Archaeology

“Prior to construction of a new road in northern Israel, archaeologists and local volunteers discovered a 1,500-year-old Greek inscription reading ‘Christ born of Mary.’ The inscription, which also mentions the early Christian bishop Theodosius, was on a stone portion of a doorway to a Byzantine church.” - C. Leaders

“The IAA researchers believe the bronze lamp, shaped like a grotesque face cut in half and estimated to be from the late first century or the early second century CE, was put in the foundation of the building in Jerusalem’s City of David for good fortune” - C.Post

“Of course, the greater object of derision is the ‘God’ on the cross, pictured with the head of an ass. This blasphemous touch shows the contempt that the Son of God received when He suffered this kind of death.” - Veith

Last week, “Israeli archaeologists announced the discovery of dozens of Dead Sea Scroll fragments bearing biblical texts. The fragments of parchment include lines of Greek text from the books of Zechariah and Nahum. Based on the writing style, they have been dated to around the first century AD.” - TGC

“The Israel Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday that a four-year archaeological project uncovered portions of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets, including the books of Zechariah and Nahum.” - NBC

“Idan Dershowitz, 38, now claims the manuscript is, indeed, real and far older than Shapira thought. Dershowitz published his claims and arguments in a paper released earlier this month, ‘The Valediction of Moses: New Evidence on the Shapira Deuteronomy Fragments.’” - Fox

“In order to show why Tall el-Hammam, should not be identified as biblical Sodom, this paper proceeds by answering the following questions: (1) When was Sodom destroyed? (2) How should the lifespans of the patriarchs be understood? (3) Was Sodom inhabited again after its destruction?” - AiG

“The color purple appears several times in the Bible, usually in a robe draping one of the kings of ancient Israel. But the search for an authentic artifact dyed the royal color from the time of King David has always proved elusive.” - C.Today

“Archaeology reminds us of the ‘earthiness’ of the biblical accounts. As a field archaeologist at the site of Bethsaida, next to the Sea of Galilee, I oversaw the excavation area of the New Testament/Roman domestic quarter. Not only did we uncover some of the houses from that time, but we found lots of fishing gear, such as hooks and weights, inside the houses.” - TGC

“The handover of the artifacts, which included manuscript fragments, funeral masks, parts of coffins, and the heads of statues, was preceded by extensive discussions with Egyptian officials that started in late 2017, MOTB Chairman of the Board Steve Green said in a statement last week.” - C.Post