Santa Ana Orange County Register Newspaper Archives December 14, 1996 Page 28

Santa Ana Orange County Register (Newspaper) - December 14, 1996, Santa Ana, California News 18focus on religion the Orange county Register j saturday dec. 14, 1996 a looking for proof Bible stones discoveries archaeological finds Are providing hard evidence for several events in the Bible that had been considered myths. By David Briggs the associated press from Hazor Israel a Muon Ben tor is an archaeologist who doubts anything he can to dig up. He takes nothing in the Bible on Faith. Yet standing in a Trench on a hot Barren Mountainside he stares into the fire blackened Stone and sees an army destroying the canaanite City of Hazor 3,200 years ago. Just As it says in the Book of Joshua. A Shazor was destroyed by fire when the invading israelite claimed their promised land Ben tor says. A nobody can prove to me the Story in Joshua is entirely from the Northern Hills of Israel to the desert of Yemen a string of recent archaeological discoveries have provided the first hard evidence for a number of biblical figures and events Many of which had been widely dismissed As myths and moral tales. Individually the discoveries Are important. Together they Are shaking the Field of biblical archaeology and buttressing accounts that believers have taken on Faith. They also have political implications in a Region where jewish and palestinian claims to the land rest in part on events dating Back to the time of Abraham. The most important of the new discoveries is evidence for the existence of King David. The Bible says the child David slayed the Philistine giant Goliath and went on to found Jerusalem which this year is celebrating its 3,000th anniversary As the City of David. The Saga of David is an exciting tale of murder adultery political deceit and extraordinary Faith and courage. The Story is so fantastic Many biblical scholars have Long thought that even David himself must have been made up. Then came what Seymour i tin of the w f. Albright Institute of archaeological research in fast Jerusalem Calls a one of the greatest finds of the 20th Century.0 in 1993, israeli archaeologists digging in Tel Dan in the Golan Heights unearthed a piece of Stone from an ancient Monument or Stele. Inscribed upon it in ancient aramaic were the words a King of Israel and a House of the Story so Shook some scholars that they insisted that the find was phony or the inscription incorrectly translated. A year later however archaeologists found More fragments of the Stele with additional inscriptions referring to the ancient King. Today the latest scholarly consensus is that David was real. Not because the Bible says so says Ronny Reich of the israeli antiquities authority but be cause a archaeology has found other discoveries that May be ushering in a new Golden age of biblical archaeology a a recent expeditions at she them where the Bible says Abraham built an altar to god prove an organized Community existed there during Abrahams Quot nobody can prove to me the Story of Joshua is entirely a Amnon Ben tor time nearly 4,000 years ago. A a this summer archaeologists digging in a Kibbutz in Central Israel found a Stone Tablet with a phone Ian inscription Baring the name of the City of Ekron the fabled City where according to the Book of i Samuel the philistines took the Ark of the covenant after capturing it from the israelite. A a recent excavations have uncovered a string of ancient egyptian forts along the Sinai a Mediterranean coast. The discovery offers a plausible explanation for an exodus Story that has Long puzzled scholars a explaining Why Moses would Lead his people out of Egypt through the Sinai wilderness instead of along the Shorter coastal route. A a this summer archaeologists sifting through a 2,000-year-old garbage dump at Masada in Southern Israel unearthed a wine Jug inscribed with the name of King Herod. It was the first object Ever found bearing the name of the great Judean King mentioned in the gospels. A a an Ivory pomegranate purchased in the International antiquities Market by israeli authorities for $550,000 in 1988 is now believed by Many scholars to be the first relic Ever found from Solomon a Temple. According to the Bible the magnificent Temple a generally dated to around 950 . A housed the Ark of the covenant. An inscription on the pomegranate has been translated As a holy to the priests belonging to the Temple of no archaeologists Are saying that everything in the Bible is literally True. A How reliable is the Bible a Hershel Shanks editor of biblical archaeology review asks rhetorically. A the answer is it has a sound historical Core. What is heating up now is an academic Battle Between those who deny this and those who affirm the associated press buttressing biblical accounts archaeologist Amnon Ben tor gestures As he stands in july above the fire blackened floor of a building at the Hazor dig in Northern Israel. The site May contain a 3,200-year-old canaanite Royal Archive. Stria significance of site Tel Dan a Stone fragment found in 1993 bore the words Quot King of Israel Quot and Quot House of this is the first no biblical reference to King David s dynasty. Tel Megiddo the Bible says this is where Joshua conquered Canaan and where the final Battle Between Good and evil will occur. Caesarea maritime according to the Bible the apostle Paul was imprisoned Here and unearthing telltale clues at Tel Megiddo archaeology the site is the Mountaintop where the Book of revelation says the final Battle Between Good i and evil will take place Tel Hazor dead sea Jordan Egypt guff of Aqaba a saudi Arabia i m believed to have been destroyed in a fire then occupied again in the 10th Century. Ashk Helon an ancient Bronze and Silver figurine offered some proof of the Quot Golden calf Quot which the Bible says enraged Moses when he descended from mount Sinai with the ten commandments. Tel mine Ekron archaeologists found a script which included the name of the City Ekron where the Bible says philistines took the Ark of the covenant. Jerusalem a holy City for christianity Judaism and islam archaeologists have uncovered some evidence of King David who the Bible says founded the City. Hula Lake evidence indicates that in this Region there was a flood that became recorded As the great flood of the old testament. We the associated press the associated press excavating Israel Finkelstein left a Tel Aviv University professor and archaeologist supervises Dick Andrus of Salt Lake City at the Tel Megiddo excavation in Israel in july. A a Madison wis., has a biblical archaeology society Page with links to professional organizations clubs recreation heritage fieldwork opportunities and other general links at web Sites a a for a collection of resources maps publications societies and ongoing excavations pertaining to biblical archaeology go to Archaeol bib a a developments in biblical archaeology can be found at by David Briggs the associated press some researchers accept recent discoveries As proof that biblical accounts of exodus and the Conquest of the promised land Are generally True. Others continue to insist that the events never occurred and the major figures of the old testament from Jacob to Solomon never existed. The debate centers on figures and events that Are important to three of the worlds major religions a christianity Judaism and islam. At the Center of the dispute is Israel Finkelstein a professor at Tel Aviv University. On a warm Day the tall thin bearded archaeologist scampers up and Down a slope supervising scores of volunteers digging at Tel Megiddo the Mountaintop where the Book of revelation says the final Battle Between Good and evil will take place. They Are searching for artefacts of the Iron age and late Bronze age. It was during those times according to the Bible that the jews were claiming their promised land Joshua conquered Canaan and during the fighting the ancient canaanite City of Megiddo was Defeated. His work Here Finkelstein says is proof that this never happened. He has found evidence that Megiddo was still standing a Century after Joshua supposedly conquered Canaan. Those who dispute these findings Finkelstein says Are practising a nationalistic archaeology that puts politics ahead of scholarship. A a in a just a simple Soldier in the forces of evolution a he says. Less than 60 Miles away at Tel Hazor Short Burly Amnon Ben tor supervises workers digging in the heat. God Grant him Money and time Ben tor says and Hazor will be the place where Finkel steins a idiotic theory can be already he says his excavations have uncovered evidence that Hazor was destroyed by a terrible fire a findings that sup to comment port the biblical account of Joshua a Triumph. Discoveries at Hazor also show the City was occupied again by the 10th Century supporting biblical accounts. Eventually Ben tor said a someone will find an inscription with Solomon a name on How will such proof or the Lack of it affect people of Faith Camille Killam a graduate student at Southeastern Baptist University working on the dig at Tel Hazor. Says no archaeological discovery could change her beliefs. A it happen. It happen a she says. A i believe in gods but in the current uneasy mix of science and religion a where some claim science has become the new religion a what can be proved or disproved by archaeology May matter not Only to scholars but to Many people of Faith. A recent editorial in christianity today the leading evangelical Magazine encourages conservative christians to support biblical archaeology because evidence for the historical accuracy of the Bible bolsters Faith. A evangelicals Are committed to fostering a belief in the trustworthiness of scripture a the editorial states. A that requires both argument and James Sauer a Harvard University archaeologist and former president of the american schools of Oriental research never put much Faith in the trustworthiness of the bibles Early stories. But today he goes so far As to assert a historical basis for one of the bibles most ancient stories a the Story of Noah. The Middle East was not always such a dry place Sauer says. In Yemen the Hula Lake ? Region of Israel and the empty Quarter in saudi Arabia he and others have found evidence of flooding during the Early Bronze age. A what in a saying Quot he says a is there was a flood in the mid die East that became recorded As the flood of the old from his St. Louis Home where he is in the debilitating stages of Huntington a disease Sauer says he wants evidence of the flood to be his final legacy. For most of his life he says he thought the Story of the great flood was a fable that a did not contain any historical memory. Yet in my research As a scientist i came up with this evidence that supports the How Are we doing on the focus Page what do you like dislike is there a topic or Issue you would like to see on this Page Contact us with your ideas and suggestions. A a Call info line 714 550-4636, ext. 1174, and leave a voice message. A be matl a a fax 714 565-3684, attn bit Cunningham focus Page a a write Bill Cunningham focus Page editor the Orange county Register . Box 11626, Santa Ana. Ca 92711 a ;