Bible Archeology Discoveries

Tel Dan Stele
Discovered: Tel Dan, Israel (1993)
From: (c. 900 BC)
Current Home: Israel Museum

The Tel Dan Stele is a fragmentary stele containing a Canaanite inscription that dates to the 9th century BC. It is notable for possibly being the most significant and one of only a few extra-biblical archaeological reference to the house of David.

It was discovered in 1993 in Tel-Dan by Gila Cook and contains several lines of ancient Hebrew. The surviving inscription details that an individual killed Jehoram of Israel, the son of Ahab and king of the house of David. These writings corroborate passages from the Hebrew Bible, as the Second Book of Kings mentions that Jehoram is the son of an Israelite king, Ahab, by his Phoenician wife, Jezebel. Applying a Biblical viewpoint to the inscription, the likely candidate for having erected the stele is Hazael, king of Aram-Damascus who is mentioned in the Second Book of Kings as having conquered the Land of Israel, (though he was unable to take Jerusalem}.

"Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master; and he rendered unto the king of Israel the wool of a hundred thousand lambs, and of a hundred thousand rams.
But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
And king Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel."
2 Kings 3:1-6

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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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