Early Biblical Archeology Analysis

Although, Professor Albright’s most noteworthy work was working with the Dead Sea Scrolls, it was his innovative work in the field of biblical archaeology that had the biggest impact. Professor Albright, “More than any other scholar Albright’s astounding corpus of books, articles, and public lectures defined a new relationship between archaeology and biblical studies.”

Several comparative material has been found from the ancient Near East which have many similarities with the Genesis 1-22 bible narratives such as the creation, flood and patriarchal narratives ? Ugarit and Ebla.[footnoteRef:1] Many scholars have argued on the implication of the similarities in the Genesis flood story with Noah and the flood epic that was told in Mesopotamia ? Gilgamesh.[footnoteRef:2] Alexander Heidel has made several comparisons between the flood narrative in Genesis and the epic of ?Gilgamesh?.

As a descendant of Adam and Eve, Noah was both a blameless and righteous man who faithfully walked alongside the Lord. Unlike the others in his generation, Noah did not allow the wickedness to enter into his own life, and God sought favor in this. Genesis 6: 13 reveals the discussion between God to Noah, revealing his plan to destroy every living thing under the heavens due to the violence that seeps in the lives of all creations. The Lord instructed Noah to build an ark out of cypress wood, accommodating the dimensions of forty-five feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. One the construction was completed the Lord revealed the occupants of the ark.

The great American scholar, William Foxwell Albright was an American Biblical archaeologist, and is considered to by many to be the “father of Biblical archaeology,” because of his contributions to the archaeological historicity of the Bible. “More than any other scholar Albright’s astounding corpus of books, articles, and public lectures defined a new relationship between archaeology and Biblical studies.”

Biblical Archeology has helped in supporting the historicity of the Bible. Not that archaeology proves or disapproves the Bible – this it does not, it only supports the history of the Bible. One of the discoveries that support the biblical historicity is the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls came from eleven caves, mined over the course of seven years, over 15,000 documents supporting biblical historicity have been unearthed at Qumran. One of the archeologist that played an important part in this discovery was Yigael Yadin of Israel.

He finds Utnapishtim, the one in the Faraway place and the only mortal granted immortality by the gods. He wants to have what Utnapishtim has and he can't: the "prize" granted to Utnapishtim for a task well accomplished in saving the species before the flood. The story of the flood is probably the strongest passage that connects Mesopotamian traditions to the Hebrews' and the main difference lays in the moral value the Hebrews place on the story, versus the lack of it of the Mesopotamians. This lack of moral

(1 Kings 6:21 NSRV). Solomon also created the Temple to include, "walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar" and the "floor of the house with boards of cypress." (1 Kings 6:15 NSRV). Subsequently, it may be said that this gesture can be said to show how the house of God was made with no expense in mind to show his love of God or the money that Jerusalem possesses as they can spend such an amount for worship. Overall, the temple signified the strength that Jerusalem possessed in terms of economy and religious

Biblical World view, like the Bible itself, begins with God. From the beginning of Genesis there is a lot to learn about God and His creation. To know more about my biblical worldview I try to study as much as I can about God. I find it amazing how I am able to take information about the world in Biblical times and apply it to my life now. Biblical worldview comes from that. In Genesis 1-11 what I read about the natural world, human identity, human relationships, and civilization, has helped enhance my Biblical Worldview for today.

As told in the Bible (Genesis 1-3), God created the universe and all things we see. God did all the creations in a six day period, resting on the seventh day. It is also stated that each day God created something different from day and night to man and woman. God took his time and examined his work consciously until he was satisfied. By accepting that God created everything that exists including human, we build a closer relationship with him.

To truly comprehend a biblical passage, it is important to have knowledge of the ‘hermeneutics which enables an understanding of the locus of meaning and the principles of bible interpretation’ . The audience needs to have a clear interpretation of the biblical passage which includes ‘content and unity of the whole of Scripture if the meaning of the sacred texts is to be correctly worked out’ , this supports the argument that all worlds of the text are equally important. ‘Biblical passages are often taken out of context and interpreted to support a particular viewpoint of justify a particular action’ . It is imperative to note that ‘in order to discover the sacred authors' intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their

     Concerning the actual Temple, one must be reminded that King David’s original intentions were to create a memorial against the Canaanite deities and paganism. However, when Solomon was given responsibility of the construction, he seemed to have forgotten this. Some of the symbolism on the alter was derived from Phoenicia, and can be traced back to older Canaanite symbols from Mesopotamia. A serious spiritual weakness was starting to materialize in the Temple during this time. “Its elaborate organization and its heavy indebtedness to Syro-Phoenician religious architecture and practice. The danger of syncretism became very great- so great that the following centuries were characterized by bitter intermittent conflict between religious assimilators and religious separatists”(Albright 150). In other

As an author of 21 books about topics such as war, politics, history and sports as well as receiving a Pulitzer Prize, David Halberstam was a successful journalist and author.

It is a well-known fact that the Bible was written by multiple people who lived in in different times and places, and combined into one book. Because of the number of sources who were living under different circumstances and beliefs, the pages of the Bible are shrouded in small biases and language use that can be differentiated and picked apart in order to reveal traits of the multiple people telling the narratives that make up the most influential book to date. It’s quite interesting that it’s possible to separate sentences from each other and produce a number of slightly different accounts of the same story, especially because these stories are often told in tandem. The creation story in Genesis 1-3 reflects this idea, and it seems that there are two points in which

The book of Genesis is often referred to as the book of beginnings. Genesis is the first book that begins the Old Testament, it is also the first book of the entire Bible. The Lord also began the world in the book of Genesis, He made the heavens and the earth, man and woman. In Genesis chapters one through eleven, the Bible teaches us stories that most of us have grown up hearing in Sunday School such as the creation account, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood and the tower of Babel. In this book of beginnings, we are shown some of Gods characteristics; we see that God is love and He showed His love by creating us and the world, on the other extreme, we also see the wrath of God. Through these teachings, we are able to see that God ultimately in control and holds everything in His balance. The stories of Genesis aren’t just stories; they are real life accounts that can help build and shape a worldview on things regarding the natural world, human identity, human relationships and civilization.

"In the beginning..." it alerts the reader of the fact that everything that has ever taken place as regards man had a starting point, an origin. Time is a created object just as anything else is. Before time, in some presently incomprehensible way, God and His kingdom stood outside of any movement or effect from time. He can say He has a "beginning" in the sense that before time began, there was no need or reason to mark the flow of events. The origin of time is truly the beginning of all things except for that which is eternal. Unfathomable, yet also obvious.