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Summary in 400 words or less:
Contrary to popular belief, there is an abundance of geographical, archaeological, and historical evidence of Biblical events. The following are only a few of many examples.
Genesis 6-11: The Sumerian King List records long reigns of kings before a flood, and then after the flood, records drastically reduced reigns. The Epic of Gilgamesh records people and animals aboard an ark, birds sent out, the ark finding rest on a mountain, and a sacrifice being offered after the flood. Many other cultures have a legend about a great deluge that destroyed the world with only a handful of people surviving, as well as a division of the language by the gods.
1 Kings 14:25-26: The Egyptian campaign into Israel, led by Pharaoh Shishak, is recorded on the walls of the Temple in Amun in Thebes, Egypt.
2 Kings 1:1, 3:4-27: A Phoenician inscription on a block of black basalt found at Dibon, Moab records the exploits of Mesha, including his sacrificing his first born son in the hopes of a victory against Israel.
2 Kings 17:3-6, 24; 18:9-11; Isaiah 20:1: The fall of Samaria to Sargon II, king of Assyria, as well as his defeat of Ashdod, is recorded on his palace walls.
2 Kings 18:13-17; 19:37: The campaign of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, against Judah is recorded on the Taylor Prism. Sennacherib’s siege against Lachish is recorded on Lachish reliefs, and his assassination in the annals of Esarhaddon.
2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32: The discovery of Hezekiah’s tunnel which runs under the city of Jerusalem.
Zephaniah 2:13-15: The fall of Nineveh, predicted by Israel’s prophets, is recorded on the Tablet of Nabopolasar.
2 Kings 24:10-14: The fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar is recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles.
Daniel 5:30-31; Era 1:1-4; 6:3-4: The fall of Babylon to the Medes and the Persians, and the release of the Jews by Cyrus the Great is recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.
Luke 3:2: The discovery of the ossuary of the high priest, Josephus Caiaphas.
Luke 3:1: The discovery of an inscription naming Pontius Pilate as Roman prefect.
Matthew 27: 51-54: A 535 magnitude earthquake in 33 AD at the time of Jesus’ death left direct physical evidence in a thin layer of disturbed sediment from the Dead Sea.
Acts 18:2: The Roman historian, Suetonius, records that during the reign of Claudius, the Jews were expelled from Rome.
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Collaborators: JC Lamont
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