Biblical evidence unearthed

For my 40th birthday, my husband surprised me with tickets to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto.

I spent hours touring the exhibit. I found it truly fascinating to see the documents, sites, and artifacts of history.

But it didn’t compare to the time I travelled to Israel and was able to “touch” history.

In 2013, a group of Christians from Canada visited Israel for 10 days. Our tour guide took us to many places including the site of the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

I was delighted to see the archaeological digs the tour guide took us to. Bible passages took on new meaning for me once I saw the actual proof of what was written. To see the Bible come alive left an imprint on my heart.

We toured Capernaum and saw the remains of what’s believed to be the apostle Peter’s house. This was discovered in 1968. In the same city, they discovered ruins of a synagogue. One of our group members wanted to touch the stones believed to be placed when Jesus taught.

And in 1986, they pulled out a 1st-century fishing boat like those used by Jesus’ disciples on the Sea of Galilee.

There are many other finds that support what is written in the Bible. For example, in 1838, a tunnel built by King Hezekiah to protect Jerusalem’s water supply was discovered.

As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? (2 Kings 20:20, NIV)

In 1868, they discovered a stone with an inscription by King Mesha of Moab describing his rebellion as recorded in the Bible. (2 Kings 3:4–5)

A pool with five porticoes, thought to be the Pool of Bethesda as described in John’s Gospel, was discovered in 1888. (John 5:2)

Between 1899–1917, the ruins of Babylon, including inscriptions mentioning King Belshazzar were discovered in Iraq. This confirmed the existence of Belshazzar, once doubted by historians. (Daniel 5:30–31)

And the biblical account of Jericho’s destruction in Joshua 6:20 was confirmed by collapsed walls found in 1907.

When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. (Joshua 6:20, NIV)

More recently in 1979, they discovered two silver amulets in Jerusalem inscribed with the Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers. (Numbers 6:24–26) These scrolls are the oldest known biblical texts, dated around 600 BCE.

In 1990, they discovered a burial box inscribed with the name of Caiaphas in Jerusalem. This confirmed Caiaphas as a historical high priest.

Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. (Matthew 26:57, NIV)

At the Tel Dan site in Israel, they unearthed a stone inscription mentioning the “House of David.” This 1994 discovery showed David as a real historical figure. (2 Samuel 7:16)

The Pool of Siloam, as found in John’s gospel, was located in 2004. Unfortunately, I missed the day of the tour to the pool because I was unwell, but the other members of the group showed me pictures.

“Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. (John 9:7, NIV)

It’s exciting to think that a more recent discovery in 2021 of soil and rock samples in a boat-shaped geological formation matches the dimensions of Noah’s Ark as described in the Bible. They were discovered near the Turkey-Iran border and date between 3,500 and 5,000 years, aligning with the biblical timeline of the flood.

These are only some of the many archaeological evidences of the truth of the Bible writings. If interested, you can “dig” further into Biblical archaeology studies.