as to my source of where i got the 10%, this is an estimation, because no one knows for sure how much was round, as compared to how much is being dug up. I got this percentage from my professor with his PHD in ancient Semetic languages and culture...so I guess I just took it for granite that he knew what he was talking about. in reference to the money issue, im not sure how many investors care about Biblical archaeology, enough to invest lots of money and years to dig a city up, I know some do, but all i was getting at is that I'm sure more money has gone to digging in the egyptian pyramids and tombs, than in israel and the middle east looking for Biblical artifacts.
In response to your response about the walls of jericho, i am staring at a picture in my old testament book "Encountering the Old testament, which whows a picture with the caption of "the ruins of Jericho"
as to the article that says the evidence is very disappointing...My book that is Published, tells a little bit different story. It says that there was a conquest, but the date is what people are not sure about. Here is an excerpt "Archaeologists have excavated many sites the Bible says the Israelites conquered. Evidence from Jericho, unfortunately, has proven largely in conclusive, but excavations at Lachish, Debir, and Hazor have revealed massive destrucion layers from about the thirteenth century .C. .....The Bible specififally names only three cities the Israelites burned--Jericho,Ai, and Hazor. Moreover, evidence of the migration of othe people into Palestine about 1200 B.C. suggests these people--not the Israelites-- may have destroyed the many towns and villages. In light of the disagreement over the archaelogical data, it seems wisest to await further evidence. We can still affirm the historicity of the events in the Book of Joshua, even if we do not know precisely when they occurred" (Encountering the Old Testament p169-170) If a city were to be burnt, especially a few thousand years ago, that could be a reason why there is not a lot of evidence about it around today. This book was published in 1998, the article you have a link to(Bible Archaeology review) is published in 1999. It appears as though they are in conflict a bit, im not saying they are wrong, because I have no clue who runs that site, all I'm saying is, this is what is in a Published book.
And the first article, it seems as though the writer went in with a biased opinion that no matter hwat he found, the BIble would be wrong.
You said "Jericho was inhabited for a loooong time-- starting about 10kya. There are ruins of several settlements, none of them matching the biblical accounts."
These other sites...waht are they? just curious, or are they the sites of Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer?
As for the other creation stories, all I know right now, is that if you believe the flood story, then all life originated from that one spot where the Ark landed, and as God confused and spread out the people from Babel, that they would all have the same basic concepts of acreation story the flood,etc... (but they would all be different, to fit them into their mythology)You have a good point about the epic of Gilgamesh, im sorry if I did not communicate that well enough. You are right, they probably did not copy it from the Bible.
if you are looking for everything that is in the BIble, to be documented somwehre on paper in a museum, you are probably not going to find it. So I hope you do not get too disappointed. I am also not afrid to say that I dont know. One should not be expected to know everything about GOd, becuase that is just not going to happen.
Page not found - Biblical Archaeology Societytake a look at that, and that is even the same site you used.
(and no I do not think I am always right,im just trying to present maybe different points you may have not heard)
http://www.biblical-archaeology.net/"the Shishak Relief depicts Egypt's victory over King Rehoboam in about 925 BC, when Solomon's Temple in Judah was plundered. This is the exact event mentioned in 1 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 12."
http://www.bible-archaeology.com/Bible Archaeology: Cities of Ancient Israel
"Bible archaeology finds its ultimate significance in the cities of ancient Israel. Mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible, Jericho was the initial entry point into the Promised Land for the Israelite people (Joshua 6). Archaeology has now confirmed the location of this fortified city of walls and towers that guarded entry to the land of Canaan from the east"
a little further down on this page....."Excavations in the north have also revealed the city of Dan, which was a Canaanite stronghold conquered by Israel (specifically, the tribe of Dan) around 1150 BC (Judges 18). The rebuilt city, which became the northern boundary of Israel, has delivered a wealth of artifacts with biblical importance. The southern boundary of Israel was Beersheba, which became a fortified city during the period of King Solomon (1 Kings 4:25). Excavations between 1969 and 1976 have revealed massive walls, gates, wells and storehouses consistent with biblical accounts"
Archaeology is not the Bibles worst friend?? Maybe you didnt look into it quite enough?
[This message has been edited by Pringlesguy7, 10-09-2003]
[This message has been edited by Pringlesguy7, 10-09-2003]
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