BHA General Q&A / Suggestions / Discussion

[cyberjosh]

This is a thread within the Biblical History & Archaeology (BHA) section for general questions about Biblical history that may not fit anywhere else, or discussion of certain topics that don't fit in elsewhere (Edit: Now that this is a Sticky thread hopefully any lengthy or on-going discussions can be made into threads. Quick Q&A, suggestions, or general topics of interest though are welcome).

I will try to answer any questions that I can. I just wanted to add this as a more inclusive thread to this section for questions, suggestions, and expressing your interests relating to Biblical History & Archaeology. Suggestions for creation of topical studies concerning an period of history that you would like to learn more about can be made here and hopefully someone will bite and post a topic on it.

In other words this is strictly for your convenience.

~Josh

 

[cyberjosh]

Re: BHA General Q&A / Suggestions

This by no means should drive the conversation here, but I thought I would mention some things I would be interested to see some topics on (collaboratively discussed), to start this off (Completely unrealistic expectations I am sure).

Something that I am interested in that I would be cool to see more studies on is research that shows a historical synthesis between Ancient Near Eastern history and Biblical history. I currently am taking a New Kingdom Egypt class and I am seeing many tie-ins between Egyptian history and Biblical History, but there are still big, known gaps that make it hard to fit the two together in places.

I currently am about to write a paper that will explore Egyptian interaction with nomads in the Transjordan and Negev, such as the Shasu in Se'ir (Edom) - who Biblically speaking would be descendants of Edom, Midian, and perhaps Ishmaelites (extending down into North Western Arabia). I may post the paper on my website soon. There are some interesting evidences that suggest the presence of peoples in the region (namely: Edomites) who could make up a 'tented kingdom' (as suggested by Kenneth Kitchen) even though evidence of walled cities making up an Edomite State did not seem to develop until the 9th-8th century (as archaeologically observed). If my research is fruitful I might just post a separate topic about this. For now this is just note taking and documenting my interest in this topic.

For a completely different period of history, I am also interested in Medieval Church History, particularly pre-reformation influences that led up to the Reformation, and possible ties between them, such as Jan Hus in Bohemia and his impact upon Luther (who republished some of his writings in 1537).

If by some miracle someone else is interested in the same things I would love to discuss those topics with you! Here's to wishing! :D

 

[cyberjosh]

This thread has now been stickied! It is for open forum suggestions, questions, and posts like I made above on study interests which may not fit into an existing thread. New thread ideas can be pitched here too.

 

[In Christ]

Who are some historical people...that could be in history books...mentioned in the Bible?

 

[cyberjosh]

Who are some historical people...that could be in history books...mentioned in the Bible?

I'm not sure how much acclaim in history books they get but in as near chronological order as I can determine here are some of them:

- The Prophet Balaam - (Numbers 22-24; Mentioned in the Dier Alla Inscription several centuries after he lived)
- Pharaoh Shishak I (1 Kings 14:25;2 Chronicles 12:1-12) - the first & earliest Egyptian Pharaoh in Scripture to be mentioned by name
- King David ('House of David' - Mentioned in the Tel Dan Inscription and the Mesha Stele)
- King Mesha of Moab (2 Kings 3; author of the Mesha Stele/Moabite Stone), was subjugated under Omri, King of Israel but staged a rebellion
- King Omri (mentioned in the Mesha Stele - King Ahab's father) - The 'House of Omri' is also referred to in Assyrian Inscriptions
- King Ahab (Mentioned in Assyrian King Shalmanesser III's Kurkh Monolith inscription) - Ahab participated in the historic Battle of Qarqar in 853 B.C. - an event not recorded in the Bible
- Ahab's notorious wife, Queen Jezebel, from Phoenicia is possibly mentioned in a more recent discovery being called the "Jezebel Seal" - a personal seal with the name YZBL (Jezebel) on it. Jezebel's father, Ethbaal a Phoenician King (1 Kings 16:31) is known elsewhere as "Ithobaal" in the annals of Phoenician Kings (see here)
- Many other Israelite Kings are mentioned in contemporary Assyrian and later Babylonian Inscriptions
- Most notably Hezekiah is mentioned in the Taylor Prism/Sennacherib Inscription; Sennacherib's attack on Judah is not only recorded in three separate places in the Old Testament but is also recorded in great detail on the Sennacherib/Taylor Prism - making it one of the most well recorded events in ancient Canaan.
-Taharqah/Tirhakah (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9) the Egyptian/Nubian Pharaoh who attacked Sennacherib during his campaign in Judah - Statues and Inscriptions on Taharqah have been found (see here)

Earlier Egyptian Pharaohs are hinted at in city and place-names elsewhere in Scripture like Rameses (II) and Merneptah.

This is a very small list compared to what could be written. For a very in depth exploration of how historical the Bible really is, with impeccable references from one of the best Ramesside Egyptologists in the world, read Kenneth Kitchen's On the Reliability of the Old Testament.

God Bless,
~Josh

 

[TestiMoney]

Josh I hope I'm not out of place posting here but I own these books and they are really interesting and cover the subjects in your list above. All four books in the series are available on kindle for free at the time of writing.