Archaeology ‘surprise’
The discovery in Jerusalem of relics said to be from the time of Nehemiah has ‘amazed’
and ‘astonished’ archaeologists
by David Catchpoole
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Update: We have been alerted to the fact that Israeli archaeologist
Dr Eilat Mazar has subsequently revised her reading of the seal referred to in our
article below after various epigraphers around the world critiqued her original
interpretation that the name on the seal read ‘Temech’. They said Dr
Mazar had erred by reading the inscription on the seal from right to left (the normal
direction of Hebrew) rather than backwards (i.e. from left to right), as a result
of the fact that a seal creates a mirror image when used to inscribe a piece of
clay.
The critics suggested that the correct reading of the seal is actually ‘Shlomit’,
also a biblical name (see 1 Chronicles 3:19). Dr Mazar said (as reported in The Jerusalem
Post*) that she accepts the reading of ‘Shlomit’ on the ancient seal,
noting that the name Shlomit was known in the period from which
the seal dated, and that other contemporary seals had been found that bore names
of women who held official status in administration.
* Lefkovits, E., Archaeologist revises read of ancient seal inscription,
The Jerusalem Post, <www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1202064580435&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull>,
4 February 2008.
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When archaeologists in Jerusalem uncovered last year what they believe to be part
of the wall rebuilt by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 2:17–6:15), it took them very much by surprise.1
‘We were amazed,’ admitted team leader Dr Eilat Mazar, also noting that
the discovery was made at a time when many scholars argued that the wall did not
exist.
The discovery was apparently accidental—the result of a rescue attempt on
a tower in danger of collapse. ‘This was a great surprise. It was something
we didn’t plan’, Mazar said.
Dr Mazar is head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem-based
research and educational institute, and more recently she and her team have made
the news headlines again. This time it was because of their discovery of an ancient
stone seal from the dig in Jerusalem.2
The stone seal has the name ‘Temech’ engraved on it. Now it just so
happens that the book of Nehemiah in the Bible also mentions ‘Temech’.
It refers to the ‘descendants of Temech’ in Nehemiah 7:55 (Hebrew תמח, sometimes
transliterated Temach, Temah or Tamah) as being among the temple servants (7:46)
who returned to Jerusalem and Judah from the exile in Babylon (7:6).
‘One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source
as seen by the archaeological find.’—Dr Eilat Mazar, head of the Institute
of Archaeology at the Shalem Center, Jerusalem
Dr Mazar said the seal was found just dozens of metres away from the Opel (or Ophel)
area, where the servants of the temple lived in the time of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 11:21).
‘The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archaeology
and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in
the Bible,’ she said. ‘One cannot help being astonished by the credibility
of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find.’
Actually, there’s really no need to be ‘astonished’, ‘amazed’
and ‘surprised’ that the Bible is a credible account of history. God
has indeed spoken by His prophets (2 Peter 1:20–21, Hebrews 1:1), He never lies (Titus 1:2), and the
Bible is a reliable record of that, which can be trusted (2 Timothy 3:15–17).
Related articles
Further reading
Recommended Resources
References
- Doherty, R., Elusive biblical wall found at last, scholar
says—Discovery, made in Jerusalem’s ancient city of David, was a ‘great
surprise’, MSNBC.com, <www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22031220/>, 11
December 2007. Return to text.
- Lefkovits, E., First Temple seal found in Jerusalem, The
Jerusalem Post, <www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1200475897717>,
17 January 2008. Return to text.
Published: 27 June 2008(GMT+10)
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