P creates what we know today as the first five books of the Bible. ibid.
The Silver Scrolls with the priestly benediction pre-date the earliest Dead Sea Scrolls by four-hundred years. It’s an amazing find, proving that at least some verses of the Bible were written in ancient times during the reign of King David’s descendants. By giving us texts from before the Babylonian exile, the silver scrolls confirm that the Hebrew Bible is created from poetry, oral traditions and prayers that go back to the time of Josiah’s D-writer, and probably beyond to writers E and J. ibid.
The character of Moses is the most horrid tale that can be imagined. Moses was a wretch that committed the most horrible atrocities that can be found in the literature of any nation. ‘For Moses said unto them (according to the Bible), kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known a man by lying with him, but all the women that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves’. Thomas Jefferson
The Hebrew Yam Suf literally means Sea of Reeds. When the Greek translators took the Hebrew – Yam Suff – and translated it into Greek they translated it as Red Sea. Professor James K Hoffmeier, archaeologist Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
The view that Moses had personally written down the first five books of the Bible was virtually unchallenged until the seventeenth century. Michael Coogan, Stonehill College
Wandering for forty years there would be something. Professor Eric Cline
We do not have a single shred of evidence to date – there is nothing archaeologically to attest to anything from the Biblical story. No plagues. No parting of the Red Sea. No manna from Heaven. No wandering for forty years. Professor Eric Cline
The eruption of Santorini has been re-dated now, and took place probably about 1628 B.C. And 1628 means that the Exodus and the eruption are separated by about two hundred years. Professor Eric H Cline
It was the beginning of an epic story. The flight of the Hebrews from Egypt. God’s intervention was a turning point in the Bible. One man – Moses – was chosen to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Who Was Moses?
No such evidence has emerged of a mass wandering of Hebrews. ibid.
The plagues ... could have been natural phenomena. ibid.
In the original Hebrew Bible they crossed the Yam Suf, or Sea of Reeds. ibid.
A 2000-year-old rock carving found on the plateau. ibid.
The conclusion is no Israelites ever dwelt in Egypt. Dr Rolf Krauss
For centuries Jews have lamented the destruction of their home city of Jerusalem ... Exile is not only a religious Jewish belief, for millions of Jews and non-Jews alike it is an historical fact. But what has been considered as fact for centuries is now being challenged by archaeological evidence. Ilan Ziv, Searching for Exile: Truth or Myth? BBC 2013
Nowhere in his writings does Josephus mention the forced expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem or the rest of the Roman province. ibid.
This was a huge rebellion I think was overstated. Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Searching for Exile: The Debate, BBC 2013
Why are we relying on a collection of texts that are thousands of years old from societies completely different from our own? Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou, interview Nicky Campbell, Big Questions: Is the Bible Still Relevant Today?
Closer examination could turn this legendary figure and his many achievements to dust. Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Bible’s Buried Secrets 1/3: Did King David’s Empire Exist?
The story goes that David brought together two tribal regions: Israel in the north, and Judah in the South. ibid.
[Yigael] Yadin’s neat conclusions – in fact his whole approach to Biblical archaeological – was challenged, and some would say overturned, in the modern era. ibid.
In 2007 something did turn up, and it threatened to overturn many of Finkelstein’s ideas ... A dramatic discovery was made at the little-known site Khirbet Qeiyafa. Here was a fortified walled town west of Jerusalem, in what was ancient Judah ... The first fortified city from that period. And the thing is, it’s in pristine condition. ibid.
What stands out is this discovery: large city gates. A good indicator, some would say, of empire. ibid.
Despite the best efforts of some archaeologists conclusive evidence for David’s glorious capital has simply failed to materialise. ibid.
There’s no evidence of a Davidic empire in the tenth century in the cities the Bible says Solomon rebuilt. ibid.
The Tel Dan inscription ... It mentions David ... The House of David ... It was a crucial discovery, but like so many finds, its authenticity was contested. Most people now accept the Tel Dan inscription is genuine ... The Tel Dan inscription was written about a century and a half after the period of David. Enough time perhaps for a story about a legendary founding figure to develop. Other scholars disagree. ibid.
Omri really did leave his mark in the archaeological record. ibid.
It’s not a convincing picture. The historical David may or may not have existed, the jury is still out on that, but the lack of evidence on his great united kingdom, in contrast to the wealth of information about Omri, makes the very existence of his empire questionable. ibid.
Omri is in the Bible – but blink and you’ll miss it. ibid.
I don’t think Judah and Israel were united under a Davidic king at all. ibid.
In the seventh century it was the southern kingdom – Judah – that was in the ascendancy ... It was a story filtered through the experiences of Judah. ibid.
The ancestors of Judaism and Christianity believed in many gods. And God had a wife. Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Bible’s Buried Secrets 2/3: Did God Have A Wife?
Monotheism is at the heart of Christianity too. ibid.
According to the Bible, the roots of Monotheism can be traced back three and a half thousand years to Abraham and the pact he made with God. ibid.
I think the evidence now shows that the people of the Bible believed in many gods. And the scribes who composed the Bible did their best to conceal this, but not altogether successfully. ibid.
Another god whose name appears in the Bible over a hundred and thirty times - the god Baal ... So what was the appeal of the god Baal? ibid.
A god who is even more powerful than Baal – the god El ... A religious reality disguised in the Bible: for el is also the god of the ancient Israelites – El is God. And the evidence is there for anyone to see. ibid.
In the Bible God reveals his proper name – his name is Yahweh ... But the reality is he wasn’t always known as Yahweh. God used to be known by another name. A name still embedded in this part of the world today. A name that contradicts the Biblical claim that its god of monotheism is unique and distinct. ibid.
Is El of the Israelites the same as El of the Canaanites? El can be used as a generic term for God. Much like we use the word God today ... But there are also lots of cases where it is being used as an actual name. ibid.
I think He was a Canaanite god. ibid.
The Bible makes yet another false claim – the claim that apart from a few lapses the ancient Israelites were essentially true to one God. Evidence now casts serious doubt on this claim. ibid.
Each god was responsible for his or her patch of earthly affairs. Amongst these gods was of course the weather-god Baal. ibid.
A female counterpart, a goddess ... It’s the word Asherah. The word is found forty times ... But why is the Bible so unsettled by this apparent object? ... Archaeology now shows us that Asherah wasn’t always an object. ibid.
Asherah’s role is of a life-giving goddess. ibid.
The Tree of Life was frequently used to represent the goddess. ibid.
All across Israel, in almost every excavation of ancient domestic buildings, archaeologists are unearthing female figurines. ibid.
The Israelites were polytheists. And God had a wife. ibid.
A systematic purge of polytheism: traces of this purge can be detected in polemical stories in the Bible itself. Stories in which Yahweh takes on the other gods in a celestial war. ibid.
Judaism and Christianity are proud of their monotheistic pedigree ... This history has been skilfully manufactured by the scribes who composed these ancient texts. The claims that Abraham and his descendants worshipped a unique and distinctive God just don’t stand up. The truth about the Bible is that for most of its time its people were polytheists. And their chief God had a wife. ibid.
In toppling the goddess from Heaven monotheism disempowered women. ibid.