History and the Jewish Scriptures
The Merneptah stele.
The Merneptah Stele
King Merneptah of Egypt (1212 to 1203 BC) commemorates his military victories. He mentions Israel in his Palestinian campaigns.
Canaan is captive with all woe. Ashkelon is conquered, Gezer seized, Yanoam made nonexistent; Israel is wasted, bare of seed.
Karnak temple wall.
Pharaoh Shoshenq.
Shishak
The pharaoh Shishak (943-922 BC) attacked Judah during the reign of Jereboam and Rehoboam. (1 Kings 14:25; 2 Chronicles 12:1-12) He was pharaoh during the rivalry between the divided kingdom of Juday and Israel.
Steps around the pool of Gibeon.
Gibeon
The fight between the men of Abner and Joab occurred (around 1000 BC) around the pool of Gibeon. This pool was an elaborate water system. Water was available inside the city walls during a siege. The source of the water was deep underground beneath the city.
Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side. Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us.” “All right, let them do it,” Joab said. So they stood up and were counted off—twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David. Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim. The battle that day was very fierce, and Abner and the Israelites were defeated by David’s men. (2 Samuel 2:12-17)
The black obelisk of Shalmaneser.
The Black Obelisk
The black obelisk of Shalmaneser (858-824 BC) depicts different nations giving tribute. It was located in Nimrud, a city in Assyria. It mentions and depicts the tribute of Jehu, king of Israel.
Jehu on the black obelisk.
Jehu Paying Tribute
The obelisk depicts Jehu bowing while bearing gifts for Shalmaneser.
The tribute of Jehu, son of Omri: I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king and spears.
The Mesha stone.
The Mesha Stone
King Mesha of Moab commemorates his victory Over King Omri of Israel on a stone tablet. In his version of the story, he defeated all his enemies. He took them captive and received tribute. He was powerful and built great public works.
Omri was king of Israel. He oppressed Moab for many days. This is because Kemosh was angry with his land. His son replaced him. He also said, “I will oppress Moab.&rdquo In my days he spoke thus. But I was victorious over him and his house.
The scriptures depict a different version of events. The scriptures claim that Israel allied with Judah and Edom to supress a revolt by Moab. However, there are many similarities between the events in the scriptures and on the Mesha Stone. (2 Kings 3)
But when the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and fought them until they fled. And the Israelites invaded the land and slaughtered the Moabites. (2 Kings 3:24)
The underground tunnel of Jerusalem.
Hezekiah's Tunnel
King Hezekiah had a tunnel built to provide underground water access in Jerusalem. He knew that the attack by Sennacherib (705-683 BC) was inevitable. He wanted to ensure that Jerusalem had water. He wanted to make sure that Sennacherib would not have access to their water supply.
As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? (2 Kings 20:20)
He consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. They gathered a large group of people who blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said. (2 Chronicles 32:2-3)
The inscription where the two tunnels met.
The Siloam Inscription
Hezekiah's men started digging the tunnel from two opposite ends. It was a significant engineering feat for the two digging teams to meet. Where they met, they left an inscription celebrating the completion of the tunnel.
… the tunnel … and this is the story of the tunnel while …
the axes were against each other and while three cubits were left to cut … the voice of a man …
called to his counterpart, there was [ZADA] in the rock, on the right … and on the day of the
tunnel the stonecutters struck each man towards his counterpart, ax against ax and flowed
water from the source to the pool for 1200 cubits. and 100
cubits was the height over the head of the stonecutters …
Siege ramps at Lachish.
Sennacherib's palace.
Relief no. 7.
The Siege of Lachish
Sennacherib attacked the Judean countryside as he prepared to attack Jerusalem. Sennacherib put many reliefs of the siege in his palace at Nineveh. He depicted the fierce battle. The reliefs show the utter defeat and punishment of the resistance in Lachish.
Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah. (2 Chronicles 32:9)
The siege ramp at Lachish.
The Siege Ramp at Lachish
Sennacherib build a siege ramp to attack Lachish. David Ussishkin excavated Lachish. He discovered the siege ramp. There were large piles of stone and earth outside the walls of Lachish.
Lachish letter number 3.
The Lachish Letters
Letters were discovered between a military official, Hosea, and his commanding officer, Joash. Hosea defends himself against the accusations about handling correspondences. These letters were written in ink on broken pottery. Following is letter number 3:
Your servant, Hosea, is sending this letter to inform my lord, Joash: May the LORD cause my lord to hear good news of peace and a good message. Now, open the ear of your servant concerning the letter which you sent to your servant last evening. It has made the heart of your servant sick since you sent it. This is because my lord said, "Don't you know how to read a letter?" As the LORD lives, if anyone has ever tried to read me a letter! This is true for every letter that comes to me—if I read it. Furthermore, I will consider it as nothing. To your servant it has been reported saying: “The commander of the army Koniah, son of Elnathan, has gone down to go to Egypt. He sent to commandeer Hodiah son of Ahijah and his men from here.” And as for the letter of Tobiah, the servant of the king, which came to Shallum, the son of Jodiah, from the prophet, saying, “Be on guard!” your ser[va]nt is sending it to my lord.
The Cyrus cylinder.
The Cyrus Cylinder
This clay cylinder commemorates the victories of the Persian king Cyrus. Cyrus helped the defeated nations return to their lands, rebuild their cities, and rebuild their temples. This is a different strategy than the previous conquerors of Israel. This is consistent with the events found in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
From [Shuanna] I sent back to their places to the city of Ashur and Susa. Akkad, the land of Eshnunna, the city of Zamban, the city of Meturnu, Der, as far as the border of the land of Guti—the sanctuaries across the river Tigris. Their shrines had earlier become dilapidated. I made permanent sanctuaries for the gods who lived there. I collected together all of their people and returned them to their settlements. I returned the gods of the land of Sumer and Akkad. Nabonidus—to the fury of the lord of the gods—brought them into Shuanna. He brought them at the command of Marduk, the great lord. I returned them unharmed to their cells, in the sanctuaries that make them happy. May all the gods that I returned to their sanctuaries, every day before Bel and Nabu, ask for a long life for me, and mention my good deeds.
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