Five Significant Biblical Archaeological Discoveries Of 2021

            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 12^th January 2022.