Bible Archeology Discoveries

Taylor Prism
Discovered: Nineveh, Assyria (Mosul, Iraq)
From: (c. 700 BC)

The Taylor Prism is a six-sided baked clay document that was discovered at the Assyrian capital Nineveh , (now in Iraq). It was acquired by Colonel R. Taylor, British Consul General at Baghdad, in 1830, after whom it is named. The Prism contains the text of the annals of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. They are also found on other artifacts including the Jerusalem Prism in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

One of the first major Assyrian documents discovered, the Taylor Prism played an important part in the decipherment of cuneiform script .

The prism preserves King Sennacherib's achievements, including his third campaign (701 BC). It involved the destruction of forty-six cities of the state of Judah and the deportation of 200,150 people. Hezekiah , king of Judah, is said to have sent tribute to Sennacherib. This event is described from another point of view in the Old Testament books of 2 Kings and Isaiah. No mention of the siege of Lachish is made, but this appears in a series of panels from Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh.

"Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them."
2 Kings 18:13

"Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them."
Isaiah 36:1

Select Pages

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Notable Finds

Much of what is described in Bible text is lost to history, requiring readers to assume the historicity of the scriptures.

However, many of the places and events described in the Old and New Testaments are periodically corroborated by archeological finds.

Some finds simply help us to better understand things from the ancient world. However, others provide important evidence as to the truth of scripture regarding things about which there had previously been skepticism.

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