B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER #228

The following are taken from many examples in a chart by Rose Publishing.

• “The Flood – In the Sumerian King List found in ruins of Mesopotamia it is said,”After the flood had swept over the earth and when kingship was lowered again from heaven…” This is not the only place outside the Bible’s Gen. 7-8 where the flood is mentioned. For instance in the Gilgamesh Epic (the saga of an ancient Babylonian king, Gilgamesh) a flood story is found on Tablet 11.
• The Hittites – Although the Hittites are mentioned often in the Old Testament, almost nothing was known about them until modern times. The ancient Hittite’s large capital city has been recovered about 90 miles east of Ankara, Turkey. Their rule extended to Syria and Lebanon.
• Jericho – Jericho is mentioned more than 50 times in the Old Testament. In Joshua 6 it is mentioned as conquered by the Israelites on their entry to the promised land. The earliest ruins of Jericho date back a long ways. Archaeology has shown where the city once stood and that it guarded the key spot for entering the Promised Land.
• Pool of Gibeon – 2 Sam. 2:13 and Jer. 41:12 speak of a great water pool at Gibeon. In 1956 excavations found it largely intact six miles north of Jerusalem dating back to 1000 BC.
• King David’s Jerusalem – According to 2 Sam. and 1 Chron. King David conquered Jerusalem and made it the capital of Israel. Virtually nothing apart from the Bible was know about the city of that time until excavations were done between 1976-1985.
• The House of David – In 1993-1994 excavations were done at the Old Testament site of the city of Dan where three pieces of an inscribed stone were found referring to David. This inscription was the first reference to King David found outside of the Bible.
• Scripture Passage found in silver amulets – In 1979 while excavating 6th century tombs in Jerusalem two small silver amulets(under two inches long). They date to Jehoakin’s reign in Judah (2 Chron. 36) and going back to 600 BC are the oldest examples of a Scripture passage yet found.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls – A lot of people have heard of these, the first of which was excavated in 1947. These are hundreds of Scrolls and scraps that date between 300 BC and 70 AD. They show how accurate were the copies made of the Old Testament. And only minor differences were found when compared to the oldest Masoretic text, which is what our translations of the Old Testament are based on”.

Next look at Dan. 5:1 where it is recorded that King Belshazzar made a great feast. One commentator has written the following: ” A few decades ago the historicity of Belshazzar was in doubt. Secular history seemed to give no confirmation of his actual existence. But in light of cuneiform records more recently discovered, it has been admitted by all that he was a real person who was viceroy to his father Nabonidus.” When Daniel refers to Nebuchadnezzar as his father it is an honorary title, as when we say father Abraham. It is also possible that Nebuchadnezzar was Belshazzar’s grandfather on his mother’s side.

Darius the Mede has been identified as Gubaru, whom Cryus appointed as Governor of Babylonia. One man may easily have more than one name or title. Think also of Ahasuerus (486-465 BC), the husband of Esther. His Greek name was Xerxes by which secular history knows him.

As time passes and the shovels unearth more that is hidden by the sands of time we will see even more of the Bible supported. Today