Biblical Archeology

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Comment by Joe L. Henderson on October 20, 2009 at 5:23pm

I expect all of you have seen the sea passage postings on the net, as well as the TV show on it...shows how the passage to was so easily blocked by fire or smoke columns, and also the old remains of chariots, etc. along the underwater promotory. It could be a very rich archaeological site if the Saudis would let you.

Comment by Labrock on October 13, 2009 at 9:54pm

Seems there are two common views on the location of Mount Sinai. Does anyone here have stance on this?

Comment by James Trimm on February 24, 2009 at 2:40pm

Temple relics unearthed
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=89849

JERUSALEM – Israeli archaeologists yesterday announced the discovery of a large building dating to the time of the First and Second Temples associated with Hezekiah, the King of Judah.

The Israeli government's Antiquities Authority oversaw the excavation in the southern Jerusalem village of Umm Tuba. The agency said its archaeologists unearthed the remains of an ancient building consisting of several rooms arranged around a courtyard, containing pottery and other artifacts from the First and Second Temple Periods.

The finds include official government seals bearing the names of Ahimelekh ben Amadyahu and Yehokhil ben Shahar, who were high-ranking officials in Hezekiah's government. The life of Hezekiah, the son of King Ahaz is detailed in the biblical books of Kings, Isaiah and Chronicles. Hezekiah was the 13th king of independent Judah.

Archaeologists also found a Hebrew inscription – dating 600 years after the Kingdom of Judah seals – on a fragment of a jar neck, characteristic of the beginning of the Hasmonean period. The ancient building was partially destroyed during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem.

The finds are the latest in a mountain of unearthed remains giving a clearer picture of the Jewish presence in Jerusalem during the First and Second Temple periods. Still, the Palestinian Authority, which seeks control of the Temple Mount and eastern Jerusalem, steadfastly denies the Jewish temples ever existed.

In November, Ahmed Qurei, the PA's chief negotiator, who oversees all peace talks with the Jewish state, told reporters the Jewish Temples never existed and contended Israel has been working to "invent" a Jewish historical connection to Jerusalem. PA websites make similar claims.

Holiest site

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. The First Temple was built there by King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. when the Kingdom of Israel was united. After the kingdom split into two entities, Israel and Judah, the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70. Each temple stood for a period of over four centuries.

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The Jewish Temple was the center of religious Jewish worship. It housed the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said to be the area upon which God's shechina, or "presence," dwelled. All Jewish holidays centered on worship at the Temple. The Jewish Temple served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices and was the main gathering place for the Jewish people.

According to the Talmud, the world was created from the foundation stone of the Temple Mount. The site is believed to be the biblical Mount Moriah, the location where Abraham fulfilled God's test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Jewish tradition holds Mashiach, or the Jewish Messiah, will return and rebuild the third and final Temple on the Mount in Jerusalem. The Kotel, or Western Wall, is the one part of the Temple Mount that survived the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans and stands today in Jerusalem.

Throughout all notorious Jewish exiles, thorough documentation shows the Jews never gave up hope of returning to Jerusalem and re-establishing their Temple. To this day, Jews worldwide pray facing the Western Wall, while Muslims turn their backs away from the Temple Mount and pray toward Mecca. The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed around A.D. 709 to serve as a shrine near another shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic caliph. About 100 years ago, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem became associated with the place Muslims came to believe Muhammad ascended to heaven. Jerusalem, however, is not mentioned in the Quran.

Islamic tradition states Muhammad took a journey in a single night from "a sacred mosque" – believed to be in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia – to "the farthest mosque," and from a rock there ascended to heaven to receive revelations from Allah that became part of the Quran. Palestinians today claim exclusivity over the Temple Mount, and Palestinian leaders routinely deny Jewish historic connection to the site, but historically, Muslims did not claim the Al Aqsa Mosque as their third holiest site and admitted the Jewish Temples existed.

According to research by Israeli author Shmuel Berkovits, Islam previously disregarded Jerusalem. He points out in his book "How Dreadful Is this Place!" that Muhammad was said to loathe Jerusalem and what it stood for. Berkovits wrote that Muhammad made a point of eliminating pagan sites of worship and sanctifying only one place – the Kaaba in Mecca – to signify the unity of God. As late as the 14th century, Islamic scholar Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya, whose writings influenced the Wahhabi movement in Arabia, ruled that sacred Islamic sites are to be found only in the Arabian Peninsula and that "in Jerusalem, there is not a place one calls sacred, and the same holds true for the tombs of Hebron."

It wasn't until the late 19th century – incidentally when Jews started immigrating to Palestine – that some Muslim scholars began claiming Muhammad tied his horse to the Western Wall and associated Muhammad's purported night journey with the Temple Mount.

A guide to the Temple Mount by the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem published in 1925 listed the Mount as the site of Solomon's Temple. The Temple Institute acquired a copy of the official 1925 "Guide Book to Al-Haram Al-Sharif," which states on page four, "Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the Lord.'"

Comment by Right Reverend Gregory Karl Davis on July 31, 2008 at 12:16pm

The picture on this forum appears to be the "Cave of John the Baptist" where that ministry began. Their official site is www.baptistcave.org.il In their picture gallery are photographs recreating the 'baptism of repentence' rite that utilized the holy anointing oil of Moses. Research available on the Universal Orthodox site www.universalorthodox.org conclusively proves that the holy oil of Moses approximates 1 gallon of the essential oil of Myrrh, .75 gallon of the essential oil of cinnamon, .75 gallon of the essential oil of hashish, 1.5 gallon of the essential oil of chinese cinnamon (cassia), and one gallon of olive oil from Palestine. The rite consists of the penitent coming from out of the baptismal pool and putting their right foot in a stone groove or cutout in a rock and the soaking of that foot with this oil containing these powerful alkaloids that strongly effect body chemistry.

In Mark, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Anointed, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: “ Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.” “The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘ Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.’”

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. i. 1-5

Comment by Melinda on July 30, 2008 at 7:44pm

WOW - Another great book to read.

This one is by Robert Eisenmann. "Maccabees, Zadokites, Christians and Qumran".

For the first time, Eisenmann challenges the long held view that Qumran was a monestary consisting solely of the Essenes. In a quite humorous explanation he says it is not likely that the Qumran community

"sat passively studying archaic scriptural exegesis and ignored 125 years of the most eventful Israeli history"

His reconstruction of the archaelogical (interesting portion of the rise and descent of coins at the site), scriptural, paleographic and historical documents comes to the following conclusion: Qumran was a community streaming from Maccabean days where the Zadokite priesthood (opposed to the Pharasiac priesthood aligned with the Herodian family) came to establish a community that was a home and place of refuge for those zealous for Torah - from Honi, Onias, Judas, John the Baptist, James, Yeshua and later Yeshua's talmadim.

Essentially, the Zadokite priesthood (also intechangeable with zealot, righteous ones, pious ones) made their claim on the basis that they were "zealous for Torah" and thus lived lives worthy of being a royal priesthood (versus being appointed by King Herod). (This also plays - says Eisenmann - on the fact that many of the priest did not have accurate geneaological records to base their claims on).

He also plays with the notion of them being connected to Masada, although I know some say Pella and other places.

Great read!

Comment by Billy Washburn on July 13, 2008 at 9:28am

Does any one know where to get a close up view of the circa 1st century stone with an aramaic written not carved statement that speaks of a possible Messiah ben Yosef dictate. I would like to read it for myself.

Shalom,

Roeh Billy