Faith and Biblical Archaeology

[Deadworm]

This thread will focus on biblical archaeological sites and artifacts which may well be very relevant to our faith or are otherwise just plain fascinating.

(1) Jesus' House at Nazareth?  

  Check out this online article "Jesus' House?  1st Century Structure  May Be Where He Grew."

A visitor to Nazareth in 670 AD reported a long-standing tradition that a house he visited had been the house of Joseph and Mary.  Most scholars dismissed this tradition as legend, until archaeologist recently established that it was occupied precisely at the time when Joseph and Mary lived.  Among the artifacts found there was a piece of spinning equipment, which interests me because ancient rabbis referred to Jesus' mother as Mary the spinner.  A wall covers a large empty space that may have been a room in the house.  So far, this space has not been penetrated out of fear of damaging the wall.  An Israeli archaeologist asked a friend of mine if he would serve as an advisor on how to safely penetrate this room.  As a dig volunteer, my friend (a former member of my Bible study) had discovered a hidden cave structure at Bethsaida, where as many as 5 of Jesus' disciples may have once lived.   But my friend had had enough of biblical archaeology; so he declined.  

[Deadworm]

(2) A Roman inscription found at Nazareth prohibits grave-robbing on penalty of death.  The inscription is traceable to the reign of Emperor Claudius, which coincides with the great expansion of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean world. For a more detailed discussion, google:

"The Nazareth Inscription - Did you know that Caesar outlawed grave robbing after the Resurrection?"

Our earliest rationalization of Jesus' empty tomb is the Jewish claim that Jesus' disciples must have stolen His body (Matthew 28:13-14).  This accusation suggests that the Jews had no other explanation for what happened to Jesus' corpse.  Some modern skeptical Bible scholars (e. g. James Tabor) claim that Jesus tomb was near Gogotha andRoman guards removed Jesus' corpse on Saturday evening (when none of Jesus' followers were around to witness this), when they came to remove the corpses of the other 2 crucified thieves.  These guards then dumped the 3 corpses in a common pit, according the usual Roman practice for crucified corpses.  But if that is what happened, why don't we find a trace of this explanation in ancient sources?  Claudius's warning near Nazareth against grave-robbing seems directed against Christian Jews, and if so, is a tacit admission that they have no record of what actually happened to Jesus' corpse.  

Two caveats must be attached to this thrilling possibility:

(1) the marble inscription was found at Nazareth, but its actual original location is not mentioned by its discoverer.

(2) the marble is similar to the marble in a quarry on the island of Kos, but it may have been shipped to Palestine for Roman use.

Still, the most likely explanation is a Roman rebuttal against alleged Christian theft of Jesus' body, a charge that lends further credence to Jesus' resurrection.

[Who me]

I always referr to the work of Sir William Michael Ramsay, one of the archeologists who seems to have dug up much of the middle East.

In his own words he viewed the N T as being written hundreds of years after the events it records.

He discovered that Luke's words could be pressed to the utmost, he was always accurate.

 

That he was a historian of the highest order. We do not have grounds for questioning his accuracy.

[Bluedragon]

On 8/3/2020 at 4:57 PM, Deadworm said:

(2) A Roman inscription found at Nazareth prohibits grave-robbing on penalty of death.  The inscription is traceable to the reign of Emperor Claudius, which coincides with the great expansion of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean world. For a more detailed discussion, google:

"The Nazareth Inscription - Did you know that Caesar outlawed grave robbing after the Resurrection?"

Our earliest rationalization of Jesus' empty tomb is the Jewish claim that Jesus' disciples must have stolen His body (Matthew 28:13-14).  This accusation suggests that the Jews had no other explanation for what happened to Jesus' corpse.  Some modern skeptical Bible scholars (e. g. James Tabor) claim that Jesus tomb was near Gogotha andRoman guards removed Jesus' corpse on Saturday evening (when none of Jesus' followers were around to witness this), when they came to remove the corpses of the other 2 crucified thieves.  These guards then dumped the 3 corpses in a common pit, according the usual Roman practice for crucified corpses.  But if that is what happened, why don't we find a trace of this explanation in ancient sources?  Claudius's warning near Nazareth against grave-robbing seems directed against Christian Jews, and if so, is a tacit admission that they have no record of what actually happened to Jesus' corpse.  

Two caveats must be attached to this thrilling possibility:

(1) the marble inscription was found at Nazareth, but its actual original location is not mentioned by its discoverer.

(2) the marble is similar to the marble in a quarry on the island of Kos, but it may have been shipped to Palestine for Roman use.

Still, the most likely explanation is a Roman rebuttal against alleged Christian theft of Jesus' body, a charge that lends further credence to Jesus' resurrection.

Because its' been revealed that exactly what is described in the bible actually occurred. Joseph went to Pilot and asked for the body. Pilot was amazed that Jesus had died so quickly. He approved the removal of the body and custody given to Joseph for burial. There are many examples of bodies being buried after crucifixion. He then issued orders to break the legs of the other two criminals. Some of the most notable examples  involve the remains that depicted exactly where the nail was driven between the wrist bones, not the hands. In one case the nail struck a knot in the wood and was bent. The Roman soldiers hacked the wood beam and buried a section of beam with that body. 

A lot of people associate medieval paintings with the actual crucifixion. Most art depicts one or two guards. A Roman Guard would involve anywhere from 16 to 20 guards. Four on duty for four hours, the next four on duty. The Bible, when read carefully states "some of the guard" went to Caiaphas to represent them before Pilot. "Some of the Guard" means there were others left at the tomb while the others went to petition Caiaphas. The Pharisees then created the stolen body excuse. The Apostles were not trained soldiers .... they would be up against the most well trained guard in the world. However, the Guard was not executed and no one died ....Falling asleep on guard was a brutal way to go. 

[Steven Avery]

#2, the inscription about grave robbers is much stronger than #1.

The whole location of modern "Nazareth" is questionable, and more likely is Har Nitai.  Incidentally that is much closer to Bethsaida :) and all the action in the Jesus corridor.

Steven