The subject of Biblical archaeology is a vast one, so it will be necessary to confine comments here to only a few of the multitude of cases in which archaeological discoveries have vindicated Biblical claims.
At many times in the past, scholars have assumed the Bible to be inaccurate until new archaeological evidence necessitated a reversal of scepticism on the point in question. For example, for many years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica referred to the Hittites as "a mythological civilization mentioned only in the Bible." Then, suddenly, a great deal of archaeological evidence was found in modern Turkey for the existence of the Hittites. The next edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica then carried a great deal of material describing the Hittite civilization in considerable detail.1
Similar reversals have taken place among scholars with respect to the Horites, the historicity of Sargon II (722-705 B.C.), the existence of Belshazzar, the use of alphabetic writing in Canaanite cultures before 1500 B.C., and many other matters.2
By 1960, in a book endorsed by an editorial board consisting of American Liberal Clergymen, John Elder had written:
It is not too much to say that it was the rise of the science of archaeology that broke the deadlock between historians and the orthodox Christian. Little by little, one city after another, one civilization after another, one culture after another, whose memories were enshrined only in the Bible, were restored to their proper places in ancient history by the studies of archaeologists. . . . Contemporary records of Biblical events have been unearthed and the uniqueness of Biblical revelation has been emphasized by contrast and comparison to newly discovered religions of ancient peoples. Nowhere has archaeological discovery refuted the Bible as history.3
There have been many scholars, such as Sir William Ramsay, who have become Christian believers as a result of confronting the archaeological evidence for the validity of the Biblical claims over a lifetime of study.
Some of the most startling archaeological finds bear upon the historicity of the first eleven chapters of Genesis, a portion of the Bible that even some Bible-believing scholars have had difficulty accepting at face value. Among these is the Temptation Seal, found among ancient Babylonian tablets, and presently in the British Museum, depicting the Garden of Eden story. In its center is a tree, with a man on the right, and a woman on the left plucking fruit. Behind the woman is a serpent, standing erect, as if whispering to her.4
The "Adam and Eve" seal depicts a naked man and a naked woman walking as if utterly downcast and brokenhearted, followed by a serpent. Presently in the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia, this seal was found in 1932 by Dr. E. A. Speiser near the bottom of the Tepe Gawra Mound, 12 miles north of Nineveh. He dated the seal at about 3500 B. C. and called it "strongly suggestive of the Adam and Eve story."5
A stele (or monument) discovered at the site of Ur in ancient Babylon depicts the various activities of Ur-Nammu, who was king of Ur from 2044 to 2007 B.C. According to the stele, he began construction of a great tower. According to a clay tablet unearthed at the same site by George Smith of the British Museum, the erection of the tower offended the Gods, who "threw down what they had built. They scattered them abroad, and made strange their speech."6 This is very similar to the account of the tower of Babel found in Genesis 11:1-9.
Other archaeologists, including E. A. Speiser and S. N. Kramer of the University of Pennsylvania, and Oxford cuneiformist Oliver Gurney, have found evidence that the ancient Sumerians believed that there was a time when all mankind spoke the same language and that at a particular time, the God of Wisdom confounded their speech.7
One of the many archaeological scholars who began his studies convinced that the Bible was legendary, but later became very conservative in his approach to the Biblical narratives was William F. Albright. This change of viewpoint was the result of many years of archaeological discoveries disconfirming the hypothesis that the Bible was legend. For example, Genesis 14: 5,6 refers to a number of cities by way of which the four Eastern kings came against Sodom. These cities were so far east of the ordinary trade route that Albright once considered it evidence of the legendary character of Genesis 14. However, in 1929, he discovered in Hauran and along the eastern border of Gilead and Moab, a series of tells of cities that flourished about 2000 B.C., demonstrating that it was a well-settled area, and a trade route between Damascus and Edom and Sinai.8
The Biblical account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has been corroborated by surface surveys undertaken on the east side of the Dead Sea, which have revealed a series of five ancient cities dating back to the Middle Bronze era. There is strong evidence that various layers of the earth were disrupted and hurled high into the air. Because much of this material was bituminous pitch, these five cities were covered with it. The layers of sedimentary rock at these sites were molded together by intense heat, as is evident on the top of nearby Jebel Usdum (Mount Sodom). Geologists have hypothesized that an oil basin beneath the Dead Sea ignited and erupted, causing a rain of fire and debris upon these cities.9
1 Francis A. Schaeffer, Tape, "Five Problems With Those Who Deny the Claims of the Bible Concerning Itself" (Huemoz, Switzerland: L'Abri Tapes, n.d.)
2 Gleason L. Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), p. 165.
3 John Elder, Prophets, Idols and Diggers (New York: Bobbs Merrill, 1960), p. 16, as quoted by Archer, p. 166.
4 Henry H. Halley, Halley's Bible Handbook, 24th ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1965), p. 68.
5 Ibid., pp. 68-69.
6 Quoted by Ibid., p. 84 and Clifford A. Wilson, Rocks, Relics and Biblical Reliability (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1977), p. 29.
7 Wilson, pp. 29-31.
8 Halley, p. 97.
9 Wilson, pp. 41-42.
