Good morning, we continue with Jonathan Gray's work The Forbidden Secret, and I must say how much I love Gray's approach to the subject. He has a very unique perspective from which to share with his readers. It is not everyday you find an archaeologist telling you The Truth about Life and it's source...
THE FORBIDDEN SECRET
HOW TO SURVIVE WHAT THE
ELITE HAVE PLANNED FOR YOU
Jonathan Gray
6
From outer space?
THE SUMERIAN TABLETS
SHOCK
Erich von Danicken caused a sensation in the seventies when he
claimed that sophisticated ancient relics were the result of a
space visit to earth.
Now is the time for the truth.
Von Danicken, like others, assumed that early man struggled for
endless millions of years as a primitive dumb and stupid
creature, unable to accomplish anything on his own.
Then we find man quite suddenly (in the last few thousand
years) nurturing a technology so intricate, so sophisticated, that
it suggests intellectual maturity from the start.
You don’t have to be smart to sense there is something wrong
here.
So, faced with the new evidence of high technology in ancient
times, and realizing that man could not have obtained such
advanced thinking capabilities and complex technology simply
by evolving from nothing, Von Danicken’s camp suggested that
maybe galactic visitors were responsible. These alien giants
crossbred with primates to produce modern man, then left
behind artefacts from their visit.
Did they? You have to admit, it’s an interesting theory.
The Planet X – Anunnaki shock
And then there’s the Planet X story.
It’s the kind of story you might want to believe. A certain
popular writer, describing himself as an expert on ancient texts,
tells us that beyond the planet Pluto there is an outer planet
called Nibiru.
Nibiru was populated by a reptilian super race, the Annunaki.
The Anunnakis’ own planet was dying. So the Anunnaki came
to Planet Earth to attempt a rescue of their planet. The gold on
Planet Earth was needed to create a shield for preserving
Nibiru’s dwindling atmosphere.
One can actually feel sorry for the Anunnaki.
Anyway, this Planet Nibiru, in its orbit, came close to Planet
Earth.
A group of 50 astronauts from Nibiru, with their leader called
Enki, splashed down in the waters of the Persian Gulf. Some
Anunnaki were sent to mine gold in Africa.
When the toil became unbearable, Enki ‘created’ ‘primitive
workers’ by mixing the genes of male Anunnaki with the eggs
of early female hominoids, to bring about Homo sapiens - you
and me.
This sudden speed-up given to our evolution explains how the
Sumerian civilization began suddenly, fully developed, with no
evidence of a primitive beginning.
You can credit these extraterrestrials for jump-starting it, this
popular writer says.
Oh, and something else. The orbit of Nibiru (which some label
Planet X) brings it into our solar system every 3,600 years. It
will return to Planet Earth very soon.
Well, that awakens my interest. How about you?
Mr S: “It’s on the
Sumerian tablets”
In any case, this gentleman, whom we shall call Mr S, assures us
that this is what the Sumerian clay tablets say. In fact, he has
been heavily promoting this topic.
In contrast to the airy speculation of von Danicken, Mr S claims
to be a scholar. He graduated in economics. But he claims to be
an expert in ancient Sumerian texts and Hebrew.
You have to admit, an argument appealing to ancient clay
tablets does sound somewhat scholarly.
Oh well, you must have guessed by now who Mr S is, so I might
as well name him. But I shall make it absolutely clear that what
follows is not about the man. It’s about the subject. I have no
problem with Zecharia Sitchin as a person. He’s probably quite
a nice guy. (Later note: Sitchin died soon after I wrote this
report.)
As it was, for a number of years I accepted this gentleman's
claim that the above story was in those ancient Sumerian
records. After all, you just don’t make up such things, do you?
When Mr S first spun his exciting story to us, how many of us
had access to all the Sumerian texts?
What he had right
From my years of independent research, I knew that Mr S had at
least one thing correct – that, from earliest times, the Sumerians
enjoyed a very high standard of civilization.
As you know, in today’s world, where we are taught that early
man was primitive, it is rare to hear about high technology in the
ancient world. So I felt a measure of rapport with Mr S.
For this reason, my customary cautious approach softened
toward this man. And I did enjoy reading his books. So I let
down my guard just a little to give the “facts” in his books due
respect – in particular, the claim that certain ancient texts
existed that backed up his story.
Accepting his claim also to be a responsible scholar, I went as
far as to quote him a couple of times in my book Dead Men’s
Secrets.
BUT THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED…
People begin asking
Over a period of time, I received an increasing number of emails
asking me about
* Planet Nibiru (Planet X)
* The Anunnaki
* The Nephilim
* The 3,600 year orbit of this planet, which is
said to bring destruction each time its passes
close the earth.
So I felt an increasing obligation to dig deeper.
Investigation
results bother me
Well, I was checking carefully through the story. And an
irritating anomaly cropped up. Assuming Mr S’s story were
true, such mis-fitting data made no sense. It should not exist!
Naturally, this bothered me. Shrug it off as an isolated
problem? Perhaps. But it did cry out to be resolved.
Nevertheless, pursuing this matter was not so easy. You see,
very soon another inconsistency surfaced.… then another…and
another.
Bother! The problem was not just one, but a growing procession
of non-fitting pieces.
That’s when it struck me that the problem might be not with the
inconsistencies, but with Mr S’ story.
Three problems arise
Here are some of the serious questions that arose:
1. Mr S said that the Anunnaki come from the planet
Nibiru (a 12th planet). How do we know this is so?
According to our friend, it’s in the Sumerian texts.
PROBLEM: Search, search and search! But,
no matter where one might turn, it was
absolutely impossible to find even one such
Sumerian text!
2. Nibiru is a planet beyond Pluto. How do
we know? According to our friend, the
Sumerian texts say so.
PROBLEM: Again, I could find not one
single Sumerian text that says anything
like this.
3. This planet Nibiru cycles through our
solar system every 3600 years. According
to Mr S, the Sumerian texts say this.
PROBLEM: But try as one might, no such
Sumerian texts could be found! Not anywhere!
The Sumerian texts displayed a distressing habit of being not
there.
So could the problem be with me?
More awkward questions
As I scratched my head over this, a few more awkward
questions began to nag at me:
* Why did Mr S claim that the biblical pre-Flood “sons of
God” who married the “daughters of men” were called
“nephilim” – when the Genesis text itself said something
very different?
* Why did Mr S say that “nephilim” means “people of the
fiery rockets” and also “those who came down from
heaven”? – when, in the Hebrew language, the word
“nephilim” meant nothing like this.
* Why did many of Mr S’ vital translations of Sumerian
and Mesopotamian words, differ so much from
Mesopotamian cuneiform bilingual dictionaries?
Why… why… why? Here was a whole mass of questions now
crying out for an answer.
Facts above theories
You should understand something here. Experience in front line
archaeology has taught me that evidence must always override
theories. If a theory says yes, but the confirmed facts say no,
then the theory is wrong. That is plain common sense.
In an investigation, there may be hundreds of information bits to
consider. One starts out imagining a scenario, but when all the
facts are in, the final picture may turn out to be quite different.
Let’s say you have hundreds of torn-up bits of newspaper
scattered over the table, and you want to fit them together to
form a page. But after working for hours, you discover the
pieces just do not fit. Well, that’s where I was with the many
pieces to Mr Sitchin’s theory. They just did not fit.
I write to the Nibiru man
So what would you do?
What better than to ask the man who gave us the pieces? So I sat
down and wrote to Zecharia Sitchin, asking him to help me
clarify these matters.
Surely he would substantiate his story better than anyone.
Perhaps he had sources not available to the rest of the world?
With Mr Sitchin’s help, this bothersome matter could be
resolved.
On the next page is the letter I wrote to Zecharia Sitchin:
I “bit on my fingernails”… and waited…
Seven weeks passed…
I recall vividly that Tuesday morning at the Thames post office.
My heart was thumping heavily as I tore open the envelope. And
there, inside, was a photocopy of my letter, with Mr Sitchin’s
few brief notes scribbled over it.
They consisted of only a few words. It was evident that the dear
man was stumped to produce any of the claimed Sumerian texts.
Sure, as he said, it was in his “books”, but not in the Sumerian
texts! Well, I had already been through his books. (You will find
the details of his brief reply to each of my questions in my
special 224 page report, Just Sitchin Fiction?)
What you should know
about the Sumerian texts
Further investigation, without Mr Sitchin’s help, turned up the
fact that all of the Sumerian texts discovered by archaeologists
have now been translated and catalogued. No longer a secret,
they are finally accessible to us – and even on the Internet.
So are you ready for this? Examination shows that there is not
one Sumerian text that says those things. Not one anywhere. In
my book Just Sitchin Fiction? I show you how to check for
yourself all the Sumerian texts online. The truth is that in the
entire cuneiform record there is not one single text that says any
of these things Mr Sitchin was claiming they did. These texts do
not exist. They are all made up!
Except one. And that is a cylinder seal known as "VA243” (so
named because it is number 243 in the collection of the
Vorderasiatische Museum in Berlin). But, contrary to Mr
Sitchin’s claim, this seal does not show a 12th planet at all, but is
the record of a grain harvest offering to a god.
What about the good Mr Sitchin’s Sumerian word translations?
Same problem. They are just made up.
How can we be sure? Surprise! Not only do we now have access
to the Sumerian texts, but also to 4,000 year old Sumerian word
dictionaries. That’s right. The Sumerians kept their own
dictionaries. And we have these now! And what is their verdict
on the “alien-favoring” meanings that Mr Sitchin has been
giving us? The words do not mean those things at all! The actual
meanings are very, very different.
What about Mr Sitchin’s Hebrew word translations? Sorry to be
a spoilsport, but these are likewise fictitious. (So that you can
check it all for yourself, I now offer you a free 224 page e-book
in which you can go through each of these in detail. See below.)
Honesty is a treasure. But I am sorry to state that Mr Sitchin has
(a) served up to us fictitious word meanings so that we
would.accept his.theory,.and
(b) he has also "made up" Sumerian documents which
do not exist.
He asks us to accept such scholarship as his evidence. If the
"evidence" for a theory is bogus, then, may I ask you, what of
the theory?
Millie, bring me an aspirin!
• Who prompted Ken’s son to ask for pizza exactly when he
did?
• Who led Ken to pull into that precise restaurant?
9
Communication
WOULD HE WANT TO
SPEAK TO US?
We have a beautiful Labrador dog. After feeding him, do we
take no interest in talking to him? We hear his cry, we
experience the joy in his eyes, we feel him licking our hand. Do
we never want him to experience the love that is in our hearts
for him? Don’t you ever want to let your pet know that you love
him?
Of course you do! And who implanted that ability and desire
into your heart?
We have already considered a Supreme Being’s ability and
willingness to hear us. But, since we are designed to receive
information, then might our Maker desire to communicate with
us – to send us messages? Would that make sense?
Ability to speak to us?
But would He be able to communicate to us? Think now! Here
is this Master Designer who has inter-dimensionally
transmitted coded data into our DNA molecules. He has
programmed our DNA to send millions of messages a second
throughout our bodies. And we think He cannot pass on additional information in other ways to us? Even to guiding
human minds to write down messages?
The personality question
That naturally raises the question as to whether God is just some
impersonal force or a personal Being.
Ask yourself: Did your personality come from impersonality? Is
the Intelligent Programmer who planned and produced your
DNA – who designed you to be a personal, intelligent, thinking,
speaking, communicating being – does that Designer have LESS
ability than you?
Would not our Maker possess the same ability to think, speak
and communicate, that he has given us? The Intelligence that
made the ear, can he not hear? Whoever designed the eye, can
he not see?
Observable scientific evidence indicates that an effect is not
greater than its cause. It always takes a greater source of
information to produce information. On this basis, the design of
living, intelligent, and personal human beings requires a greater
cause outside the creation itself which possesses life,
intelligence and personality – a Superior Intelligent Being.
It makes sense that such a Supreme Creator would be able to –
and desire to – communicate with creatures He has made. And
would not need a space ship to do it, either.
Again, wouldn’t it make sense that humans were created, not for
what they can do for their Maker (or even He for them), but for
an enduring relationship of love, fellowship, and interaction
with Him? And that this relationship defines the purpose of
human existence and gives it meaning?
In fact, might He even document evidence of our origins, and
stamp the document with His signature in ways that no human
being could replicate? So that none of us would have any
rational reason for doubting?
Actually, there does exist a document that 3,800 times makes
the outrageous claim to be not man-made, but the Creator
Himself speaking to us – and it even challenges us to disprove
it. So why don’t we accept this challenge?
If the document’s claims can be disproved, fine. But if we can
establish its credibility, then might it contain information
relevant to our subject?
Remember, we’re talking about evidence, not preconceived
ideas.
So what is this document? And how accurate is it? In the next
four chapters we shall see…
10
Archaeology’s verdict:
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
The desert pushed right down to the water’s edge. And as Sayid,
our Egyptian friend, packed the sleeping gear on to the roof rack
of our expedition vehicle, Paul watched the sun climb over the
sea.
If we were not mistaken, there was something quite startling
down there on the floor of the Red Sea. And we were about to
investigate.
But this whole saga began much, much earlier… in that land of
romance and mystery, ancient Egypt.
Some 3,500 years ago, in the most glorious era of her history,
Egypt was the granary of the world. She was eminent in
science, the arts, luxury and magnificence. Egypt was, in a
sense, the super power of that day.
Slaves’ baby becomes a prince
And this is where we stumble upon a fascinating old story. Was
it just a myth, or did it really happen? Here’s the story,
anyway…
In 1526 BC was born a baby who, according to the Old
Testament account, was to dramatically alter Egypt’s super
power status. Moses was born to Israelite parents in humble
surroundings. But by a bizarre twist of circumstances, he grew
up to be trained as “the son of Pharaoh’s daughter”.
Because of his relation to the throne, Moses had all the might
and wealth of Egypt at his fingertips. He became a great
statesman and general. Yet he had learned that the thousands of
slaves working in the brick-pits were his people, and that his
destiny was linked with theirs.
The time came for Moses to make his decision. He could
choose to become king of what was the world’s greatest empire,
or to be numbered among the sweating and grumbling slaves.
Red Sea crossing
The biblical book of Exodus tells us that the Hebrew slaves, led
by Moses, escaped from Egypt, but they were pursued by the
pharaoh’s army. When they found themselves trapped at the Red
Sea, a strong wind blew from the east, opening up a passage for
them to escape across a dry sea bed, with a frozen wall of water
on either side. But, as the Egyptian army pursued, the sea
collapsed upon the army and every man in it was drowned.
Now, my work requires that I deal with evidence. So was there
any truth to this old story? Or is it just a colorful myth?
Well, at the alleged site, the Gulf of Aqaba arm of the Red Sea,
we have had at least 30 international divers scouring the sea
floor. Most of our dives have been on the Egyptian side.
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And – hold your breath - we have actually found the remains of
chariot cabs and wheels intermingled with skeletal parts of
horses and men, scattered across the sea bed.
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These chariot remains were not in perfect condition and required
careful examination to see exactly what they were. They were
covered in coral, which at first made it difficult to see them
clearly. The coral was the agency that had preserved them!
There were numerous wheels. Some were still on their axles,
and some were off. There were chariot cabs without the wheels.
Meanwhile, Viveka Ponten, a Swedish lady with a work permit
in Saudi Arabia, dived on the Saudi Arabian side and found and
photographed more remains. These were similar to those we
found on the Egyptian side… wheels and skeletons. All mixed
together across the seabed.
A portion of one wheel was taken up from the sea floor and
presented to Nassif Mohammed Hussan, of the Egyptian Antiquities Department in Cairo. He pronounced it to be from
the same period given in the Bible for Moses and the Exodus.
Pre-judging
For many today, the study of history is incorporated with ideas
that there is no God, miracles are not possible, we live in a
closed system and there is no supernatural.
With these presuppositions they begin their ‘critical, open and
honest’ investigation of history.
When they study, for example, the story of Moses and the
crossing of the Red Sea, they conclude it was not a miracle or
even a real event, because we know (not historically, but
philosophically) that there is no spiritual dimension. Therefore,
these things cannot be.
They rule out the Exodus of the Israelites even before they start
an historical investigation of the Exodus.
These suppositions are not so much scientific biases, but rather,
philosophical prejudice. Instead of beginning with the scientific
and historical data, they preclude it by prior speculation.
But now we have seen physical evidence to convince any
unbiased, thinking person that the Bible is real history.
Why introduce the Bible?
When I mentioned to an email correspondent my plan to reveal
the “forbidden secret” and expose those who were suppressing
it, he asked, “Why introduce the Bible into the discussion?”
This was my answer: As an experienced hands-on archaeologist,
I have learned that:
(a) to ignore the biblical writings is to
deprive oneself of a valuable source
of information, and
(b) an amazing 3,800 times the Bible claims
to offer vital intelligence data beyond
what man can discover on his own.
So would common sense prompt us to at least investigate?
Yes, we might as well admit it. The real truth concerning our
topic will never be found in the opinions of the present world
system. The best it can offer is the convenience of
thousands of people blundering in and out of theories, as
through a revolving door. It is also a fact that if you do not start
with the right premise, there is no way you can come up with the
right answer.
Now, let me share with you a trade secret. When we decided to
take the Bible “myths” literally, our archaeological teams began discovering ancient remains that others had been missing. Its
clues gave us an outcome more solid than expected. We also
found long-forgotten scientific secrets within the Bible.
I now believe it will throw some light on our topic, the
“forbidden secret.” But first, let’s do some more tests on its
accuracy.
Crossing the River Jordan
I love skeptics. (I was one.) And I loved the man who smirked
as he said, “So you’ve confirmed one story. But what about this:
The Bible says that, after the Exodus, the Hebrews came to
cross the Jordan River. It was flood time… but that river – in
flood, mind you – suddenly dried up so they could cross over! A
tall tale, if ever there was one! Impossible!”
You would have to agree, that’s quite a story.
“Well, let’s see how you’ll wriggle out of that!” he chuckled.
As it turns out, there’s something interesting about the
geography in that area. Sixteen miles upstream from Jericho
there’s a place called Damieh (the site known as Adam in the
biblical incident). At that spot, the limestone cliffs rise hundreds
of feet high, forming a deep, narrow gorge through which the
stream flows rapidly, especially at the season of floods.
Due to erosion or earth tremors the cliffs at this point sometimes
collapse, completely blocking the river with a natural dam. It
may interest you to know that the River Jordan has ceased to
flow on at least three different known occasions in history.
These were AD 1267, 1907 and 1927.
The 1927 event was
actually witnessed by archaeologist Professor John Garstang.
Newspapers reported that the waters from the upper stream were
blocked for 21 hours, so that many people crossed and recrossed the Jordan on foot.
Stopping the river flow for the Israelites to cross over was really
a miracle of timing. Could not the Creator control of the laws of
nature He created? We now have evidence that such an event
could happen.
Critics “had a ball”
More and more we’ve been discovering that the biblical record
stands up remarkably well to the missiles shot at it by critics.
For many years, attacks on the Bible by the higher critical
scholars of Europe stood unchallenged. That was because so
many biblical names and stories were found nowhere else
except in the Bible. And it certainly did appear that its stories
were ‘made up’.
For example, the Bible mentioned a nation called ‘Hittites’. But
they were unknown to history. So critics could boldly claim that
the Hittites simply had not existed.
Then, in 1879, A. H. Sayce and W. Knight identified strange
hieroglyphic inscriptions found in northern Syria and Anatolia
as monuments of the long-lost Hittites. In 1860, the
Encyclopaedia Britannica had devoted to the Hittites a mere
eight lines on one column. But its 1947 edition would give over
ten full pages of two columns each to an article dealing with
Hittite history, culture and religion. More widespread digging
began to take place in the Middle East. And the deciphering of
cuneiform inscriptions started to furnish evidence which would
leave the critics dumbfounded.
Jericho’s walls tumble down
Another apparently wild Bible story concerned the city of
Jericho, on the Jordan’s West Bank.
After the river crossing, Jericho was the first outpost standing in
the way of the Hebrew tribes occupying the Promised Land of
Canaan (Palestine). The Bible says that the Hebrews, led by
Joshua, camped nearby. Then they marched around the city
every day for a week. Then, on the seventh day they marched
around it seven times. Yes, seven times in a single day. They
then blew a chorus of trumpets. And the walls surrounding
Jericho came crashing down.
Seven times around a city in one day? Oh, come on!
Well, today, you can see what remains of ancient Jericho.
Archaeological evidence confirms that an earthquake did
actually bring down the walls of Jericho. According to Dame
Kathleen Kenyon, who excavated the site in the 1950s,
scorching and ashes throughout the city prove that “the
destruction of the walls was the work of enemies.”
This is precisely how Joshua’s capture of Jericho is portrayed in
the Bible – an earthquake that broke down the city walls and the
whole city burned to the ground. (Joshua 6:24)
During his excavations of Jericho (1930-1936), John Garstang
found something so startling that he and two other members of
the team prepared and signed a statement describing what was
found. In reference to these findings Garstang says:
As to the main fact, then, there remains no doubt: the walls
fell outwards so completely that the attackers would be able
to clamber up and over their ruins into the city. Why so
unusual? Because the walls of cities do not fall outwards,
they fall inwards. And yet in Joshua 6:20 we read, “The wall
fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every
man straight before him, and they took the city.” The walls
were made to fall outward.’ (John Garstang, The Foundations of Bible
History; Joshua, Judges. New York: R.R.Smith, Inc., 1931, p.146)
The fallen walls of Jericho seen today are precisely those that
came tumbling down in the face of Joshua’s army.
Kenyon’s expedition uncovered a portion of a house wall and
floor, with an oven and a small jug, which appeared to be “part
of the kitchen of a Canaanite woman, who may have dropped
the juglet beside the oven and fled at the sound of the trumpets
of Joshua's men”. (Kathleen M. Kenyon, Digging Up Jericho, p. 263) The
single dipper juglet was beside the oven, lying on the floor. It
was found in situ.
It turned out that archaeological digs substantiated the Bible
story in a number of ways.
1. There was a king for each of the small Canaanite city states, just as the Bible suggests.
2. There were double walls.
3. Only one gateway was found. This harmonizes with the
biblical comment about ‘shutting of THE gate.’
Unlike the ruins of other ancient Middle Eastern cities, all of the
city of Joshua’s time (and parts of even earlier levels) was
eroded away. This is not surprising, since the crumbling mud brick structures were not preserved by being built upon by later
inhabitants, because the city was unoccupied for centuries after
Joshua’s time. (Joshua 6:21) Pottery finds in the tombs outside the
city, indicate that Jericho was inhabited in the 14th century, just
as the Bible states.
Seven times around in one day
But what about the “impossibility” of marching around this city
seven times in one day?
Some time ago, I explored those ruins. And it is evident that
Jericho was actually a collection of tiny dwellings compactly
crowded together on such a scale that you can easily walk
around the foundations in 30 minutes or less! Yes, the city’s
total size was less than 8 acres. Seven times around would be
140
less than 3 miles. Well, it seems the biblical history has stood
the investigation better than the opinions of the scholars!
14th century date for
conquest of Canaan
While some critical scholars have been fond of saying there was
no Hebrew (Israelite) Exodus, there have been others who did
accept such an event, but rejected the biblical dating of 1400
BC. They preferred to place the Hebrew Exodus and the
subsequent conquest of Canaan, as late as 1200 BC.
So who was right? The answer came with the discovery in
Egypt of a complete royal archive. This comprises hundreds of
official letters received by the Egyptian kings Amenhotep III
and IV from their Palestinian and Syrian vassals.
Known as the Amarna Letters, these documents prove Egypt
was politically weak in the 14th century BC, the very time which
the Bible claims the Hebrews were invading Palestine (Canaan).
Some of these letters come from the king of Jerusalem, Abdukhepa – a Hittite. He pleads for weapons and soldiers from
Egypt to defend his city from the invading Habiru. He writes
that the “Habiru” have already taken over great parts of the
country, and that they threaten to overrun the whole land. So
what do we have here but a description of the Hebrew conquest
of Canaan as the Canaanites saw it.
And knock me down, we’ve stumbled upon further evidence
that the Hebrews were already in Canaan in the 13th century BC
– long before the time claimed by critical scholars.
The Egyptian pharaohs frequently erected monuments in the
form of high stone pillars to commemorate their victories and
political successes. One such stele set up by Pharaoh Merneptah mentions Israel as a people he had defeated in a battle in one of
his Palestine campaigns. This bears witness to the existence of
the Israelites in Palestine in the 13th century, just as the Old
Testament says.
Archaeology furnishes evidence
biblical persons, places and events
As noted earlier, because so many names – and events – were
known only from the Bible, these were blasted by critics as pure
myth. But now archaeology has turned the whole situation
around. Here is a sampling from the almost countless examples:
• Pharaoh Shishak’s Palestinian campaign in the fifth year of
King Rehoboam: a fragment of his victory monument found at
Megiddo, confirms the biblical account. (1 Kings 14:25,26)
• Many fragments of beautifully carved ivory plaques from
Ahab’s palace, described in the Bible as an ivory palace. (1
Kings 29:39)
• Assyrian inscriptions of Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem in
701 BC, against Hezekiah again confirm the Bible record. (2
Kings 18:13 to 19:36)
• Assyrian inscriptions mentioning the biblical kings Joash,
Azariah and Manasseh, Ahab, Jehu, Jehoash, Menahem, Pekah
and Hoshea.
• Babylonian receipts confirming the exile and food rations of
Judah’s king Jehoiachin. (2 Kings 24:8-15; Jeremiah 52:30-34)
• Excavations at Susa in Iran, show the layout of the Persian
palace in such perfect agreement with the biblical description of
it in the Book of Esther that scholars have been led to admit that
only someone well acquainted with the palace, its environs, its
divisions, and its court ceremonial could have written it.
• Almost every Assyrian, Babylonian, or Persian ruler mentioned
in the Bible has been rediscovered in contemporary documents
– Shalmaneser, Tiglath-pileser, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar,
Cyrus, Darius the Great, Xerxes, Sargon, and many others.
• Even officials whose names are in the Bible, such as Nebuzaradan (2 Kings 25:8) or Nergal-sharezer (Jeremiah 39:3) are met with
in the official documents of their time.
Babylon’s fiery furnace
The Bible speaks of three young Hebrew men being thrown into
a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (Daniel ch. 3)
…and others “whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire”
(Jeremiah 29:22) Excavators in the ruins of Babylon City uncovered
a peculiar cone-shaped structure that appeared to be a firing-kiln
for the production of brick or pottery. But when the cuneiform
figures were deciphered, linguists were astonished to find this
inscription:
This is the place of burning where men who blasphemed the
gods of Chaldea died by fire.
That the incidents recorded in the Bible concerning punishment
in a fiery furnace were in keeping with the times is also shown
by an inscription of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal:
Saulmagina my rebellious brother, who made war with me,
they threw into a burning fiery furnace, and destroyed his
life.
Nebuchadnezzar’s son-in-law, in one of his royal inscriptions,
claims to have “burned to death adversaries and disobedient
ones.” Evidence that the Bible record is real history.
Daniel in the lion’s den
The biblical book of Daniel also records that the Hebrew captive
Daniel was tossed into a den of lions. (Daniel chapter 6)
That such ‘lion’s den’ punishment was in keeping with the times
is now proven by the discovery of that same inscription of
Ashurbanipal that we just mentioned. It continues thus:
The rest of the people who had rebelled they threw alive
among bulls and lions, as Sennacherib my grandfather used to do. Lo, again following his footsteps, those men I threw
into the midst of them.
On one occasion, as the famed excavator Marcel Dieulafoy was
digging amid the ruins of Babylon, he fell into a pit that
appeared like an ancient well. After being rescued by his
companions, he proceeded with the work of identification. How
astonished was he to find that the pit had been used as a cage for
wild animals! And upon the curb was this inscription:
The Place of Execution, where men who angered the king
died torn by wild animals.
Nebuchadnezzar was
Babylon’s great builder
The book of Daniel identifies Nebuchadnezzar as the builder of
mighty Babylon. (Daniel 4:30)
An inscription by Nebuchadnezzar found among Babylon’s
ruins and now in the Berlin Museum states:
I have made Babylon, the holy city, the glory of the great
gods, more prominent than ever before, and have promoted
its rebuilding.
In fact, numerous bricks have been found in the ruins of
Babylon, stamped with Nebuchadnezzar’s name. Evidence of
biblical accuracy.
Belshazzar, Babylon’s last king
According to the Bible, the last king of the Chaldeans was
Belshazzar. (Daniel 5:2,30,31) This name was unknown outside the
Bible (or works based on it). So, for centuries, scholars hotly
denied Belshazzar ever existed. All secular histories dealing with that period listed the last king as Nabonidus. Therefore the
book of Daniel was said to be a forgery, written not when
claimed, but by some later ignorant writer. It was not until the
20th century that contemporary records bearing the name
Belshazzar surfaced for the first time in archaeological digs.
In 1924, Sidney Smith discovered a tablet in the British
Museum which showed that Belshazzar was the eldest son of
Nabonidus and that in ‘the third year’ Nabonidus ‘entrusted the
kingship’ to his eldest son (as coregent) and also placed the
army of Babylon under his command.
This was a severe blow to critics who claimed the biblical book
of Daniel to be a product of the 2nd century BC, and not a 6th
century eyewitness report. (Babylonian Historical Texts. London, 1924, p.
88; Latest trans. By Oppenheim in Ancient Near Eastern Texts, ed. By Pritchard.
Princeton, 1950, p. 313)
According to Cuneiform sources, Nabonidus was absent from
Babylon at the time of its capture.
A prayer tablet of Nabonidus says: “As for Belshazzar, the firstborn son, proceeding from my loins, place in his heart fear of
thy divinity; let him not turn to sinning; let him be satisfied with
the fullness of life.” Evidently the old king was quite worried
over his wayward son.
That Belshazzar was merely a co-ruler in Babylon is also
indicated by the fact that in the Bible (Daniel 5:29) Daniel is
referred to as third ruler in the kingdom. So two other rulers are
implied. Who were the other two? Nabonidus and Belshazzar!
Intricate detail puzzles skeptics
Professor R.H. Pfeiffer was typical of those who did not accept
the book of Daniel as genuinely written in the 6th century BC,
but claimed it to be a 2nd century BC forgery.
However, his skepticism raised a problem for which he could
find no answer. The mystery facing him was how on earth could
accurate information about Belshazzar have been put into the
book of Daniel at a time when this king had been so completely
forgotten in the ancient world that not one of the Greek authors
mentions him?
Therefore he wrote:
We shall presumably never know how our author learned…
that Belshazzar, mentioned only in Babylonian records, in
Daniel, and in Baruch 1:11, which is based on Daniel, was
functioning as king when Cyrus took Babylon in 538. (R.H.
Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament. New York: 1941, pp.
758,759)
If one accepts the book of Daniel as genuine – that it was
written when it says it was – the problem disappears.
On the other hand, if a scholar does not want to give up his
critical attitude, he finds himself in a serious dilemma. He
cannot understand how a man of the Maccabean age (2nd century
BC) could be so accurately informed about the historical events
that took place 300 years earlier, when no reliable source
material of that period existed any more.
Kings of Israel
My friend Hugh dropped by the other day, carrying a book
written by a well known modern author. Hugh wanted to know
whether some claims made in that book were backed up by
archaeological discoveries or not?
Well, I took a good look. And here is one statement that jumped
off a page:
Did MOSES, SOLOMON and King DAVID exist? I would
say categorically no. (David Icke, The Biggest Secret. Bridge of
Love Publications USA, Wildwood, MO, USA, 2001, p. 82)
King David
It is true that until fairly recently, there was no evidence outside
the Bible for the existence of King David.
But in 1993, a team of archaeologists in Israel led by Professor
Avraham Biram, were excavating Tel Dan. This was a beautiful
mound at the foot of Mount Hermon in northern Galilee, beside
one of the headwaters of the Jordan River.
Anyway, on July 21 that year, they came upon a triangular piece
of basalt rock, measuring 23 x 36 centimeters. Inscribed in
Aramaic, it was eventually identified as part of a victory pillar
erected by the king of Syria and later smashed by an Israelite
ruler. The inscription on the stone dates to the 9th century BC.
This was about a century after David was believed to have ruled
Israel. The inscription includes the words ‘Beit David’ (which
means ‘House’ or ‘Dynasty of David’) and also refers to ‘King
of Israel’.
So you see, the inscription refers not simply to a David, but to
the House of David, the dynasty of the king. This reference to
David does strongly indicate that a king called David
established a dynasty in Israel during the period that the Bible
states.
But that’s not all. In the inscriptions on a stele known as the
Moabite stone, another scholar found the name ‘House of
David’. This is similarly from around 900 BC, a hundred years
after the alleged time of King David. So I ask you, how did
King David’s name appear in historical records if he were no
more than a later literary invention?
As time passes, more such evidence involving Bible names and
places is being discovered. And, like it or not, the skeptics are
constantly having to retreat.
Very well, so King David is real history. But where’s the
evidence for Solomon? Because I notice that our friend Icke, in
his book, says, ‘Solomon – it’s all invention.’ ” (Ibid., p. 87)
King Solomon
Pardon me if I now ask, who is really inventing tales? Because
archaeologists have been stumbling upon evidence after
evidence of King Solomon.
Temple Hill tablet: Israeli geologists announced on January 12,
2003 that they had examined a stone tablet dating to 800 BC
which detailed repair plans for the Jewish Temple of King
Solomon. Tests confirmed this Temple Hill Tablet, as they
named it, to be authentic. (See the report by Laurie Copans, The Associated
Press, January 14, 2003) Of course, some stone tablet ‘finds’ are later
presumed to be forgeries. But not this one. We must be careful
not to confuse the two.
Phoenician treaty record: The Bible speaks of a treaty that
Solomon made with Hiram, king of the Phoenician city of Tyre.
(1 Kings 5: 1,12) The historian Josephus informs us that a
thousand years later, independently kept copies of this
Phoenician treaty with King Solomon could be read in the
public archives of Tyre in Phoenicia. (Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the
Jews, Book VIII, Chapter II, Section 7)
Ethiopian record: Furthermore, an independent Ethiopian epic,
the Kebra Nagast, written about 850 BC, tells the story of an
Ethiopian queen’s visit to King Solomon of Israel and of the
enormous riches and gifts that he showered upon her.
Indian record: Then there is a mountain in Srinagar, India,
called Tahkti Suleiman (‘Solomon’s Mountain’). Very strange,
don’t you think, that a mountain in India’s highlands should be
named after a Hebrew king – except that an ancient tradition
declares that King Solomon came there and arranged for the
construction of the temple on the summit.
Red Sea inscription: In 1984 a commemorative pillar was found
on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba… close to chariot
remains on the seabed. It bore an inscription in archaic Hebrew:
“MIZRAIM (Egypt); SOLOMON; EDOM; DEATH;
PHARAOH; MOSES; and YAHWEH”. Was this erected by
Solomon to mark the Israelite crossing of the sea? Of course, I
still respect the critic’s right to say that Solomon never existed.
You can’t take the Bible literally? Here is some more evidence:
THE BIBLE SAYS
After the Deluge (Global Flood) the human race divided into 3 families.(Genesis 9:19)
SCIENCE CONFIRMS
All mankind has stemmed from one origin, in 3 main branches. (Royal Anthropological Institute Journal)
THE BIBLE SAYS
This physical division of mankind took place during a forced
scattering 5 generations after the Flood(Genesis 10:22-25)
SCIENCE CONFIRMS
National genealogies show a unity until the 5th post-Flood generation, then they diverge. (meticulously kept
Flood pagan Irish, Anglo-Saxon, Norwegian,
Danish and Iceland royal genealogies)
THE BIBLE SAYS
Customs are described concerning the duty of a childless wife; precedence of an oral will; giving up an inheritance by barter; inheritance titles inscribed on dolls (Gen.16:1-4; 27:1-33; 25:29-34; ch.31)
SCIENCE CONFIRMS
These customs fit no other period of ancient history (1911-1750 BC) and were later forgotten - indicating they were written by persons on familiar with those events. (Code of Hammurabi and Nuzi texts prove these customs were unique to that period.)
THE BIBLE SAYS
Jerusalem’s original name was Salem (Gen.14:18)
SCIENCE CONFIRMS
Confirmed by one of the Ebla tablets
Salem.(c. 2000 BC).
THE BIBLE SAYS
Five Jordan plain cities were Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah,Zeboiim, Bela (Zoar). And the king of Gomorrah was Birsha. (c. 2000 BC) (Genesis 14:2)
SCIENCE CONFIRMS
Five Jordan plain cities were (in the same order) Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, Bela (Zoar). And the king of Gomorrah was Birsha. (Ebla Tablet no. 1860)
THE BIBLE SAYS
Burning sulfur balls from the sky turned 5 Jordan plain cities
to ashes (1893 BC).(Genesis chapter 19)
SCIENCE CONFIRMS
Five sites turned totally to ash and
sky peppered with sulfur balls have been discovered on the Jordan plain.(The Weapon the Globalists Fear, ch.14)
THE BIBLE SAYS
The price of slaves in 1728 BC: Joseph was sold for 20 shekels of silver. (Genesis 37:28)
SCIENCE CONFIRMS
Matches the price of slaves during 18th and 19th century BC. (Mari texts) By the 8th century BC the price was 50-60 shekels, and by 5th C BC it
was 90-120 shekels.
THE BIBLE SAYS
In Egypt seven years of plenty were followed by 7 years of famine (1715 BC)(Gen.41:29,30)
SCIENCE CONFIRMS
Egyptian inscription tells of a 7 year famine and 7 years of plenty. (Rock (1715 BC). inscription, Sihiel, below First Cataract)
THE BIBLE SAYS
The Hebrew people in Egypt were placed under bondage of physical labor (1470 BC) (Exodus chapter 1)
SCIENCE CONFIRMS
Egyptian monuments depict people called “Apiru” “Habiru” or “Habiri” doing manual labor during the reign of Thutmose III (1400s BC)
Well, you get the picture. The parade of archaeological
discoveries revealing the Bible to be accurate history just goes
on and on. So does anyone still dare tell us it’s just “myth or
allegory”? Yeah. And I’m the tooth fairy!
Critics jump the gun
A serious anti-Bible campaign got off the ground in the 1800s.
When Darwin postulated random evolution, many of his
contemporaries, turned off by a hypocritical church, jumped
onto the bandwagon, believing they had been given an ‘out’
from belief in a Creator.
Predictably, it wasn’t long before the Bible was placed under the
microscope – and found to be ‘inaccurate’, ‘mythical’ or
‘allegorical’. Some critics deemed the Bible writers totally
uninformed, foolishly imagining things that did not exist.
And so many, acting with woefully incomplete information,
rushed into judgment.
At that time, there was virtually no modern archaeology to
“test” their assertions. What the critics did not expect was that
hundreds of later historical and archaeological discoveries
would support the Bible’s astounding accuracy. And often in
minute detail.
Now we have evidence that the people, places and events they
wrote about were indeed real.
From my firsthand experience as a field archaeologist, leading
or participating over the years in at least 25 hands-on
expeditions, here is the bottom line: Beyond reasonable doubt,
the Bible is better informed than its critics. The.historical setting
is true to fact and the events described did really happen.
Nelson Glueck, one of the world’s most eminent Middle Eastern
archaeologists, would tell you much the same:
It may be stated categorically that no archaeological
discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. (Nelson
151
Glueck, Rivers in the Desert: History of Negev. Philadelphia: Jewish
Publications Society of America, p.31)
Confronted with the evidence, the “myth” charge has failed. It
seems we need to update our opinions. I submit to you that the
authority of the Bible as literal history is substantiated not by
academics in their ivory towers, but by hands-on archaeologists
who follow the book’s directions and find physical remains
from mentioned events. Actionable proof in real life.
*******
A small boy was sitting on a park bench, exclaiming excitedly,
“WOW! That's fantastic!”
A ‘learned’ gentleman, a skeptic, approached. “Well, son what
are you getting so excited about?”
“Oh, Sir, I am reading how God made the waters of the Red Sea
stand up and let all the Israelites cross on dry land, and then
when the 600 Egyptian soldiers in their horses and chariots tried
to follow them, God let the waters go back to normal and
drowned them all.”
“Oh come now, son,” said the man pontifically, “the Bible is
mistaken, it wasn't the Red Sea, but the Reed Sea and it’s only 6
inches deep. When it says they walked on dry land, that means
the water was only ankle deep.” And having set the boy straight,
he continued on his way, only to hear “WOW! That's
awesome!”
So he turned back and asked the boy, “What are you carrying on
about now?”
“Isn't God great,” answered the boy, “He managed to drown all
600 soldiers and their horses and chariots in only 6 inches of
water!”
Now we come to the acid test. If you want to discredit the Bible,
I’ll now show you now precisely how to do it.
next
Prophecy’s verdict: 153s
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2 comments:
AND?
I don't read minds
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