New Discovery--Archaeology

[Symphony]

Interesting article this week(May 5) in U.S. News and World Report, on the recent discovery of the stone tablet from Solomon's Temple, and the James Ossurary, and their authenticity.  Specifically, the "patina" that only forms over centuries, on the surface of such artifacts, and how possibly something like that could be fabricated, if these were indeed "hoaxes", as some are claiming.  

Both discoveries are still recent, so the lab tests are still ongoing.  

[John1one]

Hi Symphony,
You know, my friend, there is a positive side to all this unbelief in archeology! Jesus said that if we don't praise Him and get the word out, the rocks would immediately do our job for us (Luke 19:40).

Every time I hear of some unbeliever putting down Christian archeology, I praise God, because I know that He must be pleased with the way we are testifying of Him!

Have a great evening there bro' and God bless,

John1one

[Bronzesnake]

Interesting article this week(May 5) in U.S. News and World Report, on the recent discovery of the stone tablet from Solomon's Temple, and the James Ossurary, and their authenticity.  Specifically, the "patina" that only forms over centuries, on the surface of such artifacts, and how possibly something like that could be fabricated, if these were indeed "hoaxes", as some are claiming.  

Both discoveries are still recent, so the lab tests are still ongoing.  

 I saw a program recently on the Ossuary, and all the experts who examined it agree that the patina is evenly formed over the entire text. There was some discussion as to whether the text was done by one, or possibly two people. The foremost three experts in the field that had to do with ancient text, all agreed the box was original and authentic.
Interesting stuff for certain.

[Don]

Go to http://donmar.org/donmarnet/sir.htm and type in 'archeology.'

[Symphony]

Thanks, Don.  Very interesting about the chariot wheels...

[Symphony]

I noticed this this morning at Netscape:  

Amazing Find Near the Dead Sea
When Israeli archaeologists began excavating caves near the Dead Sea, they found a real treasure: nine rare silver coins that are believed to date back to a failed Jewish rebellion against the Romans in the second century A.D.

The Associated Press reports that archaeological finds relating to the three-year rebellion are rare, and these coins help tell the story of the families that Shimon Bar Kochba led into the caves of the Judean Desert at the end of the second Jewish uprising against the Romans to escape brutal repression--a move that resulted in their exile. Even historical records tell little about the rebellion that took place in 132 or its leader since neither side viewed it as a success and so wrote little about it.

Only 2,000 such coins are known to exist, so finding nine more is considered a great treasure. One of the nine coins is particularly rare. Called the Petra Drachma, it is a half-ounce of silver and is the largest Jewish coin ever issued. AP notes that one side of the coin shows Jerusalem's second Jewish temple, destroyed by the Romans during the first Jewish rebellion in the year 70. The other side shows another important Jewish symbol, the image of four plants, known as the four species, used during ceremonies for the festival of Sukkot.

"Bar Kochba never minted his own coins, so what we have here is a Roman coin with the temple and the four species stamped over the portrait of the Roman emperor," Hanan Eshel, who led the digs and is the head of the Jewish Studies and Archaeology Department at Tel Aviv's Bar Ilan University, explained to AP.

Because of where the coins were found--an empty cave and hidden under a large rock--Eshel says they tell a story: "It appears the people first hid their money before fleeing to caves farther in." The monetary value of the coins was high enough to buy a house. He assumes the money was abandoned in the cave because it was useless in the barren desert.

The coins will be displayed to the public at Jerusalem's Israel Museum.

   
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[Symphony]

http://www.bib-arch.org/bswb_BAR/indexBAR.html

An interesting article on coins of Judaea, in the current issue of Bibl'l Arch'l Review magazine.  Unfortunately, the above link only takes you to the table of contents; that article there apparently unavailable online.  

The article surveys ten coins of Judaea, from 330 B.C., when the Egyptian Ptolomy I ruled, to 135 A.D., when the 2nd Jewish Revolt occured.  Some of the Jewish coins were on 1/4 inch in diameter!   One Roman coin the size of a penny has Vespasian on it, with a Roman soldier on the reverse, intimidating a woman("Judaea").

Fascinating article, if you are near a library that gets the B.A.R. magazine, a definite must-read, with good photographs...

[ollie]

Hi Symphony,
You know, my friend, there is a positive side to all this unbelief in archeology! Jesus said that if we don't praise Him and get the word out, the rocks would immediately do our job for us (Luke 19:40).

Every time I hear of some unbeliever putting down Christian archeology, I praise God, because I know that He must be pleased with the way we are testifying of Him!

Have a great evening there bro' and God bless,

John1one

Luke 19:39.  And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
 40.  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

The disciples didn't hold their peace or keep quiet, The Bible and knowledge of Jesus Christ two thousand years later is proof. So whats with the stones?
Blessed is he that believes without seeing.
2 Corinthians 5:7.  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

[Symphony]

Yes, I agree, Ollie.  But the discoveries are worth mentioning, I think.  I mean, they're very interesting.  Don't you think?

[ollie]

Yes, I agree, Ollie.  But the discoveries are worth mentioning, I think.  I mean, they're very interesting.  Don't you think?

Yes, archaeology discoveries are interesting. This is a good thread.

Thanks,
Ollie

[Symphony]

Seems the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has ruled, just annonunced yesterday, the James ossuary a fraud; that the limestone box itself, a burial box from the 1st century, is most certainly genuine, but that the inscription on it, "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus", is most certainly a hoax, a modern, or recent hoax.  According to them, the incised letters apparently do not bear the same "patina" formed over the rest of the box, over the centuries.

It will be interesting to see what the response is from Bibl'l Arch'y Review magazine, and its editor Herschel Shanks, who broke the original story of the discovery, last October.  French and Israelie scientists, at that time, had authenticated it.

But, essentially, which would be in Israel's best interest?  It seems to be mentions, and especially authentications, of Jesus would be only embarassment for Israel.  Israel might champion the discovery of, say, the Ark of the Covenant; but would they do likewise to things of Jesus?  They rejected Messiah from the very beginning.  Why would they authenticate Him now--at least, as a matter of major policy??

[Seven_Tides]

It's amazing they'll claim stuff related to Jesus a hoax, but
when it comes to evolution or some other religion, the stuff
is all true. How strange that is.

[Bronzesnake]

Wrong cupcake...

Ever heard of the ancient Sinai inscriptions found in the Wadi Mukatteb in the Sinai Peninsula? Of course you haven't.

Also, there has never been a single archaeological discovery which puts into dispute a single Biblical account. The truth of the matter is that many archaeological finds actually corroborate the Biblical accounts.
 In 1993 archaeologists digging at Tel Dan in the Galilee in northern Israel found a fragment of a stone inscription that clearly refers to the "house of David" and identifies David as the "king of Israel" This is the first inscription outside the Bible that confirms the bible's statement that David was the king of Israel in the ninth century before Christ.
The following summer, two additional fragments of the original were found that provided scholars with the whole inscription, confirming that it referred to David as king of Israel.

Also, a stone inscription from Egypt confirms that Israel was established as a nation in Canaan centuries before the reign of King David, just as the Bible claims. The Merneptah Stela is a seven-and-a-half-foot high stone inscription discovered in the temple of Pharaoh Merneptah at Thebes in Egypt from 1213 to 1203 B.C. and confirmed he launched an invasion into the area of the modern-day West Bank in Canaan, defeating the Jewish inhabitants of the land.
It goes on and on my friend. Maybe you should put down the "Woman's Weekly" and read some real archaeological texts.

[BDoggy]

bronzesnake-my advise; don't pay attention to anything that guy says. he has a real talent for taking everything you say completely out of context and twisting it to support his own personal agenda. he won't listen to anything you say no matter how rational or true it is, but instead just keeps desperately clinging to his own ideas, & claims that they are "strongly supported" yet is unable to even begin to present a valid or moderately logical argument. it is people like this that the apostle Paul had in mind when he said, "professing to be wise, they became fools" there is no use arguing w/ someone like that. we can only hope, and of course pray, that he will come to his senses, humble himself before God, and decide for himself to no longer, "exchange the truth of God for a lie"

[Bronzesnake]

bronzesnake-my advise; don't pay attention to anything that guy says. he has a real talent for taking everything you say completely out of context and twisting it to support his own personal agenda. he won't listen to anything you say no matter how rational or true it is, but instead just keeps desperately clinging to his own ideas, & claims that they are "strongly supported" yet is unable to even begin to present a valid or moderately logical argument. it is people like this that the apostle Paul had in mind when he said, "professing to be wise, they became fools" there is no use arguing w/ someone like that. we can only hope, and of course pray, that he will come to his senses, humble himself before God, and decide for himself to no longer, "exchange the truth of God for a lie"

So true my friend, but I couldn't let such a huge lie go un-corrected.