Peter Masters
The following article not only provides a guide to those visiting the British Museum, but also a compilation of significant discoveries that demonstrate the historical accuracy of the Bible record.
How Assyrian Monuments Confirm the Bible
The first leg of this tour surveys discoveries found (mostly) in the excavations of Assyrian capital cities. From around 880 BC the Assyrian empire began to take shape, engulfing and annexing many other kingdoms. Several Assyrian kings invaded or threatened the Bible lands—Israel and Judah—and secured submission and tribute from them. Two hundred and fifty years of such interaction naturally led to various battles and names being mentioned in both the Bible and the annals and monuments of the Assyrians.
Shalmaneser Names Ahab and Ben Hadad
The first item we view is an Assyrian monument mentioning the names of two kings who feature prominently in the Old Testament, and confirming the reality of Biblical dating.
The British Museum
Two similar monuments stand together, one of which commemorates Ashurnasirpal II (884–859 BC). He was the Assyrian king who began the policy of expansion and empire building. He introduced new siege techniques to Assyrian warfare—the use of earth ramparts and battering engines, supported by sling shooters and archers.
Monolith of Shalmaneser III. It is also called the “Kurkh Stela,” since it was discovered at Kurkh on the Tigris River in southeastern Turkey in 1861.
To the right of him is a sandy-colored monument known as the Monolith of Shalmaneser III (also called the Kurkh Stele). This shows Shalmaneser III(who ruled Assyria from 859 824 BC) saluting his gods—symbolized in the small pictures above his hand. Writing appears all over the king’s picture and also on the back of the monument. This text describes Shalmaneser’s first six military campaigns.
He records how (in 853 BC) he ventured west threatening many kingdoms, but Irhulini, the king of Hamath, organized a mighty defense force supplied by 14 kings including Ahab, king of Israel, and Ben-Hadad of Damascus. These two spent most of their time at war with
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This human-headed winged lion (one of a pair) stood at the doorway of Ashurnasirpal II’s throne room at the Palace of Nimrud.
each other, but during a three-year peace (mentioned in 1 Kgs 22:1) they joined forces with Irhulini to repel Shalmaneser. (This was during the ministry of Elisha.)
An engagement was fought at Karkara (also spelled Qarqar) near Hamath. Shalmaneser describes it in these words:
I approached Karkara. I destroyed, tore down, and bound Karkara, his royal residence. He brought along to help him 1,200 chariots, 1,200 cavalrymen, 20,000 foot soldiers belonging to Hadadezer [Ben Hadad I] of Damascus…2,000 chariots, 10,000 foot-soldiers belonging to Ahab the Israelite. (The text records that the whole confederate army had 50,000 infantry, 14,000 cavalry and nearly 4,000 chariots.)
Shalmaneser boasts that he won such a great victory that the rivers were dammed with corpses and the valleys flowed with blood, but his victory could not have been quite as dramatic as this because his advance was effectively halted and he never took possession of the enemy territory. (Nor does the Bible mention that either Ahab or Ben-Hadad suffered any military setback on such a scale.)
Shortly after this event, Ahab returned to the offensive against Ben-Hadad and died on the battlefield (1 Kgs 22:34–35).
Such inscriptions as these provide a telling reminder that the various people described in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles were true historical figures. This monument is typical of so much that has been unearthed which confirms that Biblical characters lived at the times and in the places stated in the Bible.
Assyrian Royal Palaces
Assyrian kings flanked the entrances to their royal palaces with colossal, human-headed, winged bulls and lions. They were designed to project an image of intelligence and power, and to signify the emperor’s range of dominion. These creatures from Nimrud “guarded” the palaces of several kings who invaded and oppressed Bible lands. The walled city of Nimrud covered 890 acres. The palace alone covered 50 acres, and building activities lasted for 50 years.
The huge gates of Balawat (a secondary palace built for Shalmaneser) were decorated with bands of engraved bronze, the originals of which are in glass cases on either side of a modern reproduction of the gates. One of these bronze bands also features the military expedition against Karkara. Chariots are shown attacking the city of Hamath, and below, its captives are being led away.
The history of the three significant Assyrian capitals—Nimrud, Khorsabad and Nineveh—is easy to sketch. The Assyrian capital was moved from Ashur to Nimrud by Ashurnasirpal II about 880 BC, and this continued to be the capital for 170 years. When Shalmaneser III ascended the throne he added the secondary palace at nearby Balawat.
After five relatively insignificant kings, Tiglath-pileser III ascended the Assyrian throne in 745 BC. He invaded Israel and recorded his exploits as we shall see. Tiglath-pileser reigned from Nimrud, and would have regularly passed by these winged creatures. His son Shalmaneser V also reigned from Nimrud.
It was not until Shalmaneser V was succeeded by Sargon II
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in 722 BC, that Nimrud ceased to be the capital of Assyria. Sargon built a new palace for himself at Khorsabad. (His winged bulls turn up later in this tour.) Khorsabad, however, lasted for only one reign, because Sargon’s son, Sennacherib, moved the capital to Nineveh. This remained the capital through the reigns of five more kings until its destruction by the Chaldeans in 612 BC.
The order, then, for Assyrian palaces connected with Bible history, is—Nimrud 880–710 BC (including nearby Balawat from about 845 BC); Khorsabad 710–700 BC; and Nineveh 700–612 BC.
Shalmaneser Provides Jehu’s Portrait
The Black Obelisk—841 BC
After the death of Ahab, king of Israel, his son ruled from 853 to 841 BC. These were years of evil and weak leadership as we are told in 2 Kings 8:16–29. Then Jehu, a military captain, was “anointed” king of Israel by Elisha’s messenger and commanded to destroy the Ahab dynasty. (All this is recorded in 2 Kings 9 and 10.)
Jehu took a chariot to the town of Jezreel where Ahab’s son, King Joram, was recovering from battle wounds, accompanied by the young King Ahaziah of Judah (a hopeless individual enthralled by the decadent ways of the Israelite royal family). Jehu’s chariot raised such a cloud of dust that the Jezreel town watchman thought it was a large company approaching. However, as Jehu drew nearer, he reported—”The driving is like the driving of Jehu…for he driveth furiously” (2 Kgs 9:20, KJV).
The Black Obelisk and detail showing Jehu bringing tribute.
Jehu shot Joram with an arrow as he tried to escape, and also killed Ahaziah. He entered the town and found the notorious Jezebel, Ahab’s widow, who had “painted her face” and was looking out of an upper window. He ordered her to be unceremoniously thrown out of the window to her death, and dogs ate her flesh.
Jehu proceeded to purge Baal worship out of Israel. He reigned for 28 years until 814 BC. However, in spite of his effectiveness as a ruthless executioner of the evil kings, and also of numerous prophets of Baal, his “revolution” fractured Israel’s alliance
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The chariot of Tiglath-pileser III.
with Judah and Tyre, leaving her prey to the aggressive acts of Assyria and Syria. In the first year of his reign Jehu attempted to buy the help of Assyria by taking homage to Shalmaneser III.
This act is recorded on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. The obelisk is a 6+ -foot-tall, four-sided, black limestone pillar covered with pictures and writing on all sides. On one side, in the second row from the top, there occurs the only known picture of a Hebrew king. Jehu is shown prostrating himself before Shalmaneser.
The text tells us that he is submitting tribute of very great value. Jehu is named and described as the son [i.e.: successor] of Omri. Says Shalmaneser —”I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, golden goblets, pitchers of gold, tin, a staff for the hand of the king…” etc. Thus the existence of another Bible king receives solid corroboration from contemporary secular records.
Two More Assyrian Kings Whose Annals Confirm Bible History
Tiglath-pileser III
After the death of Shalmaneser III (in 824 BC), a period of nearly 80 years passed during which there was no serious interaction between Assyria and Palestine. Then, in 745 BC, an Assyrian general seized power, assuming the lordly name of Tiglath-pileser III. He resumed the aggressive policies of Shalmaneser III. Tiglath invaded Israel twice during the course of his reign, and is mentioned nine times in the Bible. His annals confirm his dealings with Biblical kings.
Shown here is the chariot of Tiglath-pileser III. His records refer to his two invasions of Israel, confirming 2 Kings 15:19–20, and naming Menahem (king of Israel 752–742 BC). We are told in this passage that—
Pul [an alternative name for Tiglath-pileser] the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul 1,000 talents of silver, that his hand might be with him…and Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man 50 shekels of silver …So the king of Assyria turned back (KJV).
Tiglath-pileser’s own annals say.
As for Menahem, I overwhelmed him like a snowstorm and he fled like a bird alone, and bowed to my feet. I returned him to his place and imposed tribute upon him.
Tiglath-pileser’s annals also corroborate the Bible’s account of how he later invaded Israel for the second time and went on to seize Damascus (in 732 BC), ending the old kingdom of Syria. (This event is confirmed by the Astartu Relief, described later.) Tiglath-pileser died in 727 BC and was followed by Shalmaneser V, who reigned for five years.
Sargon II facing Sennacherib the crown prince.
Sargon II
At this point we move to where we can see a larger-than-life representation of Sargon II, whose records confirm the Biblical account of the fall of Samaria. This great sculpture from Sargon’s palace at Khorsabad shows the king on the left receiving a high official, possibly crown prince Sennacherib, his son.
In 2 Kings 17:1–6 we read of how Hoshea, the king of Israel, initially submitted to the yoke of Shalmaneser V and paid tribute to him. However, before long Hoshea stopped paying the tribute and tried to persuade Egypt to help him resist Assyria. Shalmaneser seized Hoshea, imprisoned him and laid siege to the city of Samaria. This fell after three years in 722 BC—
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immediately after Shalmaneser had died and been succeeded by Sargon II.
This, then, is the Assyrian emperor who was instrumental in the final fall, punishment and captivity of the kingdom of Israel, following centuries of warning from the prophets. Thus the ten northern tribes went into captivity, leaving only the southern kingdom of Judah in freedom.
Samaria withstood siege for three years, being unusually strongly fortified. Excavations show that some 40 to 50 years before, King Jeroboam had given the city a 32-foot thick double wall.
Nevertheless, as the Bible says, Samaria fell because of the wickedness of the people, and—
the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria…and the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel (2 Kings 17:6, 24, KJV).
Sargon II took the credit for the fall of Samaria, and his annals confirm the Biblical narrative, saying—”I besieged and conquered Samaria, and carried away 27,290 inhabitants.” The Nimrud Prism records how Sargon salvaged 200 Israelite chariots for his own army, rebuilt and repopulated Samaria with people imported from other Assyrian-controlled areas and installed his own district governor. This can be seen in another gallery (Late Mesopotamia).
The human-headed winged bulls (with genii) are also from the Khorsabad palace of Sargon II. (Sargon is named only once in the Bible—in Isaiah 20:1.)
Hezekiah’s Defense of Jerusalem
…as described in the chronicles and palace sculptures of King Sennacherib
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, proved to be even more aggressive than his father Sargon II. In 701 BC he swept into Judah with a massive army and proceeded to capture all her fortress cities. At the time Isaiah was resident prophet in Jerusalem, and Hezekiah was king.
Sennacherib’s encounter with the outstanding and godly Hezekiah receives considerable coverage in the Bible. It is also one of the best-documented events in the records and sculptures of Assyria.
A Scorched Relief
Sennacherib’s chronicles were found at ancient Nineveh together with the pictures in stone which lined the walls of his 71-roomed palace. We look first at a very large slab, covered in text, just outside the Lachish Room. It is badly scorched because Nineveh was destroyed by fire just as Nahum had prophesied. The text gives Sennacherib’s version of his campaign to take Jerusalem.
The Bible tells us that Hezekiah had refused to serve and pay the king of Assyria (2 Kgs 18:2–8). Sennacherib’s anger was aroused, as 2 Kings 18:13–15 relates (here shortened)—
Now in the 14th year of king Hezekiah. Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the walled cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah sent to the king of Assyria, at Lachish, saying, “I have offended; return from me: whatever penalty you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. Also Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was in the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. (KJV)
At the time, Sennacherib was at Lachish, 30 mi southwest of Jerusalem on the main road to Egypt. Lachish was the last fortified city to fall. Jerusalem alone now stood. The tribute imposed upon Hezekiah amounted to 22,500 pounds weight of silver and 2,250 pounds of gold. Despite having extracted this enormous payment, Sennacherib decided to continue with his attempt to sack Jerusalem, and sent his senior commander to say so.
There is agreement, together with some very significant disagreement, between the account of the Bible and the claims of Sennacherib in his records. On this slab Sennacherib says—
As for Hezekiah the Jew, who did not submit to my yoke, 46 of his strong, walled cities … by escalade and by bringing up siege engines, by attacking and storming … by mines, tunnels and breaches, I besieged and took, 200, 150 people … horses … cattle and sheep without number I brought away…
[Hezekiah] himself like a caged bird I shut up in Jerusalem, his royal city. Earthworks I threw up against him; the one coming out of his city gate I turned back to his misery… As for Hezekiah, the terrifying splendor of my majesty overcame him … and his mercenary troops … deserted him. In addition to 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver [I took] gems, antimony, jewels … ivory … valuable treasures, as well as his daughters, his harem, his male and female musicians which he sent to Nineveh, my royal city.
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Artist’s drawing of Fortress-Lachish before the fall to Sennacherib. Sketch-map shows position of Lachish 30 mi SW of Jerusalem.
Where the Records Agree
The Bible and Sennacherib’s inscriptions agree that (1) Hezekiah rebelled, (2) the walled towns of Judah fell, (3) Lachish also fell, (4) Hezekiah was “shut up” in Jerusalem by events, (5) 30 talents of gold were paid in tribute (though the precise amount of silver and other items are in dispute), (6) Jerusalem itself did not fall, and (7) the mighty Assyrian army left the area without firing a single arrow at Jerusalem.
As far as disagreements are concerned, Sennacherib’s account greatly exaggerates the amount of silver paid (or calculates the amount by some different method). It also throws in the absurd claim that Hezekiah gave his harem, daughters and musicians. He claims to have put up earthworks against Hezekiah, but this may be a “poetic” reference to Lachish as the “gateway” to Jerusalem. God said (through Isaiah) that Sennacherib’s army would never actually appear outside Jerusalem, no earthworks would be made there, and no arrow shot (2 Kgs 19:32).
How Did it All End?
The same goes for Sennacherib’s claim to have turned back in misery the one who came out of the city gate. This could simply mean that the official messenger who took Hezekiah’s offer of tribute from Jerusalem to Lachish was sent back with
Drawing of the siege of Lachish, which may be compared with the actual sculptures in the Lachish Room (see descriptions of events in the text). The brilliant 19th-century archaeologist Sir Henry Layard, who discovered Nineveh, made numerous remarkable drawings of the sculptures underground, before their removal.
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Sennacherib receives the surrender and spoil of Lachish. (Other reliefs show the siege of Lachish, and a glass cabinet contains items of war found at the scene of Lachish.)
those oppressively heavy demands. The most significant “disagreement” between the Biblical account and Sennacherib’s version is that the Bible records how the Assyrian army was destroyed by the angel of the Lord, while Sennacherib, significantly, gives no account of the end of the conflict.
The Bible relates how Hezekiah made thorough preparations for a seemingly inevitable siege of Jerusalem (2 Chr 32:4–8).
Hezekiah prayed for God’s help, and Isaiah gave him a word from the Lord assuring him of deliverance. All this is recorded in detail in 2 Kings 18–19, 2 Chronicles 32, and Isaiah 36–37. There was a brief interlude when Sennacherib was called away to deal with an invasion upon his own land. This was an offensive by Tirhakah, king-regent of Ethiopia (referred to in 2 Kgs 19:9 and Is 37:9).
The Assyrian army, on its return, was destroyed before it ever reached the walls of Jerusalem. One night—
the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 … so Sennacherib king of Assyria departed (2 Kgs 19:35–36, KJV).
The Lachish Room gives a very vivid idea of the barbaric and terrifying siege warfare employed by Sennacherib. The sculptured slabs arranged round this gallery once constituted the “wallpaper” of one of his palace rooms. They depict the siege and conquest of Lachish.
The siege is depicted from left to right. Sling-shooters are seen behind the assault force. In front of them are the archers, and then the storm troopers. Siege engines are being rushed up the artificial earth ramparts (which were thrown up, under shield cover, to reduce the height of the walls).
The sculptures show the battle raging on the left of the city, and the result on the right. A chariot and other items are shown being carried out of the city along with numerous prisoners, some of whom are being tortured. On the end wall of the gallery, Sennacherib is seen on a portable throne receiving the surrender of the city. An inscription reads—”Sennacherib, supreme king, king of Assyria, sits upon a throne while the
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The Taylor Prism, which gives Sennacherib’s version of his invasion of Judah. This is to be seen in the Late Mesopotamian Room. An eight-sided prism, similar in appearance, is displayed in a wall case in the Lachish Room. This also includes a report of the capture of Lachish and the “shutting up” of Hezekiah in Jerusalem.
booty of Lachish passes before him.” Perhaps the tribute of Hezekiah was proffered here also.
The men behind Sennacherib hold flywhisks, but the king’s face has been damaged by subsequent vandalism.
In a wall case there is a collection of sling-stones and arrowheads found at the excavation of Lachish itself. It is useful to examine the modern artist’s impression of the siege which is positioned near the wall case.
Eight-Sided Prism
The eight-sided prism is Assyrian, and records five of Sennacherib’s campaigns and the capture of Lachish.
The Siloam Tunnel
In connection with Hezekiah and Sennacherib, two other matters are mentioned in the Bible narrative which have been strikingly confirmed by archaeological discoveries.
First, the Bible describes how Hezekiah, in his preparation for siege, blocked up water sources outside the city and diverted the Gihon spring via a tunnel to run into the city (2 Kgs 20:20 and 2 Chr 32:3–4 and 30). This 1,777 ft long tunnel was pickaxed out of solid rock. About 6 ft high, it lies deep below the surface and leads to the Pool of Siloam. The tunnel was hewn out by two teams working from opposite ends. On completion a commemorative plaque was set into the wall at the point where the workmen met. This plaque, which was found in 1880, describes the completion of the tunnel. A copy was for many years on display, but no longer.
The other additional fact is the Biblical account of how Sennacherib returned to Nineveh and was slain by two of his sons as he worshipped in his idol-temple. The Bible also tells us that these sons fled to Ararat leaving another son—Esarhaddon—to become king. (This information is to be found in 2 Kgs 19:36–37; 2 Chr 32:21 and Is 37:38.)
Assyrian records totally substantiate all this, for Esarhaddon himself has left this inscription:
A grim determination came upon my brothers. They forsook the gods and turned themselves to deeds of violence, scheming evil … To seize power they killed Sennacherib their father … (This tablet is normally displayed in the Late Mesopotamian Room.)
The Nineveh Gallery
On leaving the Lachish Room we follow the sketch-map to the Nineveh Gallery. This contains more stone “wallpaper” from Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh. Among these we may see (halfway down on the right) the much-photographed picture of a Phoenician ship (or “ship of Tarshish”).
At the end of the gallery is a war scene, full of fear and tension, showing archers and siege troops poised to attack a city—but not Jerusalem as sometimes suggested.
The evidence of burning is also to be seen here, for Nineveh fell, as Nahum had predicted, by fire and flood. “Fire shall devour thee,” said Nahum. He also said that the gates of the rivers would be opened so that the palaces would be dissolved. When the Babylonians took the city they set fire to it and caused the Khoser River to flood the palace, where the dry bricks eventually crumbled and dissolved.
We next head to the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery, pausing to look at the Ram of Tirhakah (Taharqa is the Museum’s spelling). This was the Ethiopian king-regent who marched
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north to fight against Assyria at the time Sennacherib laid siege to Lachish (2 Kgs 19:9; Is 37:9). Sennacherib was distracted, left Judah to counter the threat, and returned to have his army destroyed by the angel of the Lord. (This Tirhakah later became king of Egypt during the Ethiopian Dynasty.) He is to be seen between the front legs of a ram (a theophany of his god).
Canaanite storage jar from Hazor, in the doorway of the Room of Ancient Palestine
The Room of Ancient Palestine
Proof of the Israelite-Canaanite Battles
From the Nineveh Gallery and the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery (Pharaohs will be inspected on the return leg of the tour) we proceed to the Room of Ancient Palestine. This small room is crowded with outstanding items for the Bible student. Almost blocking the entrance is a very large storage jar taken from the Biblical city of Hazor (Tell el-Qedah) and thought to have been made by a Canaanite potter in the 1300s BC (though it could be rather older). This proves that Canaanites occupied the city prior to the Israelite take-over. It is one of a number of relies of Canaanite culture from Hazor exhibited in this room. Other pieces of Canaanite pottery are in the wall cases.
In the late 1950s, excavations at Hazor found the remains of Canaanite houses strewn with pottery assumed to date from around 1280–1230 BC or earlier. The remains of the city showed that there had been a great battle. It may be that the signs of violence and destruction relate to the much earlier conquest of the city by Joshua in 1400 BC (Jos 11:10–11). After his victory, Joshua never occupied the city, and so in due time the Canaanites moved back in. However, the evidence of fighting is more likely to relate to the struggle which occurred in 1235 BC when Hazor fell once again to the Israelites.
Amarna Tablets (some are displayed in the Early Mesopotamia Room).
By this time the fortress city of Hazor had recovered its dominance as capital of a powerful Canaanite region. Its king subdued and oppressed a whole portion of Israel for 20 years
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until, under Deborah and Barak, the Israelites struck back (Jgs 4–5).
The Hazor excavations certainly prove a number of things. They confirm beyond doubt that Canaanites occupied Hazor prior to the late 1200s BC, and that they were displaced by Israelites as the result of intense conflict. This is exactly in accordance with the Bible, which records two such conflicts—the first at the time of Joshua and the next in the time of the Judges (1400 and 1235 BC respectively according to the Biblical dating).
The Amarna Letters
Canaanite “Kinglets” Plead for Help
In 1887 a store of hundreds of ancient letters was discovered at a location in Egypt called el-Amarna. These letters, clay tablets from Palestine, had been written to two Pharaohs (Amenhotep III and IV) between the years 1400 and 1367 BC. The senders were officials and “kinglets” of the Canaanite cities of Palestine about the time that Joshua led the children of Israel into the land. Palestine was then part of the Egyptian empire.
Pharaoh’s Files
Soon after 1380 BC Amenhotep IV (Greek spelling—Amenophis) moved the Egyptian capital from Thebes to Amarna. The “Foreign Office” files relating to his father’s reign were moved to Amarna.
The letters are written in Babylonian and many of them refer to impending invasions and hostilities by the Hapiru (and by another group which many scholars believe is a code logogram for the same people). Though the identity of the Hapiru is disputed among scholars, conservative Biblical scholars have equated them here with the Hebrews who had by this time arrived in the land, and completed their initial conquests. (The Hapiru were roving, warlike people, and the term was used for others, beside the Hebrews.)
The governor of Jerusalem wrote several letters to Pharaoh, pleading for help to resist the invaders. In one he cries—
The Hapiru plunder all the lands of the king. If archers are here this year then the lands of the king, my lord, will remain. But if the archers are not here, then the lands of the king, my lord, are lost… all the lands of the king, my lord, are going to ruin.
A Lachish Letter (586 BC)—see case 6.
Pharaoh Amenhotep made no response to such appeals, not being greatly interested in his Palestine possessions. According to the dating evidence of the Bible, Joshua entered the Promised Land around 1405 BC. The Amarna letters tell us about the state of Palestine after the entry of Joshua into the land, not before it. The book of Joshua refers to 31 independent city-states with their own kings (Jos 12:9–24). As Dr. John J. Davis points out:
The success of Israel brought about the end of many of the independent states, thus leaving only a few self-sufficient political entities in southern Canaan.
The Amarna letters seem to confirm this picture of Joshua’s work, for they reflect the survival of only four independent city-states with their own kings. Whether or not the marauding Hapiru were the Israelites (which seems probable to this writer), the Amarna letters certainly testify to the results of Joshua’s conquest.
The few letters at present exhibited in this room are scarcely the most relevant or interesting to us, but they are part of a collection of 82 letters held by the British Museum. (160 more are in Berlin and another 60 in Cairo.) The exhibited examples do not refer to the Hapiru.
Ahab’s Ivories
Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built,
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are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (1 Kgs 22:39 KJV)
This verse refers to Ahab’s “ivory house”—so called because of the carved and inlaid ivory friezes and embellishments throughout the palace. Some entire walls were covered with carved ivory. Ivory ornamentation was also used to decorate the furniture.
From Samaria
Ahab’s wife Jezebel was a Phoenician princess from Tyre. Despite the fact that in Israel, Phoenician ivory ornamentation was the hallmark of self-aggrandizement and luxury, Ahab lavished such excesses upon his royal buildings.
Displayed in a wall case of the Room of Ancient Palestine is a panel bearing several pieces of carved ivory (not illustrated here) from the excavations carried out at Ahab’s Samaria. They most probably come from Ahab’s own palace.
Military Communications as Nebuchadnezzar Closes In
The Lachish Letters —confirming the state of impending doom described by Jeremiah.
These letters take us on to 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, invaded Judah, destroyed Jerusalem (and the Temple) with great violence, carrying multitudes away into captivity. At the time, Jeremiah was in Jerusalem prophesying to King Zedekiah of the impending catastrophe.
Near to Jerusalem was the fortress town of Lachish (destroyed by Sennacherib but later rebuilt). These letters were found in 1935 in the ruins of a guardroom by the main gate of Lachish. 21 letters were found, written in joined-up writing, in black ink on pottery sherds. They are urgent messages, full of “eleventh hour” tension, written as Nebuchadnezzar’s army closed in.
The writer was Hosha’yahu (Hoshaiah), the commander of a military outpost or small town garrison. He wrote to the Lachish military governor, whose name was Ya’osh.
One letter appears to have been written shortly, after the state of affairs described in Jeremiah 34:6–7, which mentions that Jeremiah delivered a message to King Zedekiah while the cities of Lachish and Azekah still remained standing.
The relevant Lachish letter reads:
May Yahweh cause my lord to hear this very day tidings of good. And now, in accordance with everything my lord has written, so has your servant done, I have written on the door everything which my lord has written to me…and I report that we are watching for the fire signals of Lachish according to the directions which my lord has given, because we cannot see Azekah.
It is possible that Azekah had fallen.
Another Lachish letter logs the departure of a deputation to Egypt, and also includes the following:
Tomb inscription of “Yahu, who is Over the House.”
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And as for the letter of Tobiah, servant of the king, which came to Shallum son of Jaddua through the prophet, saying, “Beware!” thy servant hath sent it to my lord.
Who was the prophet referred to here? It is likely to have been Jeremiah.
In another letter the complaint is made that “the words of the princes are not good, but they weaken our hands and slacken the hands of those who hear about them.” This was the very charge which the princes made against Jeremiah when they demanded his execution—”let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war” (Jer 38:4 KJV). Was the writer of this Lachish letter on the side of Jeremiah? Was the inevitable devastation of Jerusalem apparent to all except Zedekiah and the princes?
Many Biblical names appear on these letters, although they are unlikely to be the same people mentioned by Jeremiah. Hosha’yahu appears in Jeremiah 42:1 as Hoshaiah. Ya’osh means Josiah. Neriah, Gemariah and Shemaiah are also names which occur both in the Lachish letters and the book of Jeremiah (Shemaiah occurs six times in Jeremiah).
The Noble Tomb for Which Shebna was Denounced by Isaiah
This inscription on a slab of stone was found over 100 years ago near Jerusalem, but was only translated in the 1950s. It was taken from above the door of a burial chamber cut out of the solid rock of a hillside.
Its particular fascination is that the person for whom this tomb was prepared was most probably “chancellor of the exchequer” in Hezekiah’s early administration, a man who was reproved for his fraud by Isaiah, deposed from office, and finally captured by the Assyrians.
The inscription, protesting innocence, reads—
This is… Yahu, who is Over the House. There is no silver and gold here; only [him] and the bones of his slave-wife. Cursed be the man who opens this.
It is believed that the partly obscured name is “Shebanyahu” (or Shebria). “Over the House” is a term for the chancellor or controller of the royal household and revenues.
Hezekiah’s chancellor was denounced for preparing a splendid tomb, cut out of rock. Isaiah 22:15–17, and 20 read—
Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, “Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say, ‘What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulcher here, as he that heweth him out a sepulcher on high, and that graveth an habitation
Relief from the palace at Nimrud, showing the capture of Astartu in Gilead by Tiglath-pileser III in 732 BC.
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for himself in a rock? Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity… And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah’” (KJV).
Shebna was duly deposed from office and replaced by Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, just as Isaiah said. By the time Sennacherib came to invade Judah, Eliakim was in office and heading up the negotiating team sent to meet the Assyrian chief of staff (Is 36:3 and 37:2).
It is possible that the disgraced Shebna was seized during this invasion. Perhaps he moved to an area which the Assyrians overran. (He is not the same person as “Shebna the scribe” who helped Eliakim.) At any rate, if Isaiah’s prediction is rightly understood, Shebna was tossed into a large country where he died (Is 22:17–18) so that he never actually occupied his upper-class tomb.
Two Further Confirmations of Biblical Information From Isaiah’s Time
Isaiah 20:1 was the only place where the name of Sargon appeared until his palace at Khorsabad was discovered in 1843. Isaiah 20:1 tells how Sargon sent his “Tartan” (i.e.: his general commander) to capture Ashdod. This event is also recorded in the annals of Sargon, confirming the historical narrative of Isaiah. Sargon states:
Azuri king of Ashdod had schemed not to deliver tribute…I marched…besieged and conquered his cities…and they bore my yoke.
The flow of archaeological corroboration of Bible history continues into the reign of Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh. This man (though later repenting of his ways) was for years a callous idolater—sacrificing children to idols. 2 Chronicles 33 tells us that he was captured by the Assyrians and taken away hooked and chained.
Esarhaddon (Sennacherib’s successor) mentions Manasseh in his annals as having been forced to pay tribute to him. Esarhaddon also left a monument showing how he took captive another king (Tirhakah of Egypt) by putting, a hook through his lips. Thus Manasseh’s existence receives confirmation from Assyrian records, and so does the method of humiliating royal captives.
732 BC Invasion Confirmed
A sculpture found in the Assyrian palace at Nimrud records the capture of Astartu (in Gilead) by the Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser III (in the year 732 BC). The king is shown at the bottom, while above him, booty and Israelite prisoners are being led away. This confirms the Biblical record of 2 Kings 15:29, which reads—
In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria (KJV).
1 Chronicles 5:25–26 also refers to this punitive invasion of Israel by Tiglath-pileser (in this passage he is again called “Pul”).
Other annals of this Assyrian king also corroborate the Bible’s account of his invasion of Israel. We give, therefore, this summary of events drawn from 2 Kings 15:22–31; 16:5–9; 2 Chronicles 28 and Isaiah 7, followed by some references to Tiglath-pileser’s remarkable records.
Pekah (a usurper) began to reign in Israel in 740 BC. Within a few years he joined forces with Rezin, the king of Syria, and began to attack Judah.
Down in Judah, King Ahaz ignored Isaiah’s advice and refused to look to God for help. The Israel-Syria alliance
Excavations at Ur, showing the Ziggurat.
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wounded Judah severely, slaying 120,000 men and taking many captives. In desperation Ahaz turned to Tiglath-pileser of Assyria and paid him to come to his rescue. His message read—
I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.” And Ahaz took the silver and gold…found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it…to the king of Assyria. And…the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it…and slew Rezin (2 Kgs 16:7–9, KJV).
So, in 732 BC, the alliance of Pekah (of Israel) and Rezin (of Damascus, Syria) was broken. Damascus fell, and the long history of the kingdom of Syria was brought to an end. As for Pekah, at precisely the same time he fell victim to a conspiracy at home. Hoshea put him to death and took the throne (2 Kgs 15:30).
Tiglath-pileser’s annals refer to the following people and events. An inscription tells how Ahaz (of Judah) paid him an enormous tax of royal treasure, gold, silver, lead, tin, iron, woolen goods, linen, purple, trained horses and mules.
Tiglath gives details of how he took Syria, conquering all the way to Damascus. He tells of how king Rezin fled into the city, and how, amidst scenes of devastation and destruction, all Rezin’s advisers were impaled.
Tiglath-pileser’s annals also refer to the assassination of Pekah, claiming a part in the conspiracy in these words: “They overthrew their king Pekah and I placed Hoshea over them as king.”
The historical nature of the Biblical narrative could not be more comprehensively confirmed.
The Royal Tombs of Ur
Excavations at Ur were carried out by Sir Leonard Woolley between 1922 and 1934. The city was discovered in 1854. There is no direct evidence of the presence of Abraham’s
The “Royal Standard of Ur” appears to depict a journey of a wealthy or noble family.
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A ram in a thicket.
family, but its discovery proved that Ur definitely existed (a fact often denied previously) and that it was an extremely wealthy and sophisticated place. The Genesis record has been authenticated in many ways. The Royal Tombs of Ur have yielded up magnificent treasures going back to 2500 BC. Abraham grew up in or outside the city of Ur during the 22nd century BC.
The Ur excavations centered on the great ziggurat (a temple to the moon god). The city had two-storied houses, main drainage, and a commercial system based on written contracts, money, receipts, etc.
The exhibits in the Early Mesopotamia Room help us to appreciate the kind of advanced (but idolatrous) civilization out of which Abraham was called by God. A shrine from a nearby location shows the kind of place where Terah may have worshipped. Several beautiful objects of art also illustrate Bible passages—though they pre-date the time of Abraham.
A Ram in a Thicket
The procession of a royal or wealthy family helps us to picture the long journey of Abraham. The statuette of a goat made of gold, silver, lapis and white shell, depicts a ram caught in a thicket. For this to be the subject of an artist, shows that this situation was not so rare. The statue pre-dates the offering of Isaac, but helps authenticate the narrative. Round the room are displayed many interesting items from the Abrahamic period.
The Royal Tombs contained the famous Queen’s Harp (a reconstruction of which is on display here), a royal sledge and clothed remains of numerous royal servants (from the Great Death Pit).
The exhibits in this room certainly help the viewer to appreciate the advanced culture of Ur, and the great test of faith for Abraham when he forsook all and set out for the land which God would show him.
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Fourth tablet of the Enuma Elish account of creation.
The Mesopotamian Legends of Creation and the Flood
Leaving Early Mesopotamia (Room 56) where objects from Ur of the Chaldees were viewed, we proceed to Room 55—Later Mesopotamia.
In Case 10 (the Royal Library of Nineveh) we view two tablets, one being part of an ancient Mesopotamian creation story, Enuma Elish, discovered at Nineveh about 1848. This story is thought to have been handed down from around 1800 BC. The tablet on display is one of seven copied in the seventh century BC from a much older version. It calls for comment because cynics claim that such ancient epics were the source of the Genesis account of creation.
In Enuma Elish, two original gods (Apsu, the male, and Tiamat, the female) begat all the others, but these “children” made so much noise that Apsu could not sleep, and he decided to kill them. Before he could do so, one of the offspring put a spell on him and killed him. Tiamat, to avenge his death, takes up the cudgels, but Marduk (another offspring) eliminates her, splits her in two, and the two parts of her corpse become the heavens and the earth. Marduk relieves the other gods of manual work by creating man, and becomes the chief god. All this has nothing in common with the Biblical account of creation.
The second tablet to be viewed is the Epic of Gilgamesh—an ancient Mesopotamian flood story. The tablet is the 11th of 12 tablets (also a seventh century BC copy, found in the Royal Library of Nineveh).
Once again, atheists say that the Biblical account of Noah’s flood was derived from ancient legends such as this. Superficial and unscholarly remarks have been made to the effect that the Epic of Gilgamesh story “follows the lines of that to Noah closely”. However, as many excellent treatments of the subject have pointed out, there are vast differences between the Biblical and Mesopotamian accounts. Indeed, they form absolute “opposites” in many respects.
As far as creation is concerned, the Bible says that man was made in the image of one, holy, almighty God, before he disobeyed and lost his spiritual life to become a corrupt rebel. This Mesopotamian creation legend is, by contrast. a polytheistic fairyland, full of petty, corrupt, ill-tempered and vicious gods who are merely a reflection of (and obviously therefore a literary creation of) sinful men.
The flood story in the Gilgamesh Epic has some elements which are similar to the Genesis flood, though a number of similarities are surely inevitable. To escape a flood, for example, one needs a boat, and to maintain life afterwards, one needs to take animals on board. Accordingly the hero, Gilgamesh, had a boat (a cube 180 ft across) and took some animals with him, though not quite as Noah did. He also took gold and silver—the ring of fiction because he would hardly need it if his family were to be the sole survivors of a worldwide flood.
Overall, however, the accounts are characterized by numerous dissimilarities—such as when flood hero Gilgamesh
Eleventh (Flood) tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
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The Babylonian Chronicle for the years 615–609 BC.
offers a sacrifice to the gods which touches off a row between them. The gods of this epic always emerge as totally non-spiritual, greedy, violent, proud, frightened and vindictive creatures capable of almost unbelievably crude barbarism.
Any similarities which do occur in the Genesis and Gilgamesh accounts are more reasonably accounted for by the assumption that the Gilgamesh Epic has its roots in oral tradition stretching right back to a literal flood. This account, though corrupted by myth, survived. It is certainly inconceivable that the writer of the overwhelmingly more sophisticated narratives of Genesis would have stolen anything from the primitive crudities of the polytheistic legends. Far from these legends undermining the Genesis record, we believe that the vastly superior dignity, theology and language of the Genesis narratives mark them out as being inspired and true.
The Remarkable Babylonian Chronicles
(Cases II & 15)
Among the chief items in this room verifying the Bible are tablets of the Babylonian Chronicles—the records of the Babylonian kings who took the mantle of empire after the collapse of Assyria.
These tablets, covering from 615 to 539 BC, wonderfully substantiate many events in the Bible. They are inscribed clay tablets providing details of the accessions and deaths of kings, together with the main events in each year of their reigns. (All the tablets which have been found are held by the British Museum.)
In Case 11 are two exhibits confirming the Biblical record—the Taylor Prism, and the Babylonian Chronicle for the period 615–609 BC. The chronicle is described below.
Report of the Fall of Nineveh
The Babylonian chronicle for the years 615–609 BC (the Nabopolassar Chronicle,) confirms the collapse of the Assyrian empire and the fall of Nineveh (its capital city) to the Babylonians.
Nahum and Zephaniah had predicted the fall of Nineveh, and Jeremiah recorded it. The book of Nahum is almost entirely concerned with the destruction of Nineveh. When Nahum received his vision, Nineveh appeared impregnable and powerful, but he graphically described the city’s coming humiliation and devastation. He refers particularly to massacre and devouring fire (the evidence of which we have already seen on many Assyrian sculptures).
The destruction of Nineveh was also prophesied by Zephaniah (Zep 2:13–15). Jeremiah, writing after the event, noted that the Babylonians had taken over from the Assyrians as the “punishers” of Israel.
This Babylonian Chronicle tells how the Babylonians (with their allies) attacked Nineveh in 612 BC. It includes the following sentences:
The king of Akkad [Nabopolassar of Babylon] called out his army …the king of Umman-manda [Medes or Scythians] crossed and marched along the bank of the river Tigris and camped against Nineveh…A great attack they mounted…a great defeat of this dominant people was made…great spoil of the city and temple they carried away and the city was reduced to a mount of ruin and heaps of debris.
King Josiah’s Death
The Babylonian Chronicle for 615–609 BC (Case II)
The presence of Egyptian troops in the Euphrates region in 609 BC (as indicated in the Bible) is also confirmed by this chronicle. This is referred to in 2 Kings 23:29 and also 2 Chronicles 35:20–24.
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The Babylonian Chronicle for the years 605–595 BC during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar
The former text says—
In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against [this should read “alongside”] the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him (KJV).
Josiah, one of the best kings of Judah, here made a fatal mistake. After the fall of Nineveh, Egypt went to the aid of the crumbling Assyrians. Josiah, contrary to all warnings, became involved and led his army to Megiddo, where Pharaoh Necho killed him.
The Babylonian chronicle covering the year 609 BC confirms the Egyptian presence in the region at this time when there was a skirmish for the city of Harran (where the Assyrian king had fled after the fall of Nineveh).
The chronicle says—
In the month Iyyou of his 16th year…[Nabopolassar] called out his army and marched to Assyria…and marched after Ashur-uballit [king of Assyria] to Harran. Fear…fell on him and on the army of Egypt which had come to his help…they abandoned the city.
Nebuchadnezzar Confirms the Bible—Two Attacks on Jerusalem
Babylonian Chronicle 605–595 BC (Case 15)
The chronicle for the first 11 years of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (605–595 BC) confirms the Biblical record of the battle of Carchemish and the siege of Jerusalem. The translation of this was first published by Professor D. J. Wiseman in 1956.
The Bible says that in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Josiah’s son) Pharaoh Necho came again to help the dying Assyrian empire withstand the Babylonians (Jeremiah 46 refers to this). Jeremiah had previously prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would win all his battles against Assyria and Egypt and would then take Judah into captivity for 70 years (Jer 25:9–11; 27:6–11).
When the Egyptian army clashed with the Babylonian army under the generalship of crown prince Nebuchadnezzar, the result was the slaughter of the Egyptians at Carchemish (Jer 46:10–12).
At this time Nebuchadnezzar also besieged Jerusalem (Dn 1:1–5 and 2 Chr 36:6). He had put King Jehoiakim in fetters in preparation for transportation to Babylon. As 2 Kings 24:1 shows, he had second thoughts and decided to leave him in charge as a puppet king. He did, however, take some prisoners including the young man Daniel and his friends who were selected for special training in Babylon.
The Babylonian chronicle broadly confirms these events (without referring to Jehoiakim and the young prisoners). It reads:
In the 21st year the king of Akkad [Nabopolassar] stayed in his own land, Nebuchadnezzar his eldest son, the crown prince, mustered and took command of the troops. He marched to Carchemish…against the Egyptian army…accomplished their defeat and beat them to non-existence. As for the rest…which escaped…the Babylonian troops overtook and defeated them. At that time Nebuchadnezzar conquered the whole area of the Hatti country…
—which included Palestine, thus endorsing the Biblical statement that Jerusalem was besieged and annexed in 605 BC.
This same Babylonian chronicle continues to vindicate the Biblical record right down to the minute chronological details.
Two passages of Scripture, 2 Kings 24:8–17 and 2 Chronicles 36:9–10, describe how Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and took great treasures, carrying away King Jehoiachin, together with 10,000 other captives (all the skilled men and soldiers, leaving only the poorest people) and appointing another puppet king (Zedekiah).
The Babylonian chronicle totally agrees, saying (in 597 BC),
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The king of Akkad mustered his troops, marching to the Hatti-land, and encamped against the city of Judah … besieged the city and captured the king. He appointed there a king of his own choice, received its heavy tribute and sent them to Babylon.
The young Ezekiel was among the captives taken to Babylon on this occasion.
The Biblical statement that King Jehoiachin was deported to Babylon is confirmed by other Babylonian tablets (not seen here) which list the rations given to prisoners between 595 and 590 BC. Jehoiachin is actually named as being supplied with monthly rations, together with his five sons. Three oil receipts are dated to 592 BC.
(There is a long gap in the Babylonian chronicle tablets which have been so far discovered. This gap stretches from 595 to 556 BC and includes the last 33 years of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.)
A Stamped Brick of Nebuchadnezzar
(Case 14)
Nebuchadnezzar reigned over the Babylonian empire from 605 to 562 BC. A mighty conqueror, he was also an outstanding builder, making Babylon the most spectacular city of ancient times (Dn 4:30).
These bricks are stamped with the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar (and of his father). (Other bricks of Nebuchadnezzar are seen in Case 12.)
The Fall of Babylon 539 BC
Cylinder Inscription of Nabonidus (Case 14)
The Nabonidus Chronicle (Case 15)
The acting king of Babylon, Belshazzar, drank and boasted the evening away at a vast feast convened to celebrate Babylonian gods and achievements. Daniel 5:5 and 30 record that—
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace…In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain (KJV).
Daniel tells the story of the events in the Babylonian palace just before the Medes seized and occupied the city and took over its empire in the year 539 BC. Belshazzar is named as the feasting king who promised Daniel that he would be the third ruler in the kingdom if he could interpret the writing on the wall.
It used to be thought that this was pure fiction on the part of the Bible, because the last king of Babylon was known to be Nabonidus, and the name “Belshazzar” was unheard of outside the book of Daniel. Even Herodotus, the Greek historian who wrote up the history of Babylon in 450 BC, had never heard of Belshazzar.
Inevitably, however, the Babylonian inscriptions began to yield up their evidence. These tell us that Nabonidus entrusted the kingship to his eldest son while he himself lived in Tema. The Nabonidus Chronicle (to be described shortly) says at one point: “The king was in the city of Tema; the king’s son, courtiers and army were in Babylonia.”
Daniel’s record has therefore been vindicated as truly historical, and it is now grasped why Belshazzar (as co-regent) could only offer Daniel the “third place” in the kingdom.
The first piece of evidence for Belshazzar is the Cylinder Inscription of Nabonidus displayed in Case 14. This was found at the ziggurat at Ur.
It records, in Babylonian cuneiform, how the ziggurat was reconstructed by Nabonidus. The record ends with a prayer, part of which asks for the religious life of Belshazzar, his son, calling him—”Belsarusur, the firstborn son, the offspring of my heart.”
The next inscription to see is in case 15—exhibit number 26. This chronicle covers the years of Nabonidus from 555 to 539 BC. It mentions the ten years during which he lived in Tema, in Arabia, while the crown prince ruled, and confirms
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the historic fall of Babylon in 539 BC. We read—
The gods of Babylonia entered Babylon from every direction…when Cyrus attacked the Babylonian army at Opis…the people of Babylonia revolted…the troops of Cyrus entered Babylon without battle.
Because Daniel made astounding and detailed prophecies in the sixth century BC about future empires up to the time of Christ, cynics feel compelled to claim that the book of Daniel was written centuries later. We now have two great confirmations that the book was written in the sixth century BC.
(1) The author of Daniel knew about Belshazzar, whose name had been completely forgotten by 450 BC when Herodotus wrote, and remained unheard of until the archaeological discoveries of our time.
(2) The author also knew that Babylon had been rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar (Dn 4:30), another fact that was unknown to later historians until the excavations of more recent times.
Room of Ancient Iran
The Cyrus Cylinder Confirms Words of Ezra
(Case 6)
The Tiled Archer.
Entering the gallery of Ancient Iran, we are confronted by a life-size, tiled archer from the Palace of Susa, called in the AV—”Shushan the palace” [e.g.: Neh 1:1; Est 1:2 (with 11 other references) and Dn 8:2]. The palace at Susa was built in 490 BC by Darius the Great. It was decorated with friezes of glazed painted tiles, molded in relief. This one comes from the emperor’s bodyguard of archers (known as the Immortals). He holds a spear. To Esther—the Jewess who in 479 BC became queen to Xerxes I, king of Persia (Ahasuerus in the Bible)—this would have been a familiar decoration.
Leaving the tiled archer we proceed down the left-hand wall of the gallery of Ancient Iran looking for Case 6.
Exhibit 7 in this case is the famous and precious Cyrus Cylinder. It is barrel-shaped, made of clay and inscribed in cuneiform. It speaks of the injustice and wickedness of Nabonidus, last king of Babylon, and of how Cyrus took Babylon (539 BC) without bloodshed. Thus he took over the Babylonian empire and joined it to his own. (This cylinder was inscribed to mark the rebuilding of Babylon’s fortifications by Cyrus.)
Years ago cynical writers used to scoff at the idea that a sixth-century BC Persian emperor could be so politically sophisticated as to release captive peoples and declare religious liberty. The following words, which open the book of Ezra, were often scorned—
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem…and build (Ezra 1:1–3 KJV).
The discovery of the Cyrus Cylinder silenced criticism of Ezra’s words.
Towards the end of this document the Cyrus Cylinder mentions the policy of Cyrus to restore the liberty and social standing of foreign captives and to encourage them to return to their homelands to worship according to their own traditions. It reads—
The Cyrus Cylinder, about 9 in long, inscribed by Cyrus the Great around 536 BC.
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As to the inhabitants of Babylon…I abolished the unpaid labor and denial of social standing…I brought relief to their derelict dwellings…I returned to the sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris (the sanctuaries of which had long been in ruins) the images which once lived in them, and established for them [the images] permanent sanctuaries. I also gathered their former inhabitants and returned them.
Excavations at Ur and Uruk (40 mi NW of Ur) have also shown that Cyrus personally authorized the restoration of temples in both these places.
Thus the statements made in chapters 1 and 6 of Ezra (as well as in the closing verses of 2 Chronicles) are authenticated from several local inscriptions as well as from the annals of Cyrus.
While Cyrus released captives of all nationalities, reestablishing their national shrines, God overruled in his heart and moved him to realize the all-surpassing importance of doing this for the house of the true God of Israel. The Bible once stood alone in telling this story, but now the records of contemporaries place the essential facts beyond challenge.
Seal of Darius the Great
(Case 6)
First, it is helpful to know which Darius this is. After the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, a regional governor ruled by the name of Darius, serving under Cyrus. He is described in Daniel 9. He is also mentioned in Daniel 6, and in Daniel 11 where he is called “Darius the Mede”. He is not the Darius of this seal.
After this regional ruler had passed from the scene, another Darius came to prominence, a successor of Cyrus, emperor of the entire empire. This was Darius the Great, or Darius I, who lived 521–486 BC. During his reign the prophets Zechariah and Haggai ministered, and both mention him. So does Ezra as he records the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezr 5–6).
When obstructionists stopped the rebuilding of the Temple, an appeal was made to Darius I (in 520 BC). He ordered a full investigation of the archives, and found the original decree of Cyrus authorizing the project. Darius made a new proclamation together with a total rebuilding grant (Ezr 6:8).
In Case 6, we can view the official cylinder seal of Darius I, bearing his title in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian (the three official languages of the empire).
Darius I maintained the policy, inaugurated by Cyrus, of encouraging foreign nations to return to their homelands and to pursue their own religions. The “Agate Cylinder Seal of Darius” is positioned alongside its “rolled out” impression. It would have been used to emboss clay tablets to authenticate whatever had been inscribed in cuneiform script. This seal depicts Darius in his chariot confronting a threatening lion during a hunt.
In an adjacent case we can view silver tableware of the kind doubtless used at Esther’s table.
Bowl of Artaxerxes
(Case 7)
In Case 7 there is a bowl of Artaxerxes inscribed—”Son of Xerxes, son of Darius.” Xerxes is the Persian king known in the Bible as Ahasuerus. He was son of Darius the Great. All three kings are referred to in Ezra 4.
Darius the Great was the second king after Cyrus. (Cyrus’ son committed suicide and Darius led a coup to take over.)
Xerxes (Ahasuerus) succeeded his father in 486 BC. In his seventh year he deposed his queen—Vashti—replacing her with Esther. Eventually discredited and assassinated, his son Artaxerxes (464–424 BC) became king. It was he who brought the rebuilding of Jerusalem to a temporary halt (Ezr 4:7–23). It was he who commissioned Ezra to visit the city as a kind of secretary of state for Jewish affairs in 458 BC. Thirteen years later this same king dispatched Nehemiah, his cupbearer (a member of his inner cabinet), to Jerusalem as civil governor. Artaxerxes was, generally, most kindly disposed to the Jews.
Summary
This survey of the “Biblical” exhibits in the British Museum has been designed to give reading pleasure and interest to those who are unable to tour the Museum’s galleries personally, and also to provide a concise and helpful guide to those who can. It is not always appreciated that the very large number of important discoveries held in the British Museum provide corroboration and illustration for an immense sweep of Bible history.
In an hour or two it is possible to “tour” a selection of exhibits which constitute an outstanding summary of the whole field of archaeological discovery related to the Bible.
We do not need “proofs” to authenticate the Bible. Indeed, to offer “proofs” to the average person of cynical disposition achieves nothing, because the prejudiced human heart can put up intellectual barricades and manufacture problems at a bewildering rate. The best “proofs” of the divine authority and infallibility of the Bible are to be found within the Bible itself—its profound teaching, unique self-consistent character, and so forth. Such attributes mark it out plainly as God’s book.
Yet there are many blessings and benefits to be derived from reviewing these great archaeological discoveries. The believing mind clearly enjoys the confirmation which God has ordained to scatter the scoffers, and redeem so many passages from the ravages of critics.
In addition, we are helped to imagine the circumstances and the atmosphere surrounding the children of faith in earlier ages.
(Reprinted by permission from Sword & Trowel, 1996, No. 4, 1997, Nos. 1 and 2.)