Recent Archaeological Finds

[nChrist]

AMEN!

GOD'S WORD tells it all, and GOD'S WORD is the ONLY TRUTH!

The nations and mankind can forget about any claims to Jerusalem. It belongs to GOD and Israel. The time is coming when JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF will rule over the earth from the Throne of David in Jerusalem.

Brothers and Sisters, the most important thing for the world to understand is that GOD'S WORD is NOT a novel. GOD'S WORD is NON-FICTION, and it will endure forever! The people who are in the HOLY BIBLE are REAL! If you are lost and reading this, please take another look at the ULTIMATE TRUTH - GOD'S WORD!

[nChrist]

GOOD NEWS!

1:  Romans 3:10 NASB  as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

2:  Romans 3:23  NASB  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

3:  Romans 5:12  NASB  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--

4:  Romans 6:23  NASB  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

5:  Romans 1:18  NASB  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

6:  Romans 3:20  NASB  because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

7:  Romans 3:27  NASB  Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

8:  Romans 5:8-9  NASB  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

9:  Romans 2:4  NASB  Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

10:  Romans 3:22  NASB  even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;

11:  Romans 3:28  NASB  For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

12:  Romans 10:9  NASB  that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

13:  Romans 4:21  NASB  and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

14:  Romans 4:24 NASB  but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

15:  Romans 5:1  NASB  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

16:  Romans 10:10  NASB  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

17:  Romans 10:13  NASB  for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

Thanks be unto GOD for HIS unspeakable GIFT!, JESUS CHRIST, our Lord and Saviour forever!

[Soldier4Christ]

More on this:

Archaeologists unearth relics from eras of First and Second Temples


The Israel Antiquities Authority on Monday announced the discovery of a large building dating to the time of the First and Second Temples during an excavation in the village of Umm Tuba in southern Jerusalem.

The excavation was conducted by Zubair Adawi on behalf of the antiquities authority, prior to the start of construction there by a private contractor.

The archaeological remains include several rooms arranged around a courtyard, in which researchers found a potter's kiln and pottery vessels. The pottery remains seem to date from the eighth century B.C.E. (First Temple period).

According to the antiquities authority, the site was destroyed along with Jerusalem and all of Judah during the Babylonian conquest. Jews reoccupied it during the Hasmonean period (second century B.C.E.) and it existed for another two hundred years until the destruction of the Second Temple.

During the Byzantine period, the place was re-inhabited during the settlement of monasteries and farmsteads in the region between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

The excavators also found royal seal impressions on some of the pottery fragments that date to the era of Hezekiah, King of Judah (end of the eighth century B.C.E.).

Four "LMLK" impressions (which indicate the items belonged to the king) were discovered on handles of large jars used to store wine and oil. Seals of two high-ranking officials named Ahimelekh ben Amadyahu and Yehokhil ben Shahar, who served in the government, were also found.

The Yehokhil seal was stamped on one of the LMLK impressions before the jar was fired in a kiln and this is a rare example of two such impressions appearing together on a single handle.

Excavators also discovered a Hebrew inscription - dating 600 years later than the Kingdom of Judah seals - on a fragment of a jar neck. An alphabetic sequence was engraved below the vessel's rim in Hebrew script that is characteristic of the beginning of the Hasmonean period (end of the second century B.C.E.).

Three years ago, the remains of a monastery from this period were also excavated. Together with the current findings, they confirm the identification of the place as "Metofa," which is mentioned in the writings of the church fathers in the Byzantine period.

[Shammu]

Archaeologists Find Temple-Era Building, Inscriptions

Reported: 18:20 PM - Feb/23/09

(IsraelNN.com) The Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday that a large building containing what it called "an amazing wealth of inscriptions" dating from the eighth century BCE has been discovered in the Umm Tuba area at the southern end of Jerusalem.

The building was discovered during a salvage operation prior to construction in the area. It was destroyed during the Babylonian conquest and re-occupied by Jews between the Hasmonean period and the destruction of the Second Temple.

The authority says royal seal inscriptions discovered at the site date back to the reign of King Hezekiah. Other finds identify Umm Tuba with Biblical "Netofa", mentioned in the book of Samuel.

Archaeologists Find Temple-Era Building, Inscriptions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really love it when Biblical accounts are proving true to the unbelieving. Maybe they can find God, before it's to late.

[nChrist]

Archaeologists Find Temple-Era Building, Inscriptions

Reported: 18:20 PM - Feb/23/09

(IsraelNN.com) The Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday that a large building containing what it called "an amazing wealth of inscriptions" dating from the eighth century BCE has been discovered in the Umm Tuba area at the southern end of Jerusalem.

The building was discovered during a salvage operation prior to construction in the area. It was destroyed during the Babylonian conquest and re-occupied by Jews between the Hasmonean period and the destruction of the Second Temple.

The authority says royal seal inscriptions discovered at the site date back to the reign of King Hezekiah. Other finds identify Umm Tuba with Biblical "Netofa", mentioned in the book of Samuel.

Archaeologists Find Temple-Era Building, Inscriptions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really love it when Biblical accounts are proving true to the unbelieving. Maybe they can find God, before it's to late.

AMEN!

We have hundreds of discoveries documented just on this forum, and I give thanks to those who have posted them. First, they are fascinating. Second, they should help to strengthen the faith of Christians AND cause the lost to take another look. GOD has been very kind in providing overwhelming evidence of the TRUTH. NOW, think about the large number of discoveries in and around Jerusalem and who is making those discoveries - the Jews - Israel. This huge number of such important discoveries AT THIS TIME can't be a coincidence!

It's very sad to know that the vast majority of Israel still rejects JESUS CHRIST. In fact, those who do accept JESUS CHRIST are disowned by their own families and persecuted. We must also know that Israel hates the WITNESS OF CHRISTIANS. This is very strange since we are their greatest ally. GOD'S WORD tells us all we need to know about these big questions and what will happen in the future.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Matthew 5:10 ASV  10  Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[Soldier4Christ]

4,000-year-old 'Abraham's Gate' reopened to public after painstaking restoration work


The Nature and National Parks Protection Authority yesterday opened "Abraham's Gate" at Tel Dan in the north, for visits by the public.

The ancient structure from the Canaanite period of the Bronze Age is made of mud and is thought to have been built around 1750 B.C.E. The authority named the archaeological site for Abraham, the first patriarch of the Jewish people, indicating that it dates from the period of Abraham.

The gate was uncovered in 1979 but more recently underwent restoration. It is composed of three arches and constructed of sun-dried mud brick on a foundation of large basalt stones. The gate, which in ancient times stood seven meters tall, has been restored to its original height. It features two towers and a horizontal structure linking them below the arches, the oldest arches ever found in the Land of Israel.

Archaeologists specializing in the Bronze Age suggest caution in identifying the structure. Raphael Greenberg of Tel Aviv University's archaeology department commented that he "doesn't know any academic archaeologist who uses the Bible as a guide to describing remains from such an early period. There may be a connection with Abraham in the metaphoric sense, but not more than that. Today the era of the patriarchs is not taught as an archaeological period. There are even differences of opinion regarding the period of King David and King Solomon, which is already 700 years later."

Oldest arch

Greenberg said that in any event, the gate is one of the most impressive finds of its time. He noted that not only is it the oldest arch in the country, but it also reflects a revival of urban life in the Land of Israel, a product of the influence of city life in Syria at the time.

Ze'ev Margalit, who is responsible for archaeological preservation at the parks authority, indicated that "the gate is almost 4,000 years old and is made of mud brick. The Bible recounts that the people of Dan took Abraham's nephew Lot prisoner, and Abraham came to Dan to rescue him, but it is hard to confirm whether or not Abraham passed through the gate."

Margalit noted that in recent years Christian pilgrims have come to the site, and have reacted with great excitement in coming face to face with Abraham's gate.

[nChrist]

Pastor Roger Said:

Margalit noted that in recent years Christian pilgrims have come to the site, and have reacted with great excitement in coming face to face with Abraham's gate.

Brother, I can understand their excitement. I would be fascinated to see just one of the most recent discoveries. However, I would differ from many of the ones making such huge discoveries because I would look to GOD'S WORD first. There are many details in GOD'S WORD, and there are excellent reasons for all of them. The Jews were keepers of the Old Testament, and they did it in minute detail. One would think that they would be the first to be excited in this LARGE series of discoveries. There is enough details in GOD'S WORD on some structures to reconstruct them, so I'm very sad that they aren't searching GOD'S WORD for every ancient detail available. We both know that every tiny detail in GOD'S WORD is TRUE. My big question would regard why they would waste any detail that could Glorify GOD. Make a comparison and think about the number of details the world has been shown about ancient structures in Egypt. The Egyptian structures glorify man - not GOD. I'm more than just curious and disappointed about this. Regardless, I will still be excited by every discovery that pertains to GOD'S WORD. Those in Israel will become excited about GOD again one day soon. I would still love to see a Godly coverage of these discoveries, but I don't think this is going to happen in the short time that Christians have left on this earth.

[Soldier4Christ]

Archaeologist: Oldest Cyprus temple discovered
Says sacrificial altar resembles Canaanite places of worship described in Bible

An Italian archaeologist claimed Friday to have discovered Cyprus' oldest religious site, which she said echoes descriptions in the Bible of temples in ancient Palestine.

Maria Rosaria Belgiorno said the 4,000-year-old triangular temple predates any other found on the east Mediterranean island by a millennium.

"For sure it's the most ancient religious site on the island," she told The Associated Press from her home in Rome. "This confirms that religious worship in Cyprus began much earlier than previously believed."

But authorities on the island say they cannot confirm her claim before further study.

"That the site is dated to around 2,000 B.C. is certain, but the interpretation that it's a temple or a sacred site has yet to be confirmed," Cyprus Antiquities Department official Maria Hadjicosti told state radio.

The 200-sq.-meter (2,150-sq.-foot) building was discovered last year outside Pyrgos, a village near the south coast, where previous digs unearthed a settlement dating to 2,000 B.C. that included a perfumery, winery and a metal workshop.

Belgiorno, who heads an Italian archaeological mission in Cyprus, initially disclosed the find to English-language The Cyprus Weekly.

She said evidence points to a monotheistic temple with a sacrificial altar that resembles Canaanite places of worship described in the Bible.

"The temple has a very peculiar shape for a building, which is very rare."

Belgiorno said a key piece of evidence linking the site to Biblical accounts of temples in ancient Palestine is a pair of 6-meter (20-foot) stone "channels" extending from either side of the altar that allowed sacrificial animals' blood to flow out of the structure.

Other evidence includes a stone water basin, which she said might have been used in the ritual cleansing of the channels.

Belgiorno said the temple was situated across from the industrial area in the heart of the settlement, which she estimates covered 35 hectares (86 acres). Most of the settlement now lies under village homes and holiday villas.

The industrial area was built around a large mill producing olive oil that was used as fuel to fire up the metal workshop and as a perfume base.

Although it is difficult to say with certainty, she said the settlement was home to around 500 people. Their origins are unclear, but they had trade links with ancient Egypt and Palestine, she said.

A major earthquake destroyed the settlement in 1,850 B.C.

The earliest settlements excavated so far on the island date back to around 9000 B.C. Cyprus then saw successive waves of colonization, including Phoenicians, Mycenaean Greeks, Romans and — in the Middle Ages — Franks and Venetians. It was conquered by Ottoman Turks in 1571, and became part of the British Empire in 1878 before winning independence in 1960.

Violence between Cyprus' majority Greek community and the Turkish community broke out shortly after, and the island has been divided along ethnic lines since a Turkish invasion in 1974 — prompted by a failed coup aimed at union with Greece.

[Soldier4Christ]

Fragment Of Hebrew Inscription From Period Of Kings Of Judah Found

A fragment of a limestone plaque bearing several letters of ancient Hebrew script was discovered while sifting soil that was excavated in the vicinity of the Gihon Spring, within the precincts of the “Walls around Jerusalem National Park”.

The excavation is being carried out on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, under the direction of Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa and Eli Shukron of the IAA, and is sponsored by the ‘Ir David Foundation.

The stone fragment dates to the eighth century BCE and this is based on the numerous pottery sherds that were discovered together with it, as well as the shape of the Hebrew letters that are engraved in the inscription.

The plaque is broken on all sides. All that remains of the inscription are two lines of writing: In the upper line the last part of a given name is preserved: ...]קיה, or as it is transliterated into English …]kiah. Unfortunately the remains of another letter before the kof cannot be discerned. If the letter preceding the kof was a zayin, we could complete the name to read חזקיה, or Hezekiah in English, and perhaps ascribe historical importance to the inscription. On the other hand, there are other first names that were used in Judah and Jerusalem at that time that could be mentioned here such as Hilkia, Amekiya, etc.

In the second line are the remains of two words. Here too, is a suffix of a word: ...]כה, or as it is transliterated into English …]ka. Here we have several possibilities for completing the word such as: בְּרָכָה, or birqa, that is, a greeting expressing best wishes (a possible ending for some sort of commemorative inscription). Another possibility is the word בְּרֵכָה, or brecha, meaning water reservoir. The reconstruction of this word is possible based on the fact that Brechat HaShiloah, or the Shiloah Pool in English, is located nearby, and also based on the fact that a pool is mentioned in the famous Shiloah inscription that was discovered close by.

In any event the fact that we are dealing with a stone plaque indicates that this is a commemorative inscription that may have been meant to celebrate some sort of building project.

All that remains is to wait and hope that in time other fragments of the inscription will be found.

[Soldier4Christ]

Archaeological Discovery In Jordan Valley: Enormous 'Foot-shaped' Enclosures

"Foot-shaped" structures have been revealed in the Jordan valley and are among the earliest sites that archeologists believe were built by the ancient people of Israel. The structures are thought to be symbolic of the biblical concept of ownership.

"The 'foot' structures that we found in the Jordan valley are the first sites that the People of Israel built upon entering Canaan and they testify to the biblical concept of ownership of the land with the foot," said archaeologist Prof. Adam Zertal of the University of Haifa, who headed the excavating team that exposed five compounds in the shape of an enormous "foot" -- likely to have been used at that time to mark ownership of territory.

The finding is believed to represent the first time that enclosed sites identified with the biblical sites termed in Hebrew "gilgal", which were used for assemblies, preparation for battle, and rituals, have been revealed in the Jordan valley. The Hebrew word "gilgal" (a camp or stone-structure), is mentioned thirty-nine times in the Bible. The stone enclosures were located in the Jordan valley and the hill country west of it. To this day, no archaeological site has been proposed to be identified with the gilgal.

Between the years 1990 and 2008, during the Manasseh Hill-Country Survey that covers Samaria and the Jordan Valley, five such enclosures were found and excavated, all designed in the shape of a human foot. The site are believed to date back to the outset of the Iron Age I (the 13th-12th centuries BCE). Based on their size and shape, it is clear that they were used for human assembly and not for animals.

Two of the sites (in Bedhat esh-Sha'ab and Yafit 3) were excavated in the years 2002-2005, under the directorship of Dr. Ben-Yosef and the guidance of Adam Zertal. The findings, mostly of clay vessels and animal bones, date their foundation to the end of the 13th century BCE, and one of them endured up to the 9th or 8th century BCE without architectonic adjustment.

In at least two cases, paved circuits, some two meters wide, were found around the structures. These were probably used to encircle the sites in a ceremony. "Ceremonial encirclement of an area in procession is an important element in the ancient Near East," Prof. Zertal says, adding that the origins of the Hebrew term "hag" (festival) in Semitic languages is from the verb "hug", which means "encircle". Thus, this discovery can also shed new light on the religious processions and the meaning of the Hebrew word for festival, "hag".

Prof. Zertal emphasized that the "foot" held much significance as a symbol of ownership of territory, control over an enemy, connection between people and land, and presence of a deity. Some of these concepts are mentioned in ancient Egyptian literature. The Bible also has a wealth of references to the importance of the "foot" as a symbol of ownership, the link between people and their deity, defeating the enemy 'underfoot', and the temple imaged as a foot.

"The discovery of these 'foot' structures opens an entirely new system of linguistic and historical perceptions," Prof. Zertal emphasizes. He explains that the meaning of the biblical Hebrew word for "foot" -- "regel" -- is also a "festival" or "holiday". As such, the source of the Hebrew term "aliya la-regel", literally translated as "ascending to the foot" (and now known in English as a pilgrimage), is attributed to the "foot" sites in the Jordan valley. "Now, following these discoveries, the meanings of the terms become clear. Identifying the 'foot' enclosures as ancient Israeli ceremonial sites leads us to a series of new possibilities to explain the beginnings of Israel, of the People of Israel's festivals and holidays," he stated.

According to Prof. Zertal, the "foot" constructions were used for ceremonial assemblies during Iron Age I (and probably after). When the religious center was moved to Jerusalem and settled there, the command of "aliya la-regel" (pilgrimage) became associated with Jerusalem. The source of the term, however, is in the sites that have now been discovered in the Jordan valley and the Altar on Mt. Ebal. "The biblical text testifies to the antiquity of these compounds in Israel's ceremonials, and the 'foot' structures were built by an organized community that had a central leadership," Prof. Zertal stated.

[nChrist]

I'll just say what I'm thinking:  WOW! - huge and fascinating discoveries are being made in such frequency that the entire world should be amazed. There is more and more HARD PROOF by the day that TESTIFIES of the ABSOLUTE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD.

The HOLY BIBLE is NOT just another BOOK - rather IT REALLY IS GOD'S WORD! By the way, GOD'S WORD ALONE PROVES ITSELF in hundreds of ways without all of the scientific discoveries!

[Soldier4Christ]

Babylon Ruins Reopen in Iraq, to Controversy

After decades of dictatorship and disrepair, Iraq is celebrating its renewed sovereignty over the Babylon archaeological site — by fighting over the place, over its past and future and, of course, over its spoils.

Time long ago eroded the sun-dried bricks that shaped ancient Babylon, the city of Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar, where Daniel read the writing on the wall and Alexander the Great died.

Colonial archaeologists packed off its treasures to Europe a century ago. Saddam Hussein rebuilt the site in his own megalomaniacal image. American and Polish troops turned it into a military camp, digging trenches and filling barricades with soil peppered with fragments of a biblical-era civilization.

Now, the provincial government in Babil has seized control of much of Babylon — unlawfully, according to the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage — and opened a park beside a branch of the Euphrates River, a place that draws visitors by the busload.

It has begun to charge a fee to visit the looted shell of the grandiose palace that Mr. Hussein built in the 1980s, along with the hill it stands on. And it has refurbished a collection of buildings from the Hussein era and rented their rooms out as suites. For $175 a night Iraqis can honeymoon in a room advertised as one of Mr. Hussein’s bedrooms (though in truth, almost certainly a mere guest room).

“Our problem, in terms of archaeology, is that we actually deal with ignorant people, whether in the Saddam era or the current era,” said Qais Hussein Rashid, the acting director of the board of antiquities, which has legal authority over Babylon, but apparently not very much power.

“Most of the people and some officials have no respect for heritage,” he went on. “They think archaeological sites are just a bunch of bricks that have no value at all.”

Now with the support of some officials in Baghdad, the local government has reopened the excavated ruins of Babylon’s ancient core, shuttered ever since the American invasion in 2003. It has done so despite warnings by archaeologists that the reopening threatens to damage further what remains of one of the world’s first great cities before the site can be adequately protected.

The fight over ancient Babylon is about more than the competing interests of preservation and tourism. It reflects problems that hinder Iraq’s new government, including an uncertain division between local and federal authority and political rivalries that consume government ministries.

“The political situation in our country is not stable,” Mr. Rashid said. “The federal government is weak.”

Mr. Rashid’s board, part of the Ministry of Culture, is at odds with the newly created State Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, its priorities made clear in its name — and the dispute is not their first.

The agencies clashed over the reopening of the National Museum in Baghdad in February, and then as now, the tourism ministry, which favored reopening, prevailed. Its power stems not from the Constitution, but from proximity to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who has pressed for reopening historic and cultural sites as symbols of the country’s stability and progress. His government made control of ancient sites a provision in the security agreement with the United States that took effect in January. Next month, the American military will turn over the last of them, Ur, the ancient Sumerian capital in southern Iraq.

“Our goal is that these sites will be tourist attractions — to convey the real, civilized image of Iraq and to bring as many tourists as possible,” said the tourism ministry’s director, Qahtan al-Jibouri. “Iraq needs another source of funding in addition to oil.”

The ruins at Babylon have long suffered. Mud bricks lack the durability of the marble of Greece or the limestone of Egypt, leaving behind little more than heaps of earth. “You need to be kind of a romantic to love the Mesopotamian sites,” said Elizabeth C. Stone, an archaeologist at Stony Brook University on Long Island.

In the 1980s Mr. Hussein ordered the reconstruction of Nebuchadnezzar’s palace and other buildings, using cheap bricks on foundations built 2,600 years ago. Many were stamped with a tribute to the “Protector of Great Iraq” in the way Nebuchadnezzar marked bricks with his own stamp in cuneiform, still visible today.

Archaeologists were appalled, but could hardly complain at the time. Such is not the case with the American and Polish troops who occupied the site from 2003 to 2004. The work they carried out to turn the area into a base, as reported by a British Museum study, provoked international outrage, though the extent of the damage is a matter of debate and perspective.

One thing officials agree on is blaming the Americans. Mr. Rashid, in a conspiratorial and anti-Semitic vein, suggested that Jews stationed with the Polish troops might have deliberately singled out the site because of their captivity in Babylon. The director of the ruins, Maryam Musa, who has worked in Babylon for 30 years, said the damage could never be repaired or adequately compensated for.

Asked who did worse by Babylon, Mr. Hussein or the Americans, however, she became taciturn. “Is it necessary to ask such a question?” she said uncomfortably, and declined to answer.

Mohammed Taher, an archaeologist and former director of the ruins who opposes reopening Babylon, said what was being done now was little better than what had been done before. “I would like to rebuild Babylon again for scientific research, not like Saddam,” he said as he guided visitors through the remains of Ishtar Gate with bas reliefs of Babylon’s gods; the Temple of Ninmakh; the Processional Way, with brick paving stones mortared with bitumen; and a symbol of Iraq itself, the Lion of Babylon, a 2,600-year-old sculpture.

What was clear during his tour was that nothing had been done to prepare the place for its official opening, now scheduled for June 1. No gates or fences prevent rambunctious tourists from rambling over ruins that can crumble like sand. The site’s shops, cafe and museum remain abandoned, shuttered and dusty.

A $700,000 project by the World Monuments Fund, financed by the State Department, was supposed to address both conservation and tourism at Babylon, but has not yet begun work at the site.

Security in Iraq has improved immensely, allowing the Iraqis to once again think about the past as part of the country’s future, even if Iraq is not yet ready for tourism as most of the world knows it. One visitor, Esma Ali, a university student from Hilla, said she had grown up in the shadow of Babylon, but had never visited it before, and she did so with a sense of awe.

“I feel our history is coming back,” she said.

[nChrist]

UM?

Babylon Back In The News!

Not so strange if you look at the world from a Biblical perspective.

[Soldier4Christ]

Artifacts may identify biblical Sodom

An Albuquerque archeologist and his team have returned with artifacts from a dig site near the Dead Sea which they believe reveals the lost city of Sodom.

Dr. Steven Collins and a team of about 70 have spent the last four years digging in Jordan. They have recovered thousands of artifacts, most of it pottery.

They have also discovered human and animal bones, jewelry and weapons.

"We have some Roman from the Iron Age, say from about 600-700 BC, going all the way back to Bronze Age, even very early in the bronze age going back to about 3000, even back as early as 4000 BC," Collins said.

Collins and his team have brought all the pieces back to Albuquerque for further study.

"Human beings are very prone to fads, and in pottery the pottery forms are changing constantly over time," Collins said. "No one uses them for more than 35 years or so.

"By identifying the forms that are tied to certain periods we can date the layers of dirt that we are digging."

Collins said based on the location of the site and the age of the pottery they believe they have in fact found the lost city.

"The prescribed profile from Bible is that we would have a Middle Bronze Age city that was destroyed and not reoccupied for some time," Collins said. "That's exactly what we've got

According to the writings in the Bible the holy cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were so filled with sinners "the Lord rained down burning sulfur" on them.

Collins and his team have brought in two scholars who they hope will help them determine if these pieces really are from the lost city of Sodom.

A leading Jordanian scholar is lending his expertise as is Dr. Bob Mullins from Azusa Pacific University in California.

"It's the location, based on the biblical text, where Sodom and Gomorrah should be," Mullins said. "I do agree with Steve on that.

"The period fits, Middle Bronze Age."

It will likely be years before scholars can determine if the artifacts are from Sodom as believed. Dr. Collins said this process usually take 10 to 15 years or more.

Right now they are in the fourth year of their dig. The group will return to the site to dig some more this summer.

[ibTina]

Bone Seal with Name Saul Found from 8th Century BCE


Reported: 18:44 PM - May/19/09


(IsraelNN.com) Archaeologists reported Monday that they found a bone seal with the biblical name Shaul (Saul) from the First Temple period (8th Century BCE) in Jerusalem. The seal was found during an ongoing excavation in the City of David, located right outside Jerusalem’s old city walls.

The seal contains the common Hebrew name Shaul, who was also the first King of Israel. Archaeologist Ronny Reich explained that the find indicates that names were placed on bone seals earlier than previously thought.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Ne...sh.aspx/165331

http://ferrelljenkins.wordpress.com/...-in-jerusalem/