Israeli Archaeologists Unearth Gate of Gath

The Biblical city of Gath has been discovered in the Judean foothills.

The scientists with Bar-Ilan University discovered the fortifications and the gate to the city.  Gath was once home to Goliath, the giant slain by David as described in 1 Samuel 17.  The city was destroyed in 830 B.C. by Aramean King Hazael as described in 2 Kings 12:17.

Professor Aren Maeir, who is heading up the project, says the discovery is among the largest ever found in Israel and provides “substantial evidence” that Gath was a significant part of the Philistine empire.

The archeologists also found many other artifacts of life in Gath, including jugs that are nearly 3,000 years old, one featuring a rust-red frame and black spiral indicating the ancient Greek art found in the Philistine’s original region in the Aegean.

A temple and an iron production facility have also been found during the excavation.

The scientists said the temple has two pillars that are similar to the Samson story in Judges 28.  They say that the discovery shows the design with the pillars was common in Philistine architecture.

Dr. Maeir also said they have found evidence of the ongoing wars between the nation of Israel and the Philistines although people shouldn’t get too hopeful about one particular find.

“It doesn’t mean that we’re one day going to find a skull with a hole in its head from the stone that David slung at him, but it nevertheless tells that this reflects a cultural milieu that was actually there at the time,” Maeir said.

Jim Bakker Show Welcomes Adventurer Bob Cornuke

The Jim Bakker Show brings guests from all walks of life that are biblical seekers of the truth. We are so excited to announce a new guest Tuesday, July 28th! Writer, lecturer, biblical adventurer and President of Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration, Bob Cornuke, will be joining us for a very special live taping.

With experience as a former police investigator, SWAT team member, International explorer, lecturer and biblical investigator, along with  a Ph.D in Bible and theology, Bob has authored nine books. He has appeared on National Geographic Channel, CBS, NBC’s Dateline, Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, ABC, History Channel and Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

Mr. Cornuke has participated in over fifty expeditions around the world searching for lost locations described in the Bible. His latest book relocates the site of Solomon’s temple completely off the temple mount and places it in the city of David.  This research effort is astounding Bible students world wide.

This is sure to be an amazing show full of biblical information on important locations all over the world.  We hope you can join us here at Morningside!  Don’t forget, if you’re unable to join us in the studio, you can view all of our tapings on our live stream!

Inscription Found From King David Times

The Israeli Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of an inscription that was traced to the time of King David.

One of the researchers called it a “once in a lifetime” find.

A large clay storage jar was found at Khirbet Qeiyafa that was dated to the Iron Age between 980 and 1020 BC.  On the jar is the name os Ishba’al son of Beda according to the research published in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

“It is interesting to note that the name Ishbaʽal appears in the Bible, and now also in the archaeological record, only during the reign of King David, in the first half of the tenth century BCE. This name was not used later in the First Temple period,” Professor Yosef Garfinkel of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University and Saar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority said in an IAA statement Tuesday.

The researchers said it was unlikely the Ishba’al mentioned on the jar was the same as the rival to King David.

Garfinkel said that just five years ago there were no known Judean inscriptions from that period.

“Minimalists would say that writing only started in Judah in the 7th century BCE,” he said. With the discovery of a second inscription at Khirbet Qeiyafa, “you can see that it existed; before this we didn’t even have any evidence that writing or literacy existed at all.”

“Researching any culture we would like to know if the people knew to read and write,” he said. “In this specific case study it’s even more important because it’s the beginning of the biblical tradition, and then it’s not just of interest to 40 archaeologists but to billions of people.”

Ancient Church Found During Highway Construction

The expansion of the Jersualem-Tel Aviv highway has resulted in the discovery of an ancient church.

The workers were near a spring called Ein Naqa’a when they discovered a Byzantine-era way station and church.  Antiquities Authority estimated the find as being 1,500 years old.

“Churches like the one just discovered at the entrance to Abu Ghosh were built along the road as part of the services offered along it,” Annette Naga said. “Other churches were discovered in the past in Abu Ghosh and in Kiryat Ye’arim.”

The church’s mosaic floor was uncovered along with a series of unique items.  Shards of plaster was found that had been painted red indicating that frescoes were painted on the sites of the buildings.

A baptismal font was also found at the site.

“This road station ceased to be used at the end of the Byzantine period, although the road beside which it was built was renewed and continued to be in use until modern times,” said Nagar.

Writing On Pottery Corroborates Jeremiah

A group of archaeologists have reported the discovery of writing on pottery shards which confirm the Biblical writings in Jeremiah.

The writing was found on pottery dating back to the First Temple Era.  The language used is Paelo-Hebrew, the language of ancient Israel.  The items in the largest collection of the First Temple era pottery dates back to 8 B.C.

“Among the personal names are those of the priestly families Pashur and Meremoth, both mentioned in the Bible. (Jeremiah 20:1; Ezra 8:33) Some of the letters were addressed to the commander of the citadel of Arad, Eliashiv ben Ashiyahu, and deal with the distribution of bread (flour), wine and oil to the soldiers serving in the fortresses of the Negev,” the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained. “Also, in one of the letters, the ‘house of YHWH’ is mentioned.”

“Scholars suggest that the King of Arad mentioned in the Bible was in fact the ruler of the Kingdom of Arad, ‘the Negev of Arad’ (Judges 1:16), whose capital was another city,” it adds.

The items were first discovered in 2000 and studies of the items are finding new writings and materials dating the items to Biblical times.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a report last week saying the scholars had found the Jeremiah communications.

“Scholars have taken this as a confirmation of the biblical narrative of Jeremiah, which recounts that Azekah and Lachish were the last fortresses of Judah to fall before Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II,” the publication explains.

The Scripture referenced is Jeremiah 34:7, which reads, “When the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defensed cities remained of the cities of Judah.”

The scientists who continue the study of the items are based at Tel Aviv University.

Possible Proof For Noah’s Flood Found

Scientists conducting experiments in the Atlantic Ocean believe they may have found evidence of the great flood that carried Noah’s Ark.

The discovery was found by German scientists who were collecting marine life from the ocean floor.  Instead, they pulled up manganese nodules from three miles below the surface of the water.

Some of the balls of manganese were as large as bowling balls.  Underwater cameras showed the nodules all over the ocean floor in a place that scientists said they should not be found.

“These metallic pellets provide strong evidence that most seafloor sediments were deposited rapidly, not slowly and gradually over millions of years,” Dr. Jake Hebert of the Institute for Creation Research wrote in an article this month. “Are these nodules evidence of the Genesis Flood?”

Hebert points out apparent flaws in the methods secular scientists use to date the nodules.

“Secular scientists claim that nodules grow at the extremely slow rate of just a few millimeters per million years,” he explains. “Yet manganese nodules have consistently been observed growing in lakes and man-made reservoirs, as well as on debris fragments from World Wars I and II, at rates hundreds of thousands of times faster than these calculated rates. This is just one more indication that there are serious problems with radioisotope dating methods!”

Ruins of Old Testament City Found

Archaeologists believe they have found the city of Libnah, an ancient city mentioned multiple times in the Bible.

The scientists have been studying the remains of a ancient village since 2009 at a site 20 miles southwest of Jeruslaem.  The site, Tel Burna, is on a strategic borer region between ancient Israel and the Philistines in the west.

“The identification of the site has been debated for more than a century,” Dr. Itzhaq Shai, director of the Tel Burna dig project, told Popular Archaeology. “There are scholars who have claimed that Tel Burna is biblical Libnah, which was mentioned several times in the Bible. This identification was based mainly on geographical and historical arguments.”

Libnah was visited by the Israelites as they fled Egypt according to Leviticus 33.  Joshua and the Israelite army conquered the city as they went to the Promised Land (Joshua 10).

“The site of Tel Burna is located in the Shephelah region, which served as a border between the kingdoms of Judah and Philistia in the Iron Age,” explains The Tel Burna Excavation Project’s website. “A fertile area that supported agricultural production, the region became known as the breadbasket of the south. … Survey finds from the 2009 season indicate that the city was an important entity in the Bronze and Iron Ages.”

The study is the latest in discoveries in Israel that prove the Bible.

Ancient Tablet Confirms Jewish Exile in Babylon

Over 100 tablets that have been dated back to Nebuchadnezzar’s era in Babylon have provided further support for the Scriptures showing the exile of the Jewish nation.

The tablets, which have just gone in display in Jerusalem, provide a look into the lives of the Jews as they lived in exile.  Among day to day life items, the tablets trace a Judean family over four generations.

The tablets had been discovered in Iraq and rescued from ISIS by a UK-based Israeli collector.  The artifacts are written in ancient akkadian cuneiform script.

“We started reading the tablets and within minutes we were absolutely stunned,” Babylonian expert Filip Vukosavovic told reporters. “It fills in a critical gap in understanding of what was going on in the life of Judeans in Babylonia more than 2,500 years ago.”

“On the one hand it’s boring details, but on the other you learn so much about who these exiled people were and how they lived,” he added.

The tablets will be displayed for one year at the Bible Land Museum in Jerusalem.

Mummy Mask May Contain Oldest Discovered Gospel

A team of researchers accidentally discovered what could be the oldest known copy of a gospel in existence.

The scientists were looking at a papyrus wrapped mummy mask when they discovered a piece of the Gospel of Mark.  The papyrus dates back to around 90 A.D., at least 10 years older than any previously found Biblical gospel text.

The Smithsonian said that the mummy mask for the average person turned into a mummy was recycled material like papyrus.  The classic image of ancient mummies with jewels and golden sarcophagi was only for the wealthy.

The research team will be using a method to unglue papyrus that will keep smearing the ink.

“We’re recovering ancient documents from the first, second and third centuries,” Craig Evans, a professor of New Testament studies at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, told Live Science.

Evans said that the mummy mask’s text could show that the Gospel of Mark has been changed over time by multiple translations.