About

Pottery Reading (2015) discussing the provenance of the vessel.

 

Video Introduction

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Dr. Graves Biography    

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Introduction

Dr. David E. Graves is an internationally renowned figure in the fields of biblical archaeology and teaching. Hailing from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, he has dedicated over 35 years to imparting knowledge on the Bible and archaeology.

Education

Dr. Graves holds an impressive list of academic credentials, having earned a Ph.D. from the esteemed University of Aberdeen, in Scotland, in Theology (interdisciplinary with Old and New Testament Biblical history and archaeology). His dissertation was supervised by the late I. Howard Marshall, Professor Emeritus of New Testament Exegesis and Honorary Research Professor at the University of Aberdeen. Dr. Marshall also invited two other experts – Edwin M. Yamauchi to oversee the Greco-Roman archaeology and history, and Alan Millard to oversee the Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) Hittite law codes – to review his dissertation.

     The expertise and experience of Dr. Graves is highly sought-after, and with his distinguished background, he is an invaluable asset to the field of archaeology.

     I. Howard Marshall, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the University of Aberdeen, commented on Dr. Graves' dissertation, "The Seven Messages of Revelation and Vassal Treaties: Literary Genre, Structure, and Function." published by Gorgias Press:

“Dr. Graves seeks to shed light on the problem of the structure of thought in Revelation by placing the work as a whole and the messages to the seven churches in particular firmly in the context of the ancient near eastern vassal treaties that have also influenced the shape of covenantal theology in the Old Testament. This carefully researched thesis brings a new contribution to the interpretation of the apocalypse and deserves close examination.” — I. Howard Marshall, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Exegesis, University of Aberdeen.

 

     For over 20 years, I have been passionate about the study of archaeology, biblical history, and theology, with a focus on the ancient Near East. I have both an undergraduate and graduate degree in this field, the former being a 5 year BTh (Bachelor of Theology) from Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto, Canada (1980). During my studies, I had the privilege of working with Dr. Bryant Wood, a specialist in Canaanite pottery, while researching a paper on the location of Sodom and Gomorrah for my archaeology course.

     I continued my education with a Masters degree (2 years) from the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland (2002). I was eventually promoted to a PhD program at the University of Aberdeen, School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, under the supervision of the late I. Howard Marshall, where I completed a 4 year program.

     I have also received formal Archaeological Square Supervisor Training through Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and certified training in SIR-3000 Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for archaeological application through Geophysical Survey Systems Inc.

Teaching

For the past two decades (1998–2019), I have served as a lecturer and professor of Biblical History and Archaeology at Crandall University, Regent Park College, Oxford University, Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University (Archaeology SME Online) and Faith Bible Institute, Monroe. Louisiana. I have taught a range of courses, including RS2613: Archaeological Artifacts that Illustrate the Historical Accuracy of the Bible, RS3463 Introduction to Biblical Archaeology, RS3323 Biblical Eschatology, RS1003 Themes of the Bible, RS3883 Intellectual History of Science and Religion (1600-1980) Part B-Deus Artefacta: 19th Century Drive for Proof by Artefact from Major Developments in the History of British Biblical Archaeology, and RS3893 The History of British Biblical Archaeology. During this time, I have led museum tours of the Ashmolean and British Museum, and two of my books, Biblical Archaeology vol. 1 and Key Facts for The Location of Sodom, were used as textbooks. Other filmed courses included THEO201 Theology Survey 1; BIBL450 Daniel–Revelation; BIBL 471 Biblical Archaeology; ARCH302 Archaeology of the New Testament and ARCH301 Archaeology of the Old Testament.

I retired from teaching in 2019, after a successful career in academia.

Archaeological Experience 

Since 2005, I have had the opportunity to work on a variety of archaeological projects in the UK, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, and Jordan. As Director of Operations for the Mount Ararat Archaeological Research Expedition ArcImaging, I conducted exploration and surface survey of the Ahora Gorge at 10,000 feet on Mt Ararat, Turkey. I have also served as a square/field supervisor for the Tall el-Hammam (Sodom?) Excavation Project in Jordan for ten seasons (2005-2019), where I supervised Middle Bronze and Iron age squares but primarily supervised the Roman/Byzantine remains that my team uncovered. In 2011, I co-authored a paper with Scott Stripling, titled “Re-Examination of the Location for the Ancient City of Livias”, which was published in Levant: The Journal of the Council for British Research in the Levant. In 2009 I worked at the Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation, Jerusalem, Israel, under the direction of Dr. Gabriel Barkay of Bar Ilan University. 2017 saw me take on the role of Registrar of Artifacts for the Excavations of Qumran Cave 53 (Q12), a cooperative archaeological effort of Liberty University under the direction of Dr. Randall Price and under the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) under the direction of Dr. Oren Guitfeld of Hebrew University and the auspices of the KAMAT (Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria). Our work was featured in the December 2018 edition of National Geographic magazine's article, "Inside the cloak-and-dagger search for sacred texts" . In 2017, I was the Director of administration and square supervisor for the Shiloh excavations, Israel, and Director of Publications (2018-2019). Later in 2017 I worked with Dr. Bryant Wood at the Archaeological excavation of Khirbet el-Maqatir, Israel, by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). More details on these findings, are posted to my blog.

 

      I have written several articles for their peer reviewed Journal Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin (NEASB). Since 2009, I have been a member of the Associates for Biblical Research and often written articles for their Bible and Spade journal.

Consulting

In 2017, I was a consultant for the producers of National Geographic TV program on locating Sodom and Gomorrah that features Tall el-Hammam, Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira titled  Buried Secrets of the Bible. As hard as I tried over several months they still didn't get all the facts straight!! :-)

Publications 

 I have authored more than 30 books and over 20 articles on the subject of the Bible and Archaeology. My books published through Electronic Christian Media can be purchased through Amazon.com.

 

My works also include contributions to other works including the eight breakout articles and 25 photographs featured in the Harvest Handbook of Bible Lands: A Panoramic Survey of the History, Geography, and Culture of the Scriptures, edited by Holden, Joseph M., and Steven Collins, and published by Harvest House in February 2020. In addition, I have contributed multiple articles to various peer reviewed theological and archaeological Journals. They are all available free of charge at Academia.edu.

 ______

**Definition of Interdisciplinary research

"Interdisciplinary research is a mode of research by teams or individuals that integrates information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts, and/or theories from two or more disciplines or bodies of specialized knowledge to advance fundamental understanding or to solve problems whose solutions are beyond the scope of a single discipline or area of research practice." Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (2004). Facilitating interdisciplinary research. National Academies (Washington: National Academy Press, 2004), p. 2

______________

 

For Journal articles and papers see  Follow me on Academia.edu or Selected Works

For Books see Amazon or Amazon

For all books by Dr. David E. Graves

 

Rumble Videos

Updated March, 2024.

Map 18

Bab edh-Dhra and Kirbet Qazone Cemetery
© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, ECM

Map close-up of the area around Bâb Edh-Dhrâʿ and Khirbet Qazone cemetery.

© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, Electronic Christian Media

Map 17

Tall el-Hammam and Vicinity
© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, ECM

Map close-up of the area around Tall el-Ḥammâm. Multi-period site plan showing the excavation fields of the upper and lower tall. The survey plot of Tall el-Ḥammâm was used with permission from Leen Ritmeyer, architect and Qutaiba Dasouqi, Surveyor.


© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, Electronic Christian Media

Map 16

Region of the Kikkār (Roman Road from Esbus to Livias)
© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, ECM

The region of the Kikkār (valley) of the Jordan indicating the Roman road from Esbus to Livias. This is the region around Tall el-Hammam that is the proposed site of Sodom (Middle Bronze Age) for the Northern theory. It also triangulates the Roman road measurements from literary sources that identifies Tall el-Hammam as Roman and Byzantine Livias. Tall el-Hammam can be both Sodom, and Livias in different periods of history.

© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, Electronic Christian Media

Map 15

Sinkhole locations around the Dead Sea.
© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, ECM

The location of sinkholes from recent surveys overlayed on the map of the Dead Sea as it would have appeared during the time of Chedorlaomer, in the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1550 BC). The slime pits or bitumen pits were probably these sinkholes.

First, we must identify what is meant by bitumen (Gen 14:10; Heb. ḥēmār. See Chapter One: “Biblical References to Sodom: Genesis 14:1-12”).[1]  Nissenbaum and Goldberg defined it as ozocerite (Gr. oze stench + kero wax; an odorous paraffin earthwax) “a natural mixture of predominantly high molecular weight paraffinic hydrocarbons.”[2]  However, it is often identified as asphalt, common in the Dead Sea. Josephus called it Lake Asphaltites (Ant. 1.9) and the Romans called it Asphalt Lake (Lat. Palus Asphaltites). Bitumen was also a major export from the Dead Sea region (Pliny the Elder Nat. Hist. 2.226; 5.72; 7.65; 28.80; 35.178).

Frumkin and Elitzur point out that:

Although most ancient and modern versions and commentaries translate h\eµmar as bitumen or asphalt,[3]  we believe, based on field evidence as well as etymological considerations, that the preferable translation might be “slime,” which is more commonly found in the Dead Sea pits.[4] 

The etymology of the term justifies using the term “slime pits,” and is likely identified with the sink holes that form around the shores of the Dead Sea in dry periods. For this discussion, the term bitumen will be broadened to include all forms of petroleum products, including asphalt, oil, tar, and natural gas.[5]

There is no question that the Dead Sea is full of bitumen that floats to the surface (Josephus J.W. 4.479-80; Strabo Geogr. 16.2.42; Diodorus Siculus Hist. Lib. 19:98.84-88;[6]  Tacitus Hist. 5.7),[7]  being pushed up through the fault lines to the surface by earthquakes or movements of the plates.[8] 
Bitumen and asphalt are also found in the region around the Dead Sea.[9]  Geikie testified that:

the whole region is full of the materials for such a catastrophe as overtook them [Cities of the Plain]. Wells of liquid bitumen, or, as we may call it, petroleum, abounded in the neighbourhood, and vast quantities of it ooze through the chalky rocks, while the bottom of the lake is bedded with it, vast masses rising to the surface after any convulsion, as in the case of the great earthquake of 1837. Indeed, huge cakes float up, at times, even when there is no seismal disturbance, and are seized by the Bedouins, who carry what they can gather to Jerusalem for sale. Sulfur abounds, in layers and fragments, over the plains and along the shores of the lake.[10]

 See See FACT 57: "Bitumen is Found all Around the Dead Sea" for the various locations of Bitumen around the Dead Sea as illustrated in the map. David E. Graves, The Location of Sodom: Key Facts for Navigating the Maze of Arguments for the Location of the Cities of the Plain (Toronto, Ont.: Electronic Christian Media, 2016), 147-51.

FOOTNOTES
[1] BDB states that bitumen was “used for cement in building Babel (Gen 11:3)”... and “used in coating Moses’ ‘ark’ of bulrushes (Exod 2:3).”  Charles A. Briggs, Samuel R. Driver, and Francis Brown, eds., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic. Based on the Lexicon of William Gessenius as Translated by Edward Robinson (Boston, Mass.: Houghton Milfflin, 1907), 330.
[2] Arie Nissenbaum and M. Goldberg, “Asphalts, Heavy Oils, Ozocerite and Gases in the Dead Sea Basin,” Organic Geochemistry 2, no. 3 (1975): 172
[3] In their research, Nissenbaum and Goldberg, decided that “The Dead Sea material has been so often referred to as asphalts, that for historical reasons it was decided to retain this term.” Ibid., 167.
[4] Amos Frumkin and Yoel Elitzur, “The Rise and Fall of the Dead Sea,” BAR 27, no. 6 (2001): 42 n.1.
[5] Michael Gardosh et al., “Hydrocarbon Exploration in the Southern Dead Sea Area,” in The Dead Sea: The Lake and Its Setting, ed. Zvi Ben-Avraham, Tina M. Niemi, and Joel R. Gat, Oxford Monographs on Geology and Geophysics 36 (New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, USA, 1997), 69; Nissenbaum and Goldberg, “Asphalts, Heavy Oils, Ozocerite and Gases in the Dead Sea Basin,” 175.
[6] Diodorus Siculus, Library of History: Books 19.66-20, trans. Russel M. Geer, vol. 10, 12 vols., LCL 390 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1954).
[7] Arie Nissenbaum, “Dead Sea asphalts—Historical Aspects,” Bulletin of the Association of Petrolum Geologists 62, no. 5 (1978): 840–45; Nissenbaum and Goldberg, “Asphalts, Heavy Oils, Ozocerite and Gases in the Dead Sea Basin,” 167.
[8] Frederick G. Clapp, “Geology and Bitumens of the Dead Sea Area, Palestine and TransJordan,” Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 20, no. 7 (1936): 901–3; Nissenbaum, “Dead Sea asphalts—Historical Aspects,” 843.
[9] Nissenbaum, “Dead Sea asphalts—Historical Aspects,” 837–44.
[10] J. Cunningham Geikie, The Holy Land and the Bible: A Book of Scripture Illustrations Gathered in Palestine (London, U.K.: Cassell & Company, 1887), 119; Hours with the Bible or The Scriptures in the Light of Modern Discovery and Knowledge: From Creation to the Patriarchs with Illustrations, vol. 1 (New York, N.Y.: Pott, 1882), 1:392.

© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, Electronic Christian Media

Map 14

Boundaries of Palestine and Arabia (mid 4th cent. AD)
© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, ECM

Historical boundaries of Roman / Byzantine / Islamic Palestine (sourced from Irfan Shahîd, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, 683, Bernard Lewis, Islam in History: Ideas, People, and Events in the Middle East, 155 and the borders of Mandate Palestine from multiple sources).

See Eusebius (ca. AD 260/265-339/340) and Severus, Bishop of Sodom ( AD 325) in  David E. Graves, The Location of Sodom: Key Facts for Navigating the Maze of Arguments for the Location of the Cities of the Plain (Toronto, Ont.: Electronic Christian Media, 2016), 41-42.

© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, Electronic Christian Media

Map 13

Map of the borders of the Promised Land that God
showed to Moses on Mt. Nebo, described in Deut. 34:1-3
© 2017 Dr. David E. Graves, ECM

Map representing the outside borders of the Promised Land that God showed to Moses on Mount Nebo, described in Deuteronomy 34:1-3. It is unlikely that es-Safi (Byzantine Zoar) is the location of the eastern boundary of the Promised Land, as it would lay in Moabite territory, south of the Arnon River. It is more likely that Serâbît el-Mushaqqar, located on the ascent to Mount Nebo, or another site nearby, was the OT Zoar and represents the eastern boundary of the Promised Land.

Moses’ panorama of the wasteland of the kikkār (Num 21:20, 22:1) and the Promised Land begins at Mt. Pisgah, near Mt. Nebo in Moab, east of Jericho.[1]  Then, facing the Mediterranean Sea, Moses begins on his right with (1) Gilead (east of the Jordan. See the numbers on the Map above) traveling north as far as (2) the city of Dan (N boundary, not to be confused with the tribe of Dan), where the Transjordan ends, then traveling from north to south along the Mediterranean Sea (W boundary)  ((3) Naphtali, (4) Manasseh,  (5) Ephraim, and  (6) Judah). Then in the south, the border is mentioned at  (7) the Negev (S boundary), followed by  (8) the kikkār, which he identified as the Valley of Jericho. This places the kikkār in the disk, north of the Dead Sea, connected with Jericho. Then having mentioned the northern ( (2) Dan), western ( (3) (4) (5) (6) Mediterranean), and southern ((7) Negev) borders, he identifies (9) Zoar as the Eastern boundary. Moses would have passed by the site of Serâbît el-Mushaqqar (OT Zoar?) on his climb up Mt. Nebo to view the Promised Land.

Power concludes that:

It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that Ṣo’ar is at the foot of Mount Nebo, where the vision began, and at the eastern limit of the Round of the valley of Jericho, where it ended.[2]

Howard argues the same:

Since this scene begins with the most remote part of the kikkār it must end at the nearest, which places Zoar near the foot of Mount Nebo.[3]  Furthermore, the point is often made that the Byzantine-Arabic site of Zoar and the southern end of the Dead Sea are not visible from the Mount Nebo vicinity, the view being obstructed by the mountains of Moab.[4]

Driver point out that “v. 3 implies naturally that Zoar was at some distance off, not a place at the foot of Nebo.”[5]  Although if Zoar is at es-Safi, as the SST advocates propose,[6]  then the eastern border of the Promised Land is located in Moabite territory, south of the Arnon River, which never happened, as Reuben was north of the Arnon River. The Negev has already been identified as the southern boundary, so Zoar is not likely the southern boundary, but the eastern boundary. This passage would seem to favour the NST and place Zoar someplace near Mt. Nebo (See Fact 33).[7]

[1] Joel F. Drinkard Jr., “ʿAL PÉNÊ as ‘East of,’” Journal of Biblical Literature 98 (1978): 285–86
[2] E. Power, “The Site of the Pentapolis: Part 1,” Biblica 11 (1930): 42..
[3] Jan Jozef Simons, The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament: A Concise Commentary in Xxxii Chapters (Leiden: Brill, 1959), 406.
[4] David M. Howard, Jr., “Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 27, no. 4 (1984), 390. Driver observes that there are many other locations mentioned here that were not visible from Mt. Nebo, including: Northern Gilead, Dan and, the Mediterranean Sea. Samuel R. Driver, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy, ICC 5 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1978), 419–21; Samuel R. Driver, “Zoar,” in A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature and Contents Including the Biblical Theology. 5 vols. ed. James Hastings and John A. Selbie, vol. 4 (New York, N.Y.: Scribner’s Sons, 1909), 4:986.
[5] Ibid, 4:986.
[6] Konstantinos D. Politis, “Death at the Dead Sea,” Biblical Archaeology Review 38, no. 2 (2013): 42
[7] Howard argues for a southern location from this passage, based on a chiastic reading of the text but this chiastic layout seems unnatural and forced on the text which is otherwise a natural reading of a geographic map. Howard, Jr., “Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited,” 391-92.

© 2017 Dr. David E. Graves, Electronic Christian Media

Map 12

Map of the fault lines and the level of the Dead Sea in the Middle Bronze Age.
Also depicting the war of Chedorlaomer in Gen 14:1-12.
© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, ECM

Map representing the fault lines and the level of the Dead Sea in the Middle Bronze Age (about 2000 BC). [1] This map also depicts the southern campaign (1) – (8) of Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam described in Genesis 14:1-12. Following his attack on Ḥaṣaṣon-Tamar (En-Gedi) (6) he encountered the confederation of the kings of the Cities of the Plain. Unfortunately the location of the Valley of Siddim is uncertain and bitumen deposits can be found in several locations (See Map 15 for the location of Sink holes). Chedorlaomer would have needed to have backtracked to encounter the Cities of the Plain in the south (7). Whereas traveling north (7) he would be traveling in the direction of Dan (8) where he was pursued by Abraham.[2]

[1] A. D. Riddle, and David Parker, “Interactive Dead Sea Map,” The Dead Sea: A History of Change, December 2013. http://www.riddlemaps.com/deadSea/map.swf.
[2] For more details on the location of Sodom and the narrative in Genesis 14:1-12 see David E. Graves, The Location of Sodom: Key Facts for Navigating the Maze of Arguments for the Location of the Cities of the Plain (Toronto, Ont.: Electronic Christian Media, 2016), 27-29.

© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, Electronic Christian Media

Map 11

Proposed southern locations for the Cities of the Plain.
© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, ECM

Proposed southern locations for the Cities of the Plain according to Dr. Bryant Wood.[1] The southern basin of the Dead Sea was once covered by water, but is now an artificial industrial pond filled with water from the northern basin and used to extract salts and minerals.

NUMERIA
Numeira and Bâb edh-Dhrâʿ were destroyed at different times, 250 years apart. FACT 39:  BAB EDH-DHRA AND NUMEIRA WERE DESTROYED AT DIFFERENT TIMES.[2] While the early conclusions of Rast and Schaub, that BeD and Numeira were both destroyed at approximately the same time (i.e., 2350–2067 BC), are often reported, it is now known that their individual destruction was separated by approximately two and a half centuries (250 years), with the destruction of BeD at ca. 2350 BC and Numeira at ca. 2600 BC. [3] If Bab edh-Dhrâ is Sodom then Numeira cannot be Gomorrah or one of the cities of the plain.

FEIFA AND KHIRBET KHANAZIR
Feifa and Khirbet Khanazir, proposed for the other Cities of the Plain, do not have Early Bronze 3 domestic occupation, as they were both only cemeteries in the EBA. At Khanazir, walls observed by Rast and Schaub in 1973 [4] were in reality rectangular structures marking Early Bronze IV shaft tombs. [5] See FACT 43: “Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira are the only inhabited towns in the southern Dead Sea Region in the EBA.” [6]

ES-SAFI
FACT 33: “There are Several Possible Locations for Zoar.” [7] No one knows for sure where biblical Zoar is located (see Map 10).  The beautiful Madaba mosaic map in the church in Madaba, Jordan, depicts the region of the Holy Land during the 6th cent. BC and has Byzantine Zoar marked on the Wadi Hesa near modern es-Safi (see map above), at the southern end of the Dead Sea.  However, no archaeological evidence has been uncovered to indicate that es-Safi is biblical Zoar. In fact there are no remains earlier than the Hellenistic Period.[8] Schuab, who excavated Bab edh-Dhra, states that the sixth century Zoar on the map is not the same as the Middle Bronze age Zoar as listed in Genesis.[9] Es Safi (Madaba map Zoar) is the Byzantine traditional site for Zoar with no archaeological evidence linking it with the Patriarchs.

It is believed that Tall el-Hammam is also identified on the Madaba map but the tesserae names are missing. [10]

DEIR 'AIN 'ABATA
FACT 34: LOT’S CAVE IS LOCATED ON THE MADABA MAP. [11] In 1983, Lot’s cave at Deir ‘Ain ‘Abata, near eṣ-Ṣafi, Jordan, was discovered by H. Donner and E. A. Knauf. Between 1988 and 1996, Greek archaeologist Konstantinos Politis and staff from the British Museum excavated the proposed venerated site of Lot’s cave. The site is identified on the Madaba Map above Zoora (Zoar). During the Byzantine period a Church was built over the cave and a monastery was established to venerate the location of Lot’s cave. [12]
The display text in the Museum of the Lowest Point on Earth at eṣ-Ṣafi, under the direction of Politis, states:

Three architectural fragments with Greek inscriptions alluding to Lot were also found on the site [of the church]. Literary and archaeological evidence suggests that it was a pilgrimage site, based around a natural cave that was believed to have been where Lot took refuge with his daughters after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19). The excavations revealed an Early Byzantine monastery complex, with a church built over the cave. The church was adorned with six mosaic pavements, dated by inscriptions to 572-3, 605-7 and 692 respectively - the latest dating from after the Islamic conquest of the area.

The 7th cent. Byzantine church built in front of the cave had a mosaic with a dedication to “St Lot”. Politis also reports that:

Roman-period finds suggest an earlier veneration of the site. The additional discovery of substantial Early and Middle Bronze Age remains indicates that the cave was occupied during the period when, it is thought, the Genesis story occurred.[13]

While the cave did have Early Bronze [14] and Middle Bronze [15] pottery along with Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, and ‘Abbasid,[16] there was no archaeological evidence which directly linked the cave to Lot. As there are many caves in the side of the mountains all along the Dead Sea (i.e., Qumran), and many people lived in the area during the EB and MB periods (i.e., the large cemeteries at BeD, Numeira, eṣ-Ṣafi, Feifeh, and Khanazir. See Fact 43), there was nothing special about this cave which connected it to Lot, other than Roman/Byzantine tradition that people used it during antiquity. The early Byzantine Christians often venerated sites to draw pilgrims  to their sites and thus the inscriptions placed on the floor of the church were commemorating this as a holy site in typical Byzantine tradition.

[1] Bryant G. Wood, “The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” Bible and Spade 12, no. 3 (1999): 67–80.
[2] David E. Graves, The Location of Sodom: Key Facts for Navigating the Maze of Arguments for the Location of the Cities of the Plain (Toronto, Ont.: Electronic Christian Media, 2016), 113-115.
[3] See Jack Donahue, “Geologic Reconstruction of Numeira,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 255 (Summer 1984): 87; Michael David Coogan, “Numeira 1981,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 255 (Summer 1984): 81; 1. Meredith S. Chesson and R. Thomas Schaub, “Life in the Earliest Walled Towns on the Dead Sea Plain: Numayra and Bab Edh-Dhraʿ,” in Crossing Jordan: North American Contributions to the Archaeology of Jordan, ed. Thomas Evan Levy et al. (London, U.K.: Equinox, 2007), 247.
[4] Walter E.Rast, and R. Thomas Schaub. “Survey of the Southeastern Plain of the Dead Sea, 1973.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 19 (1974): 12–14.
[5] Walter E. Rast, “Bab Edh-Dhraʿ (ABD),” ed. David Noel Freedman et al., Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1996), 560; R. Thomas Schaub, “Southeast Dead Sea Plain,” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, ed. Eric M. Meyers, vol. 5 (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1997), 62.
[6] Graves, The Location of Sodom, 121-24.
[7] ibid, 100-104.
[8] Steven Collins, “Rethinking the Location of Zoar: An Exercise in Biblical Geography,” Biblical Research Bulletin 4, no. 1 (2006): 1–5.
[9] Schaub, R. Thomas. “Southeast Dead Sea Plain.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, edited by Eric M. Meyers, 5:62–64. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1997.
[10] See David E. Graves and Scott Stripling, “Identification of Tall el-Hammam on the Madaba Map,” Bible and Spade 20, no. 2 (2007): 35–45.
[11] Graves, The Location of Sodom, 104-106.
[12] Konstantinos D. Politis, “Where Lot’s Daughters Seduced Their Father Excavations Reveal Commemorative Monastery,” Biblical Archaeology Review 30, no. 1 (2004): 20–31, 64; “The Monastery of Aghios Lot at Deir ‘Ain ‘Abata in Jordan”; Sanctuary of Lot at Deir ‘Ain ‘Abata in Jordan Excavations 1988–2003 (Amman: Jordan Distribution Agency, 2012.
[13]  Konstantinos D. Politis, “The Lost Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,” in The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World: Unlocking the Secrets of Past Civilizations, ed. Brian M Fagan (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2001), 37.
[14] Politis, "Sanctuary of Lot at Deir ‘Ain ‘Abata in Jordan Excavations 1988–2003," 31–36.
[15] Ibid., 57–78; Michele Piccirillo, ed., “Ricerca Storico-Archeologica In Giordania 16  - 1996,” Liber annuus Studii biblici franciscani 46 (1996): 413–14.
[16] Politis, “Sanctuary of Lot at Deir ‘Ain ‘Abata in Jordan Excavations 1988–2003,” 108–114, 179–366.

 © 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, Electronic Christian Media.

Map 10

The proposed northern locations for the Cities of the Plain in the kikkār.
© 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, ECM.

The proposed northern locations for the Cities of the Plain. The kikkār is indicated by the circle in the centre. The altitude in the Jordan Valley is given in negative numbers. In the upper left hand corner, the several options for Bethel and Ai are indicated; though these do not affect the general location from where Lot looked East across the kikkār to see the city of Sodom. © 2014 Dr. David E. Graves, Electronic Christian Media

Bonus 56 - Nebuchadnezzar II’s Brick

Baked brick fragment referring to Nebuchadnezzar II, with part
of an inscription that states: "Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
provider for Esagila and Ezida, eldest son of Nabopolassar, king
of Babylon". Exhibit in the Oriental Institute Museum, University
of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Public Domain

Ancient kings often used inscribed baked bricks1  in their constructions that would include the name, titles and patronymic names of the King. One such ceramic brick bears the name of Nebuchadnezzar II in cuneiform and was excavated by Robert Koldeway from the south-east corner of the southern citadel (Kasr) in the city of Babylon in 1900–1901.2.  It is one of the earliest stamps of Nebuchadnezzar (604–561 BC), and is now on display in Room 6 of the Museum of the Ancient Near East, Pergamum Museum, Berlin (VA 3862).
Quotes from Antiquity

It is translated as:

"King of Babylon, fosterer of Esagilaand Ezida, son of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon."3.

Other inscribed bricks have been identified for several Babylonian rulers such as Nabopolassar, Sardanapalus, Esarhaddon (ME 90248), Sennacherib (ME 90210), Sargon II (Vat. cat. 15025)..and Cyrus (ME 118362) 4.  Similar bricks are on display in the British Museum (ME 90081) and the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago (OIM A2502).

Footnotes
1. Koldeway identified three kinds of stamps used to produce the bricks: terra cotta pottery, wood moulded in sand to produce a bronze cast and stone cut moulds. Robert Koldewey, The Excavations at Babylon, trans. Agnes S. Johns (New York, N.Y.: MacMillan & Co., 1914), 75–76.
2. Ibid., vi.
3. Ibid., 75.
4. Ibid., 79–80.

Bonus 54 - Bethlehem Bulla

Bethlehem bulla.
Photograph by Clara Amit,
courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

In 2012 the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the discovery of a 2,700 year old bulla (clay seal) found in the City of David excavation in Jerusalem, that contained the name of Bethlehem.1. 

The small (1.5 cm) bulla (seal impression) bears the inscription:

Bishv’at [in the seventh]
Bat Lechem [Bethlehem]
[Lemel]ekh [for the king] 2.  

This inscription is the earliest mention of the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bulla seal was used to seal a document and identify the sender.3.

According to Eli Shukron, the director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority he reports:

it seems that in the seventh year of the reign of a king (it is unclear if the king referred to here is Hezekiah, Manasseh or Josiah), a shipment was dispatched from Bethlehem to the king in Jerusalem. The bulla we found belongs to the group of “fiscal” bullae – administrative bullae used to seal tax shipments remitted to the taxation system of the Kingdom of Judah in the late eighth and seventh centuries BCE. The tax could have been paid in the form of silver or agricultural produce such as wine or wheat”. Shukron emphasizes,” this is the first time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible, in an inscription from the First Temple period, which proves that Bethlehem was indeed a city in the Kingdom of Judah, and possibly also in earlier periods.4.  

Footnotes

• 1. Israel Antiquities Authority. “Earliest Archaeological Evidence of the Existence of the City of Bethlehem already in the First Temple Period.” (May 23, 2012), n.p.
• 2. Shanks, Hershel. “History of Bethlehem Documented by First Temple Period Bulla from the City of David: Jesus’ Birthplace in Ancient Bethlehem Confirmed as an Israelite City Centuries Earlier,” Biblical Archaeology Review, May 23, 2012, n.p.
• 3. Shanks, “History of Bethlehem Documented by First Temple Period Bulla from the City of David: Jesus’ Birthplace in Ancient Bethlehem Confirmed as an Israelite City Centuries Earlier.” (2012), n.p.
• 4. Israel Antiquities Authority. “Earliest Archaeological Evidence of the Existence of the City of Bethlehem already in the First Temple Period” (May 23, 2012), n.p.

For Further Study

• Deutsch, Robert. Biblical Period Hebrew Bullae. The Josef Chaim Kaufman Collection. Tel Aviv, Israel: Archaeological Center Publications, 2003.
• Israel Antiquities Authority. “Earliest Archaeological Evidence of the Existence of the City of Bethlehem already in the First Temple Period” (May 23, 2012), n.p.
• Jerome Murphy-O’Connor’s “Where Was Jesus Born? Bethlehem… Of Course” Bible Review, Feb 2000, 40-45, 50.
• Shanks, Hershel. “History of Bethlehem Documented by First Temple Period Bulla from the City of David: Jesus’ Birthplace in Ancient Bethlehem Confirmed as an Israelite City Centuries Earlier.” Biblical Archaeology Review,  May 23, 2012, n.p.
• Smith, Henry B. “Bethlehem: Seal Uncovered in the City of David.” Associates for Biblical Research, May 25, 2012, n.p.

Bonus 53 - Lachish Reliefs

Flaming arrows are fired at the city gate at Lachish during the siege
with the Jewish captives being led out of the conquered Judean.
Time is depicted as static as the captives would have been taken
away after the battle of Lachish.
Photo by David E. Graves. Trustees of the British Museum.

The only inscription which identifies the Lachish depicted in the reliefs reads:
“Sennacherib, the mighty king, king of the country of Assyria, sitting on the
throne of judgment, before (or at the entrance of) the city of Lachish (Lakhisha).
I give permission for its slaughter.” Austen H. Layard, Discoveries Among the
Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon (New York: Harper & Sons, 1853), 128.
Photo by David E. Graves. Trustees of the British Museum.

Artist recreation of the siege of Lachish based
on the reliefs now displayed in the British Museum.
Photo by David E. Graves
Trustees of the British Museum.

The Lachish reliefs are a group of stone reliefs carved in the walls (12 m. wide and 5.10 m. long) of the Palace of Sennacherib (704-681 BC) that depict the Assyrian victory over the kingdom of  Judah in the siege of Lachish (701 BC) one of Judah’s major cities. The Palace of Sennacherib was discovered by Austen Henry Layard between 1845-1847 and is today displayed in the British Museum (Room 10b).1.   The Bible mentions the siege of Lachish and that Hezekiah offered to pay tribute to Sennacherib to prevent the siege of Jerusalem (2 Kgs 18:13-16).

Following the siege of Lachish, Jerusalem was to be next, however the prophet Isaiah stated:

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him: …“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. (Isa 37:21, 33-36).

Footnotes

• 1. David Ussishkin, “The ‘Lachish Reliefs’ and the City of Lachish.” Israel Exploration Journal 30 (1980): 174-95.

For Further Study

• Grabbe, Lester. Like a Bird in a Cage: The Invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003.
• Graves, David E. Lachish Bibliography LINK
• Paul, Evans. The Invasion of Sennacherib in the Book of Kings: A Source-Critical and Rhetorical Study of 2 Kings 18-19. IDC Publisher, 2009.
• Israel, Finkelstein The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History of Early Israel: Invited Lectures Delivered at the Sixth Biennial Colloquium. Society of Biblical literature, 2007.
• Layard, Austen H. Discoveries Among the  Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon. New York: Harper & Sons, 1853.
• Ussishkin, David. “The ‘Lachish Reliefs’ and the City of Lachish.” Israel Exploration Journal 30 (1980): 174-95.

Bonus 51 - Azekah Inscription

Azekah Inscription tablets (British Museum no. 81-3-13, 131) .
Photo from Hayim Tadmor “The Campaigns of Sargon II of Assur: A
Chronological-Historical Study (Conclusion)” Journal of Cuneiform
Studies 12, No. 3 (1958): 80. The Trustees of the British Museum.

Azekah Inscription tablets (British Museum K.6205 + BM 82-3-23,131).
Photo from Na’aman, Nadav. “Sennacherib’s ‘Letter to God’ on His
Campaign to Judah.”  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental
Research 214 (Apr., 1974): 27. Trustees of the British Museum.

Azekah Inscription tablets (K6205 + 81-3-13, 131, British Museum) are several Akkadian cuneiform tablets, discovered in 1903 by Henry Rawlinson in the Library of Ashurbanipal,1.  but identified as belonging to a single tablet by Nadav Na’aman in 1974. 2.  Initially scholars believed that the K 6205 tablet belonged to the military campaign of Tiglath-pileser III, 3. while the 81-3-13, 131 tablet 4. belonged to the military campaign of Sargon II. 5.  While Shea argues that the joined text now refers to the Sennacherib’s second campaign in 689 BC, 6.  most scholars still maintain the campaigns of Sargon II. 7.

The relevance for biblical studies is that the tablets reportedly mention the Assyrian attack by Sennacherib against Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and the conquest of Azekah (2 Kgs 18-19, 2 Chron 32). 8.
The inscription on the combined tablet has been translated as follows:

(3) […Ashur, my lord, encourage]ed me and against the land of Ju[dah I marched. In] the course of my campaign, the tribute of the ki[ng(s)... (4) […with the mig]ht of Ashur, my lord, the province of [Hezek]iah of Judah like […(5) […] the city of Azekah, his stronghold, which is between my [bo]rder and the land of Judah […(6) [like the nest of the eagle? ] located on a mountain ridge, like pointed iron daggers without number reaching high to heaven […(7) [Its walls] were strong and ricaled the highest mountains, to the (mere) sight, as if from the sky [appears its head? …(8) [by means of beaten (earth) ra]mps, mighty? Battering rams brought near, the work of […], with the attack by foot soldiers, [my] wa[rriors…(9) […] they had seen [the approach of my cav]alry and they had heard the roar of the mighty troops of the god Ashur and [their] he[arts] became afraid […(10) [The city Azekah I besieged,] I captured, I carried off its spoil, I destroyed, I devastated, [I burned with fire… 9.

Although not the final word on the subject, Becking points out:

The joined text forms a part of a “Letter to the deity” written by Sennacherib after his campaign against Juda [sic Judah] in 701 BCE. Therefore the Azriyau of the Annals of Tiglath Pileser III is nowadays interpreted as a rebel from the area of Hamath. As a result of this reconsideration of the sources a Judaean or Israelite interference in the coalition of 738 BCE is very unlikely. 10. 

 Footnotes

• 1. Henry Rawlinson, The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, Bd. III: A Selection from the Miscellaneous Inscriptions of Assyria, Bowler, 1870.
• 2. Nadav Na’aman, “Sennacherib’s ‘Letter to God’ on His Campaign to Judah.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 214 (Apr., 1974): 25-39
• 3. P. Rost, Die Keilinschrifttexte Tiglat Pilesers III (Leipzig: Pfeiffer), 18-20; Hayim Tadmor, “The Campaigns of Sargon II of Assur.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 12, no. 3 (1958): 80-84.
• 4. H. Winckler. Altorientalische Forschungen II, 570-574
• 5. Nadav Na’aman, “Sennacherib’s ‘Letter to God’ on His Campaign to Judah.”  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 214 (Apr., 1974): 26-28.
• 6. William H. Shea, “Sennacherib’s Second Palestinian Campaign,” Journal of Biblical Literature 104, no. 3 (1985): 404-407.
• 7. Hayim Tadmor, “The Campaigns of Sargon II of Assur: A Chronological-Historical Study (Conclusion),” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 12, no. 3 (1958): 80-84.
• 8. See Shea for the debate over the details. Shea, “Sennacherib’s Second Palestinian Campaign,” 404-407.
• 9. David Miano and Sarah Miano, eds., Milk and Honey: Essays on Ancient Israel and the Bible in Appreciation of the Judaic Studies Program at the University of California (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2007), 126; David Miano, Shadow on the Steps: Time Measurement in Ancient Israel, Resources for Biblical Study 64 (Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010). 235; .
• 10. Bob Becking, The Fall of Samaria: An Historical and Archaeological Study (Leiden: Brill, 1992), 3.

For Further Study

• Becking, Bob. The Fall of Samaria: An Historical and Archaeological Study. Leiden: Brill, 1992.
• Borger, Riekele. Babylonisch-Assyrische Lesestucke: Heft I: Elemente der Grammatik und der Schrift Ubungsbeispiele Glossar. II:Die Texte in Umschrift. III: Kommentar die Texte in Keilschrift. Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1963.
• Borger, Riekele. Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments. Edited by Otto Kaiser. Gütersloh, 1984  I, 4, 370.
• Dalley, Stephanie. “Yahweh in Hamath in the 8th Century BC: Cuneiform Material and Historical Deductions.” Vetus Testamentum 40, no. 1 (1990): 21-32 
• Miano, David, and Sarah Miano, eds. Milk and Honey: Essays on Ancient Israel and the Bible in Appreciation of the Judaic Studies Program at the University of California. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2007.
• Miano, David. Shadow on the Steps: Time Measurement in Ancient Israel. Resources for Biblical Study 64. Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010.
• Na’aman, Nadav. “Sennacherib’s ‘Letter to God’ on His Campaign to Judah.”  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 214 (Apr., 1974):  25-39.
• Na’aman, Nadav. “Sennacherib’s Campaign to Judah and the Date of the lmlk Stamps.”  Vetus Testamentum 29, no. 1 (1979): 61-86.
• Rawlinson, Henry. The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, Bd. III: A Selection from the Miscellaneous Inscriptions of Assyria, Bowler, 1870.
• Shea, William H. “Sennacherib’s Second Palestinian Campaign.”  Journal of Biblical Literature 104, no. 3 (1985): 401-18. 
• Tadmor, Hayim. “The Campaigns of Sargon II of Assur: A Chronological-Historical Study (Conclusion).” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 12, no. 3 (1958): 77-100. 22 f. 80-84.

Bonus 50 - Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription

Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription (Israel Museum, Jerusalem).
Public Domain

Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription is a limestone slab discovered during the excavations at Tel Miqne that confirms it identification as Ekron one of the five Philistine capital cities described in the Bible. Gitin, Dothan and Naveh describe the implications of this important discovery:

The inscription is unique because it contains the name of a biblical city and five of its rulers, two of whom are mentioned as kings in texts other than the Bible. The only such inscription found in situ in a securely defined, datable archaeological context, it has far-reaching implications for our understanding of the history of Ekron and Philistia. 1.

The inscription is translated as:

1) The temple (which) he built, ’kys [Achish, Ikausu] son of Padi, son of 2). Ysd, son of Ada, son of Ya’ir, ruler of Ekron, 3). for Ptgyh his lady. May she bless him, and 4). prote[ct] him, and prolong his days, and bless 5). his [l]and. 2.

Scholars generally accept that the name Ikausu (Heb ’kys) in the Ekron inscription is the same as Achish, the Philistine king of Gath from the time of Saul and Solomon (1 Sam 21:11-16; Chapters 27-29; 1 Kgs 2:39-40). 3.

And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” 12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” 1 Sam. 21:11-1.

Footnotes

• 1. Seymour Gitin, Trude Dothan and Joseph Naveh. “Ekron Identity Confirmed,” Archaeology 51, no. 1 (1998): 30.
• 2. Seymour Gitin, Trude Dothan and Joseph Naveh. “A Royal Dedicatory Inscription from Ekron.” Israel Exploration Journal 47, No. 1/2 (1997): 9.
• 3. Gitin, Dothan and Naveh. “A Royal Dedicatory Inscription from Ekron,” 11.

For Further Study

• Gitin, Seymour, Trude Dothan and Joseph Naveh. “A Royal Dedicatory Inscription from Ekron.” Israel Exploration Journal 47, No. 1/2 (1997): 1-16.
• Gitin, Seymour, Trude Dothan and Joseph Naveh. “Ekron Identity Confirmed,” Archaeology 51, no. 1 (1998): 30–31.
• James, P., “The date of the Ekron inscription — a note,” Israel Exploration Journal 55, no. 1 (2005): 90–93.
• Joseph Naveh, “Studies in West-Semitic Epigraphy,” Jerusalem (2009), 359-374.

Bonus 48 - Winged Bull of Sargon II

Colossal winged bull (lamassu) from Dur-Sharrukin
Trustees of the British Museum

In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it—2 at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot… And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’ (Isaiah 20:1-2, 6 ESV).

Until the end of the 19th century many scholars did not believe that Sargon, mentioned in the Bible (Isa 20:1), was a real historical character. They claim the biblical writers mistakenly wrote Sargon for one of the other Assyrian kings. As Holloway points out:

Prior to the excavation of Khorsabad and the identification of its builder with Sargon, early nineteenth-century biblical exegetes tended to be puzzled by the obscure Sargon... Although a handful of biblical exegetes would remain agnostic regarding Sargon’s independent existence, the Louvre exhibits from the “French Nineveh” and translations of the Khorsabad inscriptions signaled a complete victory for Sargon (II) as a textbook entity by the 1860’s.1. 

Between 1842 and 1944, the French archaeologist Paul-Emile Botta, excavated the Palace of Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukin (“the fortress of Sargon,” modern Khorsabad) and discovered the two colossal winged bulls (lamassu) (710-705 BC) with inscriptions. 2.  However, because of their size the French abandoned them at the site and in 1849 the British archaeologist Sir Henry Rawlinson bought them and solved the problem of their size (16 tons) by cutting them into pieces for easy transport back to the British Museum. King Sargon’s achievements and titles are inscribed in a detailed cuneiform inscription that resides between the legs of the winged bull. The inscription also described Sargon’s capture of Samaria (Isa 20:6) and the destruction of Ashdod in 711 BC (room 14). The Sargon prism inscription states:

25 [The inhabitants of Sa]merina, who 28) agreed 25) with a king 26 [hostile (?) to ] me, not to endure servitude 27 [and not to br]ing tribute 28 [to Ashur (?)], did battle. 29 [Wit]h the power of the great gods, my [lord]s 30 [aga]inst them I foug[ht]. 31 [2]7,280 people, together with [their] chariots, 32 and the gods, in which they trusted, as spoil 33 I counted. With 200 chariots for [my] royal force 34 from them I formed a unit. 35 The rest of them 36 I settled in the midst of Assyria. 37 I repopulated Samerina more than before. 38 People from countries, conquered by my hands, 39 I brought in it. My commissioner 40 I appointed as Governor over them. 41 I counted them as Assyrians. (Nimrud Prism IV 25-41 [Becking]) 3.

Although the Bible records Shalmaneser as the Assyrian king when the siege began, Sargon may well have been the ruling king when Samaria fell to the Assyrians. 4.

Footnotes

• 1. Holloway, Steven W. “The Quest for Sargon, Pul and Tiglath-Pileser in the Nineteenth Century.” in  Mesopotamia and the Bible. Edited by Mark W. Chavalas (London: A&C Black, 2003), 69-71; J. G. Eichhorn, Einleitung in des Alte Testament, IV 4th ed. (Gottingen: Rosenbusch, 1924): 387-89.
• 2. Paul Emile Botta and Eugene Flandin, Monument de Ninive, in 5 volumes, Imprimerie nationale, 1946-1950.
• 3. Bob Becking, The Fall of Samaria: An Historical and Archaeological Study (SHANE, 2: Leiden: Brill, 1992), 29-30; C. J. Gadd, “Inscribed Prisms of Sargon II from Nimrud,” Iraq 16 (1954): 173-201, Pl. xliv-li.
• 4. For a discussion of the chronological and historical difficulties see Bob Becking, The Fall of Samaria: An Historical and Archaeological Study (SHANE, 2: Leiden: Brill, 1992), 30-32.

For Further Study

• Albenda, Pauline. The Palace of Sargon, King of Assyria: Monumental Wall Reliefs at Dur-Sharrukin, from Original Drawings Made at the Time of Their Discovery in 1843-1844 by Botta and Flandin. Paris, France: Editions Recherche sur les civilisations, 1986.
• Becking, Bob. The Fall of Samaria: An Historical and Archaeological Study. SHANE, 2: Leiden: Brill, 1992.
• Bonomi, Joseph. Ninevah and Its Palaces: The Discoveries of Botta and Layard, Applied to the Elucidation of Holy Writ, Bohn, 1957; Reprint, Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias Press, 2003.
• Caubet, A. Khorsabad: le palais de Sargon II, roi d'Assyrie: Actes du colloque organisé au musée du Louvre par le Services culturel les 21 et 22 janvier 1994, La Documentation française, 1996, ISBN 2-11-003416-5
• Collon, D. Ancient Near Eastern Art. London: The British Museum Press, 1995.
• Fant, Clyde E., and Mitchell Glenn Reddish. Lost Treasures of the Bible: Understanding the Bible Through Archaeological Artifacts in World Museums. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2008, 138-39.
• Franklin, N. “The Room V Reliefs at Dur-Sharrukin and Sargon II’s Western Campaigns.” Tel Aviv 21 (1994): 255-75. 
• Fuchs, Andreas. Die Inschriften Sargons II. aus Khorsabad, Cuvillier, 1994.
• Gadd, C. J. “Inscribed Prisms of Sargon II from Nimrud,” Iraq 16 (1954): 173-201, Pl. xliv-li.
• Holloway, Steven W. “The Quest for Sargon, Pul and Tiglath-Pileser in the Nineteenth Century.” Pages 68-87 in  Mesopotamia and the Bible. Mark W. Chavalas, ed. London: A&C Black, 2003. 
• Loud, Gordon. Khorsabad, Pt. 1: Excavations in the Palace and at a City Gate. Vol 38. Oriental Institute Publications, 1936.
• Loud, Gordon; Altman, C. B. Khorsabad, Pt. 2: The Citadel and the Town. Vol. 40. Oriental Institute Publications, 1938.
• Poebel, Arno. “The Assyrian King-List from Khorsabad,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 1, No. 3 (July 1942): 247-306.
• Poebel, Arno. “The Assyrian King List from Khorsabad (Continued).” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 1, no. 4 (1942): 460–492.
• Reade, J. E. Assyrian sculpture-1. London: The British Museum Press, 1998.

Bonus 46 - Royal Steward Inscription

An inscription from Silwan (Siloam), from the lintel of a royal steward's tomb.
The name is largely obliterated (only the last two letters, "hw", survive), but is
believed to be Shebna-yahu. See also [1]. - British Museum WA 125205
Photo by Mustafaa Public Domain

The Royal Steward Inscription or Shebna Inscription is a Hebrew inscription from a lintel over a tomb discovered at Siloam (Silwan) in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem in 1870. 1.  In 1871 the British Museum purchased the limestone inscription from the French archaeologist Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau. Although severely damaged and only two letters of the name (hw) preserved the title of the occupants position is preserved and reads “over the house” of the king. With the help of the date of the script the inscription was finally deciphered in 1953 by the Israeli epigrapher Nahman Avigad after Yigal Yadin suggested that the name was Shebna. 2. 

Avigad’s translation reads:

“1) This  is  [the  sepulchre  of...]yahu  who  is  over  the  house.  There  is  no  silver  and  no  gold  here  2) but  [his  bones]  and  the  bones  of  his  slave-wife  with  him.  Cursed  be  the  man  3)  who  will  open  this! 3. 

The British Museum translates the text as

"This is ... [the tomb of Shebna] ...iah, the royal steward. There is no silver or gold here, only ... [his bones] ... and the bones of his maidservant with him. Cursed be the man who opens this" 4. 

The inscription over the cave is accepted by most scholars as the tomb of Shebna, the royal steward of King Hezekiah (716-686 BC) who is mentioned in Isaiah 22:15. 5. 


Footnotes

• 1. This tomb is among the necropolis of the Kidron Valley among the tombs of other notable people such as Jehoshaphat, Absalom, Zechariah and others. Nahman Avigad, “The Epitaph of a Royal Steward from Siloam Village,” Israel Exploration Journal 3, no. 3 (1953): 138.
• 2. Nahman Avigad, “The Epitaph of a Royal Steward from Siloam Village,” Israel Exploration Journal 3, no. 3 (1953): 137–152, Pls. 8–11; Robert Deutsch, “Tracking Down Shebnayahu, Servant of the King.” Biblical Archeology Review 35, no. 3 (May/Jun 2009): 45; Clermont-Ganneau did speculate that the name might be Shebnah. Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau, Archaeological Researches in Palestine, I. (London: Palestine Exploration Fund, 1899): 313.
• 3. Nahman Avigad, “The Epitaph of a Royal Steward from Siloam Village,” Israel Exploration Journal 3, no. 3 (1953): 143.
• 4. The British Museum
• 5. Deutsch, Robert, “Tracking Down Shebnayahu, Servant of the King.” Biblical Archaeology Review 35, no. 3 (May/Jun 2009): 45-49, 67.

For Further Study

• André, Parrot. “Review of N. Avigad.— The Epitaph of a Royal Steward from Siloam Village.” Syria 31, no. 3 (1954): 355–56.
• Avigad, Nahman. “The Epitaph of a Royal Steward from Siloam Village,” Israel Exploration Journal 3, no. 3 (1953): 137–152, Pls. 8–11.
•  Avigad, Nahman. “The Second Tomb-Inscription of the Royal Steward,” Israel Exploration Journal 5, no. 3 (1955): 163-166.
• Clermont-Ganneau, Charles Simon. Archaeological Researches in Palestine, I. London: Palestine Exploration Fund, 1899, 305-313.
• Clermont-Ganneau, Charles Simon. Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, London: Palestine Exploration Fund, 1871 103.
• Colon, D. Ancient Near East Art. London: British Museum Press, 1995.
• Deutsch, Robert, “Tracking Down Shebnayahu, Servant of the King.” Biblical Archaeology Review 35, no. 3 (May/Jun 2009): 45-49, 67.
• Frances, F. (Ed), Treasures of the British Museum. London: British Museum Press, 1972
• Ussishkin, David. “On the Shorter Inscription from the ‘Tomb of the Royal Steward.’” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 196 (1969): 16–22.

Bonus 43 - Seal of Shema

Cast of Seal Inscribed: 'Shema, Servant Of Jerobam',
Found In Megiddo, Possibly Jerobam II. King of Israel,
9th. Cent. BC. Photo Z. Radovan.

While excavating Megiddo (1903-1905) Gottlieb Schumacher uncovered a seal made of jasper in 1904 within courtyard 1693, near the northern wall, engraved with a roaring lion (the symbol of Judah) and accompanied by an inscription which read “(Belonging) to Shemac (the) Servant (of) Jeroboam.” 1.   Most scholars agree that the inscription refers to Jeroboam II, king of Israel (ca. 787-747 BC; 2 Kgs 14:23-25). 2.  

The seal was first published by E. Kautzsch in 1904 and then by S. A. Cook in 1904 followed by Schumacher in 1908 (p. 99-100) and S. Watzinger in 1929 (p. 64-67).

Footnotes

• 1. G. Schumacher and C. Steuernagel, Tell el- Mutesellim I: A. Text (Leipzig, 1908), pp. 99-100, Fig. 147.
• 2. S. Yeivin, “The Date of the Seal ‘Belonging to Shemaʿ (The) Servant (Of) Jeroboam.’” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 19, no. 3 (1960): 205. See C. Watzinger, Tell el-Mutesellim II: Die Funde (Leipzig, 1929): 66-67. S. Yeivin (1960) and G. W. Ahlstrom (1993) argue for Jerooam I. S. Yeivin, “The Date of the Seal ‘Belonging to Shemaʿ (The) Servant (Of) Jeroboam.’” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 19, no. 3 (1960): 205.

For Further Study

• Ahlstrom, Gosta W. "The Seal of Shema." Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 7 1993, 208-15.
• Fant, Clyde E., and Mitchell Glenn Reddish. Lost Treasures of the Bible: Understanding the Bible Through Archaeological Artifacts in World Museums. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2008.
• Lubetski, Meir, and Edith Lubetski, eds. New Inscriptions and Seals Relating to the Biblical World. Atlanta, Ga.: SBL, 2012.
• Mykytiuk, Lawrence J. Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E. SBL Academia Biblica 12. Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004, 133-39.
• Ussishkin, David. “Gate 1567 at Megiddo and the Seal of Shema, Servant of Jeroboam,” in Scripture and Other Artifacts: Essays on the Bible and Archaeology in Honor of Phillip J. King, Michael D. Googan et. al. (Louisville: Westminster/ Knox 1994), 410-428.
• Yeivin, S. “The Date of the Seal ‘Belonging to Shemaʿ (The) Servant (Of) Jeroboam.’” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 19, no. 3 (1960): 205–12.

Bonus 42 - Pomegranate Inscription

A re-constructioned photo of
artifact reconstructed as if fully intact.
Public Domain

Perhaps one of the most famous and controversial artifacts is what is called the “Ivory Pomegranate,” which came to the world’s attention in 1979 from an antiquities shop in Jerusalem, when it was announced to the world and published by the famous French epigrapher, André Lemaire.1. Although it is a small artifact (43 mm or 1.68″ high) it contains an inscription that is important if authentic, since it is reportedly translated as “Belonging to the Temp[le of Yahwe]h, holy to the priests.”2. It would be the only evidence of the Temple of Solomon in existence if proven authentic and thus the debate over it being a forgery. It was purchased by the Israel Museum in 1988 for $550,000 and claimed to be authentic by the senor professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, Nahman Avigad.3. However, one of his students Aharon Kempinski challenged his claim and argued that it was a scepter head from a scepter from the temple of Asherah.4. The debate over its authenticity is still pending.5.  


Footnotes

• 1. André Lemaire, “Une inscription paleo-hebraique sur grenade en ivoire,” Revue Biblique 88 (1981): 236–39
• 2. Shanks, Hershal. “The Pomegranate Scepter Head—From the Temple of the Lord or from a Temple of Asherah?” Biblical Archaeology Review 18:03 (May/June 1992), 42.
• 3. Nahman Avigad, Avigad, Nahman. “An Inscribed Ivory Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’,” Qadmoniot 22, no. 3-4 (1989): 95-102 (Hebrew); “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord,’” The Israel Museum Journal 8 (1989): 7; Yuval Goren et al., “A Re-Examination of the Inscribed Ivory Pomegranate from the Israel Museum,” Israel Exploration Journal 55 (2005): 3.
• 4. Kempinski, Aharon. “Is It Really a Pomegranate from the ‘Temple of Yahweh?’” Qadmoniot 23 (1990): 126 (in Hebrew).
• 5. Shanks, Hershel. “First Person: A New Target.”  Biblical Archaeology Review November/December 2014.

For further Study
Ahituv, Shmuel, Aaron Demsky, Yuval Goren and André Lemaire (2007). “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the Israel Museum Examined Again”. Israel Exploration Journal 57 (1): 87–95
Anzy, Michal “Prize Find: Pomegranate Scepters and Incense Stand with Pomegranates Found in Priest’s Grave,” Biblical Archaeology Review 16:01
Avigad, Nahman “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’.” Ancient Jerusalem Revealed, Geva, H. (ed.), Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1994, 128-137.
Avigad, Nahman. “An Inscribed Ivory Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’,” Qadmoniot 22, no. 3-4 (1989): 95-102 (Hebrew).
Avigad, Nahman. “It Is Indeed a Pomegranate from the ‘Temple of Yahweh,’” Qadmoniot 24 (1991), 60- (in Hebrew).
Avigad, Nahman. “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’.” The Israel Museum Journal 8 (1989): 7-16.
Avigad, Nahman. “The inscribed Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’.” The Biblical Archaeologist 53 (September 1990), 157-166.
Dobbs F. W. et al., Hebrew Inscriptions, texts from the Biblical Period of the Monarchy with Concordance, Yale University Press, New Haven (2005)
Goren, Yuval, Shmuel Aḥituv, Avner Ayalon, Miryam Bar-Matthews, Uzi Dahari, Michal Dayagi-Mendels, Aaron Demsky and Nadav Levin. “Authenticity examination of the ivory pomegranate bearing a palaeo-Hebrew dedication inscription from the Israel Museum.” Israel Exploration Journal 55, no 1 (2005), 3-20.
Goren. Yuval et al., “A Re-Examination of the Inscribed Ivory Pomegranate from the Israel Museum,” Israel Exploration Journal 55 (2005): 3-20.
Goren. Yuval et al., “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the Israel Museum Examined Again,” Israel Exploration Journal 57 (2007): 87-
Kempinski, Aharon. “Is It Really a Pomegranate from the ‘Temple of Yahweh?’” Qadmoniot 23 (1990), p. 126 (in Hebrew).
Lemaire, André. “A Re-examination of the Inscribed Pomegranate: A Rejoinder,” Israel Exploration Journal 56 (2006), 167-.
Lemaire, André. “Probable Head of Priestly Scepter from Solomon’s Temple Surfaces in Jerusalem,” Biblical Archaeology Review 10 no. 1 (January/February 1984), 24-29.
Lemaire, André. “Une inscription paleo-hebraique sur grenade en ivoire,” Revue Biblique 88 (1981): 236–39.
Shanks, Hershal. “The Pomegranate Scepter Head—From the Temple of the Lord or from a Temple of Asherah?” Biblical Archaeology Review 18, no. 3 (May/June 1992): 42-5.
Shanks, Hershel. “First Person: A New Target. ” November/December 2014 Biblical Archaeology Review 2014. http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/first-person-a-new-target/
Shanks, Hershel. “Pomegranate, Sole Relic from Solomon’s Temple, Smuggled out of Israel, Now Recovered.” Moment 13 (1988): 36-43.
Ward, Cheryl. “Pomegranates in Eastern Mediterranean Contexts during the Late Bronze Age.” World Archaeology 34, no. 3 (2002): 529-541.