Every year
the Bible’s credibility/trustworthiness is further augmented by archaeological
discoveries. These are five significant biblical archaeological discoveries of
the year 2021:
1. Second Synagogue in
Magdala (December 2021)
A second
2000-year-old synagogue was discovered late last year. Biblical archaeologists
consider it plausible that this synagogue could have been visited by the Lord
Jesus!1 If so, this discovery affirms the ministry of the Lord Jesus
as stated in Matthew 9:35.2
This
synagogue is located at Migdal (or its ancient name Magdala), which is also the
birthplace and the hometown of Mary Magdalene.3
2. Gideon’s Jug (July
2021)
A fragment
of a pottery jug dated 1100 years before Christ was discovered in July 2021, “An
ostracon (a pottery sherd with writing) bearing the name Jerubbaal, has been
unearthed at Khirbat er-Ra‘I, located near the ancient city of Lachish.
Jerubbaal (“Let Baal contend against him”) was the nickname that Gideon was
given after he destroyed the altar of Baal (Judges 6:32). The ostracon dates to
the 12th-11th century BC (ie. the time of the Judges) based on typology and
radiocarbon dating from organic samples taken from the same archaeological
layer in which it was found. The name Jerubbaal is only ever used for Gideon in
the Bible, and this is the first discovery of it in an archaeological context.”4
This jug
need not necessarily belong to the biblical Gideon because Gideon lived 100
years prior to the dating of this jug.5 “Regardless, this discovery
is significant in that it affirms the name Jerubbaal was used during the time
the Bible describes.”6
3. Dead Sea Fragments
(March 2021)
Additional
Dead Sea Scroll parchments were discovered for the first time in almost 60
years! These parchments included verses from Zechariah 8:16-17 and Nahum 1:5-6
written in ancient Greek. This discovery was significant because of the
presence of “two interesting aspects: (1) A special treatment for the
Tetragrammaton (the transliteration of the Hebrew name of God in four letters
YHWH), and (2) Evidence of changing words to improve a new translation.7
4. Sandstone
Inscription of the Egyptian Pharaoh Hophra (June 2021)
“A stela
naming the Egyptian Pharaoh Wahibre (known as Hophra in Hebrew, Apries in
Greek) was recently found by a farmer who was cultivating his field; he
immediately turned it over to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and
Antiquities... The Bible records that King Zedekiah rebelled against
the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar (Ez 17:15), who had placed him on the
throne (2 Kgs 24:15-17), and turned to Egypt for help. Hophra’s army marched to
Zedekiah’s aid, and Nebuchadnezzar’s army withdrew from attacking Jerusalem
(Jer. 37:5-8). It will be interesting to see if the recently-discovered stele
of Hophra is related to this campaign. Pharaoh Hophra is mentioned by name in
Jeremiah 44:30, which reads, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I am going to hand
Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies who seek his life, just as I
handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy
who was seeking his life.’” It should be
noted that, the stela was discovered in Ismailia, Egypt, only 29 miles south of
the ancient city of Taphanhes, where Jeremiah had been taken (Jer. 43:6-7) and
from where he made the prophecy against Pharaoh Hophra (Jer. 44:1).”8
5. Missing Wall of
Biblical Jerusalem (July 2021)
The “Israel
Antiquities Authority announced the groundbreaking discovery of the eastern
section of Jerusalem’s Iron Age wall. The wall, stretching along the eastern
slope of the Kidron Valley, was uncovered in the City of David Archaeological
Park, a short distance from the Temple Mount. Stamps seals and other objects
found along the wall allowed the excavators to date the wall to the Iron Age,
indicating that it was likely part of the fortifications built by King Hezekiah
(Isaiah 22:9), as he prepared for the Assyrian invasion (c. 701 B.C.E.). This
also would have been the very same wall that was ultimately destroyed during
the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem about a century later (2 Kings 25:10).”9
This discovery “conclusively proves that
Jerusalem was strongly fortified during the time of the kings of Judah.”10
ENDNOTES:
1https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/december/biblical-archaeology-top-10-discoveries-new-artifacts-2021.html
2https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/12/28/top-ten-discoveries-in-biblical-archaeology-in-2021/
3https://www.timesofisrael.com/second-ancient-synagogue-found-in-migdal-alters-ideas-of-jewish-life-2000-years-ago/
4https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/12/28/top-ten-discoveries-in-biblical-archaeology-in-2021/
5https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/december/biblical-archaeology-top-10-discoveries-new-artifacts-2021.html
6https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/12/28/top-ten-discoveries-in-biblical-archaeology-in-2021/
7https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2021/05/latest-dead-sea-scrolls-discovery-what.html
8https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/12/28/top-ten-discoveries-in-biblical-archaeology-in-2021/
9https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/missing-wall-of-biblical-jerusalem-discovered/
10https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/2021s-top-ten-stories-in-bhd/
Websites last accessed on 12th January 2022.
