Bible and Spade Articles

I took this photo while on a trip in June 2004 with the University of New Brunswick Classics department. I had submitted it for use in an article for the magazine and was pleased it made the front cover. The Trajaneum in Pergamum, modern Bergama, Turkey. It was used for emperor worship. Emperor Trajan (AD 98-117) started the project and it was enlarged and completed by Hadrian (AD 117-138). In Smyrna, modern Izmir, Turkey, an earlier temple to Tiberius (AD 14-37) may have been similar in style. Excavated in the 1880's the Trajaneum was restored a century later in the mid-1990's by the German Archaeological Institute. I originally took the photo because of the white marble face overlaid on the stone block foundation. It was a good illustration of the facing that was used to polish the appearance of a building. This also shows a good example of a Corinthian capital. For further information on Smyrna and the imperial cult see my four articles in the Bible and Spade magazine 2005-2006.

• “Local References in the Letter to Smyrna (Rv 2: 8–11), Part 4: Religious Background,” Bible and Spade 19.3 (Summer 2006): 88–96.
• “Local References in the Letter to Smyrna (Rv 2: 8–11), Part 3: Jewish Background,” Bible and Spade 19.2 (Spring 2006): 41–47.
• “Local References in the Letter to Smyrna (Rv 2: 8–11), Part 2: Historical Background,” Bible and Spade 19.1 (Winter 2006): 23–31.
• “Local References in the Letter to Smyrna (Rv 2: 8–11), Part 1: Archaeological Background,” Bible and Spade 18.4 (Fall 2005): 114–23.

For more on the Seven Churches in Revelation see Jesus Speaks to Seven of His Churches.

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Can the Bible be used in Archaeology?

City Gate Ramp Into Troy - Where they rolled the horse in? Visited June 2004

Secular archaeologists are always saying that you can’t use the Bible to find an archaeological site (See archaeologists such as William Dever). My response is why not. Oh right because the Bible account is a myth. But who says which ones are true and which are false? OK then why can they use mythical texts to find archaeological sites but those who believe the Bible is historically accurate can not? Heinrich Schliemann used the mythical text of Homer (Iliad and Odyssey) to find Troy (Yamauchi, Edwin M. “Historic Homer Did it Happen?” Biblical Archaeology Review 33.2 (March/April 2007): 29–37). What is wrong with using the geographical indicators in the biblical text to find ancient sites. So even if the biblical text is myth (which I don’t believe it is) but for the sake of argument, even if it was myth, the writers still knew the geography of the region. In fact secular archaeologist use ancient texts all the time for clues to help find sites. The most recent discovery of Herod’s tomb was prompted by the belief that King Herod was buried in the Herodium because Josephus said it was there. See article. The ancient writers were very well aware of the geography. The secular archaeologist starts with the presupposition that the Bible is not true, sites don’t exist and therefore there is no point in looking for them. But Gen 10 mentions other sites (Nineveh, Ur, Calah, Babel, Erech, etc) which they accept as historical places. What is it about Sodom and the other cities of the plain that takes them off the list. Oh right it has a story they don’t like!! Interesting how people just pick and choose what they like in the Bible.

Second, sometimes I’m accused of trying to prove the Bible true. I’m not trying to prove the Bible because the Bible doesn’t need proving. It is true and doesn’t need me to prove it. There is enough evidence just in the Resurrection alone to prove the Bible true, but still people don’t believe because its not about the evidence (Luke 16:31). My presupposition is that the Bible is true and reliable and can be trusted even for its geographical locations. We may not always understand or interpret them correctly but that is one of the benefits of archaeology. However, as all good archaeologists do, we start with a hypothesis “Tall el-Hammam is Sodom” and then we look at the evidence - right time (middle bronze), right place (eastern most point on the Kikkar, round plain), right stuff (evidence of severe destruction at the right time and then no occupation for 500 years – no late bronze pottery) and we say - does the evidence match our hypothesis and we say yes, every bit of it. This is more evidence then most sites already called and accepted have produced. Short of an inscription that says "welcome to Sodom" we have all the evidence that is used on every other site to call it "found."

Lets see some of the evidence that this is not Sodom instead of just "it can’t be because the Bible isn’t true and the story is a myth." What criteria do they have for picking Nineveh and not Sodom from Gen 10 other than an unregenerate bias.

Turkish Christians Murdered

Perhaps by now you have heard of the muder of three Christians in Eastern Turkey. I was in the region in May and my sympathies and prayers go out to the families.

Turkish News coverage of the funeral. YouTube video
Family friends testimony. YouTube Video
Fox News about persecution in Turkey. YouTube Video

Here is a part of a newsletter I received.

"On April 19 two Turkish Christians and a German missionary, working for a Bible distribution house in Malatya, were brutally murdered by Islamic extremists. The incident shocked many in Turkey, Germany, and around the world, and reports, detailing what happened, circulated the web. Although these reports were generally correct, some of the specific claims were exaggerated.

There has been a large media storm in Turkey following the events. Many Turks sent letters to the newspapers to express their deep disgust. The widow of German missionary Tilman Geske, Susanne, earned tremendous admiration for her words in a TV interview the day after the massacre. She said she forgave the murderers of her husband, the way Christ forgave his murderers, citing Jesus' prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." This is the reason why she wants to stay in Malatya with her children. According to one source, it seems that more Turks are now interested to read the New Testament, and even describe themselves as Christians.

Several years ago, Necati, one of the Turkish martyrs, played the role of Jesus in a passion play. As his hands and feet were tied to the cross, little did he know that his hands and feet would one day be tied again in the same way, to a chair, this time for real... At a house church seminar he attended two years ago, one participant had a prophecy. He said: "Some of us in this room will pay with their lives for this vision." Back then it sounded a bit dramatized, but it became reality.

In a press conference following the killings in Malatya, Ihsan, pastor of the Kurtulus church in Ankara, to which the Malatya church was linked, said: "We will stay our ground. We will stay where we are. We are citizens of the Republic of Turkey. We live here. And if we die, we die."

Let's remember that persecution happens right now in many places in the world. Thousands of our brothers and sisters are paying the highest price for following Christ. Let's pray that God's will be done in Turkey, and that the blood of the martyrs will once again be the seed of the church."

Perhaps God will once again bring good out of such evil.

Sodom Display

We have a new display here at the University of a few of the artifacts from Tall el-Hammam and other sites. There is Middle Bronze pottery and charcoal from the time of Lot (Gen 13), slingstones, flint, a MB oil lamp. There are also Roman coins and tablet reproductions. It has been hosted by the ABU Heritage Society and will be up all summer if anyone wants to stop by and have a look. It is right outside my door at the end of the hall. Oh and the poster is not Indiana Jones although Mitch Meally, in the ABU art department, did a great job in designing it for the recent "Searching for Sodom" talk. It is really just me looking at some pottery.

Archaeologist finds King Herod's tomb

There has been a leak by an Israel newpaper that king Herod's tomb has been found with a hoard of artefacts. According to Ehud Netzer, who teaches at the Hebrew University, a monumental sarcophagus was discovered which would be the type used by a king. Josephus tell us that Herod wanted to be buried in Herodium which he built for this purpose (Josephus, Jewish War I, 670-673; Jewish Antiquities XVII, 196-199) but until now the grave had alluded archaeologists working here for some 35 years. It will be interesting to see what else they find in his tomb but it is not very hopeful as there were no bones found in the sarcophagus. Looks like grave robbers beat Ehud to them. The site was destroyed by the Romans about the same time as Jerusalem, the temple and Masada, in 71 AD. For pictures of the Herodium and palace check out BiblePlaces. The picture on the left is of Masada, Herods' other summer residence which is just down the road from the Herodium and was also destroyed about the same time by the Romans. This siege ended after two years with the Romans building a ramp to the top and then disovering that the Jews has all taken their lives rather than fall into their hands.

Society for Biblical Literature News Report
Here is Ben Witherington's article Blog
Photos of the Herodium National Park

First Complete Storage Jar

This was the first complete piece of pottery taken from Tall el-Hammam, Jordan. It was found on Jan 8, 2007 in a residential area, with 6 other jars which were broken but mendible. It dates to 1000 BC (3000 years old). The interesting thing about the storage jar was it was only about 8 inches below the surface. Amazing that it had survived the destruction of the house, as the mud bring roof had collapsed and shattered the other jars. This one was in the centre of the room and not against the back wall like the others which may have had something to do with it's survival. The two jars on the left of the picture are from the museum in Trinity Southwest University and shows the way we can date the similar storage jars. The Late Iron 2A jars have these "monkey eared" handles and classic shape with the round bottoms. They would simply dig a shallow hole in the ground and set the storage jar in their spot. It would have been used to store grain, dry goods, oil or wine. There was a small amount of charred residue in the bottom which we took samples for carbon 14 dating. It will most likely be put on display in the Museum in Amman, Jordan or the new museum being built near Lots Cave. It was an amazing feeling to find this rare and beautifully preserved storage jar from the time of Solomon 1000 BC.