Lost Treasures of the Bible: Understanding the Bible through Archaeological Artifacts in World Museums

746 Pages·2010·16.15 MB·English

by  Clyde E. Fant

Clyde E. Fant & Mitchell G. Reddish

Illustrations X
Preface and Acknowledgments xvi
Abbreviations xx
List of Selected Rulers xxii
Maps xxvi
Creation and Flood Stories
Enuma Elish, the Epic of Creation 3
Sumerian Creation Myths 7
The Epic of Atrahasis 12
The Epic of Gilgamesh i6
Sumerian King List 22
Israel's Ancestral, Exodus, and Settlement Periods
Ram Caught in a Thicket 29
The Rosetta Stone 33
Amarna Tablets 37
Akhenaten: Stela and Panel, Adoration of the Aten 43
The Birth Legend of Sargon 47
The Mummy of Ramesses II 50
Mud Brick of Ramesses II 53
The Treaty of Kadesh 55
The Law Code of Hammurabi 6o
Middle Assyrian Laws, Tablet A 66
Merneptah Stela (or, Israel Stela) 72
Calf Statuette and Model Shrine 74
Philistine Cult Stand with Musicians 78
Stela of Baal of the Lightning 81
Cylinder Seal of El and Baal 84
Myths of the Baal Cycle 88
The Period of the Monarchy
Gezer Calendar 95
Mesha Stela (Moabite Stone) 97
Tel Dan Inscription 103
Ivory Plaque Mentioning Hazael 106
Samaria Ivories log
Nimrud Ivories 112
The Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III 116
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III 119
Shema Seal of Megiddo 124
Reliefs from the Central Palace of Tiglath-Pileser III at Nimrud 126
Annals of Tiglath-Pileser III 131
Palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad 133
The Epitaph of Uzziah 140
Seal of Shebnayau, Servant of Uzziah 142
Hezekiah's Tunnel Inscription 144
Horned Altar of Beer-Sheba 148
Sanctuary of Arad 151
Shebna Inscription from Silwan 154
The Taylor Prism 158
Bull Inscription of Sennacherib: The Tribute of Hezekiah 164
Scenes from Sennacherib's Southwest Palace at Nineveh 168
Siege of Lachish 173
Stela of Esarhaddon 177
Stela of Ashurbanipal 182
Wall Reliefs from Ashurbanipal's Palaces at Nineveh 185
Tablet Naming Gyges of Lydia 190
Cylinder of Nabopolassar 192
Babylonian Chronicle, 616-609 B.C.E. - The Fall of Nineveh 195
Ishtar Gate and Processional Way of Babylon 199
Arad Ostracon Mentioning "House of Yahweh" 205
Babylonian Chronicle, 605-595 B.C.E. - The Capture of Jerusalem 208
Lachish Letters 212
Babylonian Rations: The Judean Royal House as Prisoners 217
The Period of the Babylonian Exile
Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur 223
The Nabonidus Chronicle 228
Nabonidus Cylinder Mentioning Belshazzar 232
The Legend of Aqhat 235
Poetry and Wisdom Literature
Sumerian Proverbs Tablet 241
Sumerian Love Poem 247
The Great Hymn to Osiris 251
Dialogue between a Man and His God 256
Ludlul Bel Nemeqi, "The Babylonian Job" 259
The Persian Period
The Cyrus Cylinder 267
Frieze of Archers 271
Column Capital from Persepolis 275
Silver Bowl of Artaxerxes I 280
Column Base with Inscription of Artaxerxes II 283
The Hellenistic Period
Statue and Head of Alexander the Great 289
Head and Coin of Antiochus IV 293
The Roman Period
Equestrian Statue of Augustus 299
Bust and Silver Denarius of Tiberius 302
The Galilee Boat 308
Pontius Pilate Inscription 311
Ossuary of the High Priest Caiaphas 315
Heel Bone of a Crucifixion Victim 318
Ossuary of Simon, "Builder of the Temple" 322
"Place of Trumpeting" Inscription 324
Temple Warning Inscription 327
Head of Caligula 329
Head of Claudius 333
The Gallio Inscription at Delphi 336
Letter from Apion 339
Diploma Granting Roman Citizenship 343
Market Gate of Miletus 348
Winged Victory of Samothrace 351