The Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 in a small Egyptian village in the Nile Delta. It was realized, almost at once, that the three distinct inscriptions were all the same story. The last of the three inscriptions was in Greek and could therefore be read in the 19th Century. Neither of the two Egyptian scripts, demotic and hieroglyphic, could be understood at that time.The first steps in deciphering the Egyptian scripts were made by comparing the most frequent Greek words with a group of signs in the demotic script that occurred about the same number of times. The next step came because a cartouche (an elongated oval) was assumed to contain the symbols for a royal name. The name of Ptolemy was included in the Greek text on the Rosetta stone. Furthermore, the names of both Ptolemy and Cleopatra were presumed to be on another commemorative Greek and hieroglyphic inscription. Four letters are the same in each name.
These could then be equated to Egyptian symbols in the cartouche.
Starting with the symbols in the cartouche and comparing each new letter back to the Greek text, gradually the alphabet in both Egyptian scripts was deciphered.
The final step came when partially translated words from the hieroglyphic script were compared to the Coptic language.
Ancient Egyptian texts could now be understood. An enormous library of Egyptian texts could now be translated and interactions between the Hebrews and the Egyptians read from an Egyptian point of view. These could now be compared with Old Testament records.
Sennacherib’s Prism
Sennacherib’s Prism is one of the many examples of written records from the empires that the Israelites were in contact with. It contains the Assyrian account of a military campaign, which extended into the Kingdom of Judah. These same events are also recorded in the Old Testament.The Assyrian empire was expanded and maintained by its army. The citizens of newly conquered lands were mostly deported and resettled far from their homeland. Later, many would be inducted into the army.
The prism boasts that as Sennacherib’s army approached Judea, out of fear, King Hezekiah sent a tribute payment. This tribute included gold and silver, precious stones, ivory and a variety of other gifts. The prism records that Hezekiah did not submit to Assyrian authority. Forty-six fortified cities and many smaller towns were captured. The people and their domestic animals were taken as plunder. Pictorial descriptions of this campaign were carved into the walls of Sennacherib’s palace in Nineveh. The prism records that coastal cities were also conquered. Jerusalem was, thereby, surrounded by the Assyrian army and Sennacherib boasted that Hezekiah was shut in like a caged bird. There is, however, no record of Jerusalem being captured or of Hezekiah being defeated.
The parallel record in II Kings admits that Hezekiah paid tribute in silver and gold to Sennacherib. The Bible also records that the walled cities of Judea were captured. Hezekiah, however, placed his faith in God and Jerusalem was spared. The Bible further states that Sennacherib had to retreat after many of his soldiers died during the night.
The Cyrus Cylinder
The Cyrus Cylinder was discovered in Nineveh in 1879 and is now in the British Museum. It describes the conquest of Babylon by the Persian King Cyrus and the reorganization that he instituted to consolidate his authority.The cylinder describes the Babylonian king that Cyrus overthrew as a weakling who caused the daily offering to stop, was hostile to his subjects and brought ruin to Babylonian society. As a result of this mismanagement, the gods became furious and left. Marduk, the chief god, searched for a righteous king and found Cyrus. He took Cyrus by the hand and appointed him lord over the whole world.
The cylinder continues that Marduk, the great Lord, was pleased with the way Cyrus cared for the people and also with his 'righteous heart'. Marduk accompanied Cyrus to Babylon 'as a friend' and permitted him to enter Babylon without opposition. The Babylonians rejoiced because Cyrus was now their king.
The cylinder records that Cyrus caused the gods to return to their homelands and dwell in their residences for all time. Cyrus permitted all to live in peace.
The confirmation of the Bible comes at this point in the cylinder record. The Bible tells us that the Jewish people applied to the King of Persia to have these resettlement policies applied to them. The King of Persia then allowed the Jewish people to return to their homeland from captivity in Babylon. They were also assisted in rebuilding their Temple. The record is at the end of Kings and in the book of Ezra.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
A large collection of scrolls was discovered on the shores of the Dead Sea beginning in 1947. More than 900 different manuscripts have been identified from this collection, although many are fragmentary. Several copies of some compositions have been found, e.g. there are 33 copies of Deuteronomy. It has been estimated that the Qumran library housed multiple copies of up to 350 different texts. By ancient standards this was a considerable library. The non-biblical scrolls offer interesting insights into the personal values and social structure of the Qumran community. They also provide a wealth of information about Jewish literature around the time of the Gospels and show that many words, phrases and literary constructions used in the Gospels were also well known to the Qumran community.Most of the Dead Sea manuscripts, especially biblical texts, were written on parchment, which was probably prepared from ritually pure animals. Of the 900 different Dead Sea scrolls, 222 are biblical texts. The most famous is the Isaiah scroll, which was copied about 125 BC. It was found essentially complete and the text generally agrees with the Masoretic text in use today. The only Old Testament book not found at Qumran is Esther. All the others are present. Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, The Psalms and Isaiah are the books most frequently found. Only one copy of Chronicles and Ezra were found. In the traditional Hebrew Bible, Nehemiah and Ezra are a single book. It cannot be said for certain whether Nehemiah was part of the Qumran library because only three fragments from a manuscript of Ezra have been found.
The oldest manuscript of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been dated to the Third Century BC and the most recent to the first century AD. The text of the Dead Sea Scrolls show that the Old Testament books existed as we know them at least as early as the first century BC. There are some interesting variant readings, some expand and explain passages in our Old Testament. A few scrolls are a different length than the Bible text familiar to us. Jeremiah, for instance, exists in both a long and a shortened version.
The Siloam Inscription
The Gihon spring flows from the lower reaches of the eastern slope of the hill on which the ancient City of Jerusalem is built. It is probable that from the time of King Solomon the water from this spring flowed along a cut channel on the hillside and into a reservoir. This water was used to irrigate fields in the valley bottom. The disadvantage was that water was outside the city walls and was easily available to an invading army.When Sennacherib invaded Judea about 700 BC, Hezekiah's response was "Why should the Kings of Assyria come and find much water'' (II Chronicles 32:4). The Bible record says that he stopped the watercourse of Gihon and brought it to the west side of the city (II Chronicles 32:30).
He constructed a tunnel, which brought water into a defensible location in the southwest corner of the city. The tunnel itself is a remarkable engineering feet for the period when it was built. It is 1750 ft. long and follows an s-shaped path. This conduit was constructed by two teams working from each end. The moment when the two teams met is recorded on the Siloam inscription, which was carved into a commemorative stone on the walls surrounding the pool of Siloam. The original stone is now in a museum in Istanbul and a copy placed near the pool that can still be seen in Jerusalem.
Although the Bible describes a project by Hezekiah to protect the main water supply for Jerusalem, there are no inscriptions to identify Hezekiah. However, some of the original pools, which stored water were plastered. Small fragments of bone in these plastered wails could be carbon dated. The date indicated is about 700 BC, which was the date of Sennacherib's invasion and Hezekiah's defensive preparations.
Tourists today can visit the Gihon spring, wade through Hezekiah's tunnel, come out at the pool of Siloam and see the inscription.
The Temple at the Time of the Gospels
At the time of the Gospels, the Temple in Jerusalem was much more than a place for worship. Herod the Great, who ruled from 37-4 BC, conceived the idea of rebuilding the Temple. At first he met considerable resistance but after he proposed to prefabricate everything off site, to use priests trained as craftsmen to work within the sacred areas and not disrupt the regular Temple schedule, the Jews agreed to proceed. The platform on which the Temple itself stood, was almost doubled in size, making this the largest open area in the city. It was, therefore, the place where a great many people congregated. A variety of shops and financial traders were in a colonnade (stoa) on the southern edge of the platform. The Sanhedrin, the parliament of that day, met in the eastern end of this stoa. Shops were also along the outside of the southern and western wails. Cloth, wool, shoes, dates and other foodstuffs were sold from these shops. Municipal offices or council chambers, as they were referred to by Josephus, were close by.Priests taught every day except the Sabbath from the raised platform, which bounded the Temple itself to the south, the west and the north. The audience was free to ask questions and comment at this outdoor school.
The treasury was also housed in the Temple precincts. The Temple was, therefore, the religious, administrative, financial, commercial and social centre for Jerusalem at the time of the Gospels.
Herod the Great had raised the Temple portico to its original height in Solomon's day and gilded the exterior making this a most impressive structure. He had promoted the construction of an upscale suburb to the west of the Temple and enlarged the cities water supply sufficient for both industrial and personal uses. Herod and others had built large palaces in Jerusalem. The city wails had been strengthened and extended, several defensive towers had been included. At the time of the Gospels, Herod the Great had transformed a small struggling city into a sophisticated metropolis, which became the setting for many of the events recorded in New Testament Gospels.
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