THE BIBLE AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Session 4

Welcome

REVIEW LAST WEEK

What did he say?

THE ROSETTA STONE

ORIGINAL ROSETTA STONE

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs

Demotic script

Ancient Greek

King Ptolemy V

196 BCDISCOVERED IN 1799 BY AN EXPEDITION DIRECTED BY ONE OF NAPOLEON’S

EXCAVATION DIRECTORS

SUMERIAN KING LIST TABLET

SUMERIAN KING LIST

• Tablets and fragments of tablets (six lists)

• Discovered in ancient tells in southern Iraq

• List of kings who reigned before and after the Flood

• Political documents

• Made of fired or hardened clay

• Written in Old Babylonian script (Cuneiform)

WHAT IS IT? AND WHAT ARE THEY?

SUMERIAN KING LIST PRISM

ANCIENT SUMER

CITIES LIST IN THE PRISM

LIST OF CITIES ANCIENT SUMER

LIST OF THE KINGS BEFORE THE FLOOD

ALULIM RULED AS KING 28,800 YEARSELALGAR RULED 43,200 YEARSAMMILU'ANNA RULED 36,000 YEARSENMEGALANNA RULED 28,800 YEARSDUMUZI RULED 28,800 YEARSEN-SIPA-ZI-ANNA RULED 13,800 YEARSMEDURANKI RULED 7,200 YEARSUBUR-TUTU RULED 36,000 YEARS

DIFFERENCESCOMPARISON

KING LIST TABLET GENESIS 5

Establish political/earthly

legitimacy

Establish genealogical/spiritual

legitimacy

Eight names Ten names

General numbering system

Specific numbering system

City Centered People Centered

SIMILARITIESCOMPARISON

KING LIST TABLET GENESIS 5

Mentions the Flood Describes the Flood

Detailed lists beginning at creation

Succession from Adam to Noah

Center in Mesopotamia Live in Mesopotamia

Long reigns Long lifespans

CONCLUSIONS

• The Bible focuses on people and relationships

• The text of the Old Testament is very specific

• Longevity was not considered unusual in pre-flood Mesopotamia and ancient history

• The Bible is coherent in its narrative• Our focus needs to be in redemptive

history

QUESTIONS?

Does anyone have any questions about last weeks lesson?

ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE FLOOD

Babylonian Flood account

Epic of Gilgamesh

ARCHAEOLOGY EPIC OF GILGAMESH

• Twelve large tablets

• The tablets date to 7th Century BC but the material goes back another 1000 years

• Language is Akkadian or Sumerian and Old Babylonian in cuneiform characters

• The 12 major tablets were found in the Library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh

• Other smaller tablets and fragments have been found in surrounding sites

ENGLISH ARCHAEOLOGIST

Austen Henry Layard George Adam Smith Hormuzd Rassam

Digging in Nineveh

LIBRARY OF ASHURBANIPAL(668-626 B.C.)

King of Assyria

BIBLICAL CONNECTIONS

• Genesis 10:10 mentions Erech or Uruk

• Search for immortality (eternal life)

• Seeks out Noah (Utanapishtim) for advice

• Mentions the flood (deluge)

• Gilgamesh is described as a giant--16-18 feet high (Genesis 6:4)

• Gilgamesh wants to kill the “god” who caused the flood (Humbaba or Humwawa)

WHO IS GILGAMESH?• King of Erech (Uruk) between circa 2700-

2500 BC (ruled for 126 years)• Hero of Sumerian and Babylonian epic

poetry• Son of the goddess Ninsun • Father was a 'lillu' (spirit)• One of the kings on The Sumerian king-list• The Sumerian king-list was composed circa

2100 BC

KING GILGAMESH

THE SUMERIAN KING LIST

WELD-BLUNDELL PRISM

WHERE AND WHEN WAS IT DISCOVERED?

1839

EPIC OF GILGAMESHWho discovered it?

Austen Henry Layard

EPIC OF GILGAMESHWho translated it?

Henry Rawlinson

CUNEIFORM TABLET

CUNEIFORM SCRIPT

A NEW LANGUAGE

CUNEIFORM (WEDGE SHAPED)

THE CAST OF CHARACTERSEpic of Gilgamesh

• Gilgamesh - Main character

• Enkidu – Main companion of Gilgamesh

• Shamhat - A temple prostitute

• Utnapishtim - Babylonian Noah

• Utnapishtim’s wife

• Urshanabi - Guardian of “stone things”

• The Hunter – Tries to tame Enkidu

• Group of major gods

EPIC OF GILGAMESH PLOT• Five different poems combined in an epic

• Gilgamesh is a cruel despot and unjust king of Uruk

• The gods respond to the people of the city to distract Gilgamesh

• The gods send Gilgamesh on a number of quests

• One quest is for eternal life where he seeks out Utnapishtim

SIMILARITIES TO THE BIBLICAL FLOOD STORY

BIBLE GILGAMESH

1. Divinely Planned Divinely Planned

2. Divinely Revealed Divinely Revealed

3. Defection in the Human Race

Defection in the Human Race

4. Deliverance of the Hero and His Family

Deliverance of the Hero and His Family

SIMILARITIES(CONTINUED)

BIBLE GILGAMESH

5. Divinely Instructed to Build a Huge Boat

Divinely Instructed to Build a Huge Boat

6. Specify the Duration of the Flood

Specify the Duration of the Flood

7. Name the Landing Place of the Boat

Name the Landing Place of the Boat

8. Include Similar Striking Details

Include Similar Striking Details

MAJOR DIFFERENCES TO THE BIBLICAL FLOOD STORY

BIBLE GILGAMESH

1. Monotheistic Polytheistic

2. Moral framework Immoral

3. Differentiates between spirit and matter

Mixes spirit and matter (pantheism)

4. Clear on the reason for the flood

The gods argued about the reason for the flood.

MINOR DIFFERENCES (continued)

BIBLE GILGAMESH5. Noah was public about

the flood comingThe gods kept the

flood a secret

6. 40 day flood 6-7 days and nights flood

7. 450 feet long boat Boat the size of a cube

8. Mount Ararat Mount Nisir

CONCLUSIONS

• The Differences don’t destroy the striking similarities

• An early tragedy of the Flood effected every people and culture

• Both Hebrew and extra-biblical tradition about the Flood agreed on the basic facts

• The themes of divine judgment, righteousness and eternal life were part of the worldview of Mesopotamia

EXPLANATION OF FLOOD PARALLELS

1. The Genesis Account is drawn from the Babylonian or Sumerian tradition.

2. The Babylonian Gilgamesh is drawn from the Genesis narrative.

3. These traditions arose spontaneously.

4. The two accounts go back to a common source.

WHAT ARE OUR CHOICES?

2 PETER 1:19

We have also a more sure word of Prophecy; whereunto you do well that you take heed, as to a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day

star arise in your hearts:

ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE TEXT OF SCRIPTURE

1. Clarifies Scripture

2. Confirms Scripture

3. Complements Scripture

WHAT IS THE PLACE OF ARCHAEOLOGY?

• Archaeology CANNOT prove the Bible. Spiritual truth is of such a nature that it cannot be proven or disproved by the material discoveries of archaeology. The truths of the Bible do not need proving; they are self-evident.

• The net effect of archaeology has been to support the general trustworthiness and substantial historicity of the biblical tradition where data is available

FLOOD LAYERLEONARD WOOLLEY

UR EXCAVATION