altars made of stone have been found The Old Testamentspeaks of horned incense altars I KingsAltars at placeslike Dan and Beersheba.This at least20 times.This find shows how hornedaltars 'loth B Excavatlons reconstructed horned altar (left)dates from the were shaped.The Bibletells how they were used. haveturned centuryBc.and was found at the city of Beersheba. One was in the Tabernacle.The Lonotold Mosesto up some It was most likely a pagan altar. lt was obviously make an acacia-woodhorned altar five cubits long, excellent made of dressed (cut) stone, a practice prohibited five cubits broad,and three cubits high with the examplesof by the Lonoin Exodus20:25. horns of it at the four cornersand overlaidwith brass horpedaltars. (Exodus27:2; 1 Kings 1:50). I 2. llllerneptah (Merenptahf Stele Althoughthis battle betweenEgypt and lsraelis not (also called The lsrael Stelef mentionedin the Old Testament,ihe stele does show q The hieroglyphictext of the stele made in that the lsraeliteswere in fact livingin the Promised Egyptdescribes the victoriesof Pharaoh Land at that time, and that their entranceinto the Merneotaharound 1230 ec over the land had alreadytaken place by 1230 ec. Libyansand peopleof Palestine.The stele standsmore than sevenfeet hioh. 13, The Oldest Picture of Carved about 200 years after the time of Moses and lsraelites ffiil Joshua,this battlescene is far the picture by earliest In Egypt,on a long wall of the great of lsraelitesever discovered.This same event is also KarnakTemole. is a recentlvidentified told of on the MerneptahStele (above).lt shows that scene of the aftermath of a battle the Exodushad taken olace and the lsraeliteswere L1 -t- between the Egyptians and lsraelites The drewing (above) of the arued scene shows possibly the livingin the PromisedLand by 1200 Bc. datingto about 1209 ec. lstaelites vanquished by the armies of Phareoh Merneptah- Scene 4 of the Kamak TemDlerelief. Thebes Luxorl. loshua14. Jericho, Gateway into the There is debate over The biblicalimportance of Jerichois underscoredby 6 Promised Land whetherJoshua's ffiffi the fact that it is referredto more than 50 times in the The earliestruins at Jerichodate to the wall of Jerichohas Old Testament.Perhaps the most significant g StoneAge (Neolithic).A tower (right) beenfound. Massive referencesare those in Joshua6, which tell of the t found in the Jerichoruins dates back erosionhas removed lsraeliteconquest of the city,their first victory in the before Abraham's time.