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Archaeology And The Bible:
What Has Assyria Revealed?
1.
Is the Bible True?
What does this question actually mean? This introductory
class will demonstrate the problems in applying
this question to understanding the Bible and set
the stage for the case studies of archaeological
discoveries to come in the subsequent lessons.
2.
When Israel and the Arabs Were Allies
The archaeological record reveals a different relationship
between Israel and the Arabs than the one which
exists today. This lecture will introduce Israel
and the Arabs into the historical record and demonstrate
that in the beginning, they were allies.
3.
The Burial Site of Moses: A Case Study
Some of the earliest discoveries from Assyria in
modern northern Iraq and Moab in present day Jordan
help us to understand the history the Bible including
the meaning of the burial site of Moses at Mt.
Nebo during the 840s BCE.
4.
The Tel Dan Stela: A Case Study
The discovery in 1993 of the Tel Dan Stela produced
the first mention of David outside the Hebrew Bible.
The reference to the “House of David”
in the Kingdom of Judah helps develop a more complete
reconstruction of Israelite history in the 840s
BCE and provides another opportunity to compare
the biblical record and archaeological artifacts.
5.
The Black Obelisk and Israel: A Case Study
One of the first archaeological discoveries when
archaeology began in the 1840s in modern northern
Iraq was the Assyrian Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser
III showing the Israelite king Jehu paying tribute
to Assyria in 841 BCE. This object combined with
the artifacts from the previous three classes will
enable us to better understand the ancient kingdom
of Israel during this crucial time in its history
and for the writing of the Hebrew Bible.
6.
How Did Ahab Die?: Ahab, Aramaeans, and Archaeology
Both the Assyrian and biblical texts mention several
Aramaean kings by name. The biblical texts also
contain a number of confrontations between the
Aramaeans and Israel which one would not expect
to find in the Assyrian records; but the biblical
texts do not contain any references to the Assyrians
at this time either. The result is a challenge
to reconstruct what happened in history.
7/8.
The Assyrian Assault on Jerusalem: A Case Study
(two part class)
The
Assyrian attack on Jerusalem in 701 BCE is one
of the best documented events from the ancient
Near East incorporating Assyrian texts and reliefs,
archaeological evidence, biblical texts, and geological
evidence including new information just revealed.
In this incident one may observe the current conflict
among biblical scholars who take the Hebrew Bible
seriously as an historical document and those who
do not.
9.
Priests, Prophets, and Politics: The Writing of
the Hebrew Bible
Using the examples of archaeological discoveries
and biblical texts discussed in the previous classes,
it will now be possible to draw some conclusions
about the writers of the Hebrew Bible during the
period of Assyrian domination in the ancient Near
East.
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