Archaeology vs. The Bible, You Decide!

The Bible vs. Archaeology, You Decide.

ABSTRACT: This article comprehensively links sequential archaeological periods to the Bible rather than the Bible to archaeological periods dated by Egyptian history. The Bible rather than a flawed Egyptian chronology is used to date each period. Israel normally placed in the Iron Age is a Bronze Age culture. The Exodus starts MBI, settled Israel starts MBII and the monarchy starts LB. A corrected chronology results in a refreshingly convincing agreement between the Bible and archaeology at every period.

To index file: www.scripturescholar.com/BibleArchaeology.htm

THE PROBLEM

The Bible and archaeologists do not tell the same story. The conquest of Canaan is a good example: The Bible says Joshua conquered the whole region leaving no survivors (Josh 10:42 cf. 11:16-23). Archaeologists say Israel "emerged" from among the Canaanite peoples without a conquest.^{^[1]} They say this because there is evidence of neither culture change nor comprehensive conquest. Archaeology has apparently proved the Bible wrong. Major differences between the Bible and archaeology are: There is no evidence of the destruction of Egypt by plagues at the Exodus. There is no evidence of a forty-year wilderness wandering, no evidence of a rapid and complete conquest by Joshua, and no evidence for a wealthy internationally trading kingdom of Israel under King Solomon, etc.

Properly interpreted archaeology should tell the same story as the Bible. The big details should match: plagues destroyed Egypt, Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness, Israel attacked and conquered Canaan, etc. Most recent archaeologists deny there is substantial evidence for these events. Archaeologists cannot necessarily tell whether a culture is Canaanite or Israelite. They can tell cities were destroyed, but not necessarily how they were destroyed. They can tell the inhabitants of an area were city dwellers or nomads. They can tell the difference between a poor local economy and rich international economy. Most reconcilers pick one event such as the Exodus or conquest of Canaan, not the big picture. The big details should match, but as currently interpreted, they do not. The goal of this article is to look at the big picture and provide a solution.

BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY CHALLENGED

A few archaeologists have challenged the standard Biblical chronology. Rudolph Cohen, in "The Mysterious MBI People" asked, "Does the Exodus tradition in the Bible preserve the memory of their entry into Canaan?" He answers yes; they may be Israel because only the MBI people match the Bible.^{^[2]} The problem is the MBI (Middle Bronze I Age) period ends c. 2000 B.C. over five hundred years before a c. 1450 B.C. Exodus. In another article, Emmanuel Anati asks, "Has Mt. Sinai Been Found?" He answers yes, if we can place the Exodus in the Bronze Age Complex: c. 3200-1550 B.C. He also shows parallels between the Exodus and Egyptian literature in the First Intermediate period.^{^[3]} Cohen and Anati do not have an archaeological problem with the Exodus story, but a chronological problem.

EGYPT, BASIS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL CHRONOLOGY

Egypt holds a unique place in archaeology because its chronology is "fixed" and early. Egyptian chronology is fixed because it is based on written records tied to fixed risings of the star Sirius dating to c. 1870 B.C. Biblical archaeological chronology is tied to Egyptian chronology. Sir Flinders Petrie discovered pottery-dated stratigraphy, the ability to date debris layers by pottery. Pottery was similar over large areas and changed slowly with time. Pieces of broken pottery had little value therefore generally stay in the strata where they first fell. Petrie linked the ubiquitous pottery pieces to Egyptian chronology. Linking the relative pottery chronology to the fixed Egyptian chronology, Biblical chronology became fixed.

THE SOLUTION

This brings up two questions: Does the Bible agree with a corrected chronology in all periods? Second, is there any reason to suspect an astronomically based chronology may be inaccurate? The short answer to both questions is yes. With a corrected chronology, these problems disappear, as will be shown below; but there is a new problem, how does one account for the excess six hundred years. This will be dealt with later.

This revised archaeological interpretation assumes the 'confirmed star dates' are inaccurate. God said, "Once more . . . I will shake the heavens" (Hag 2:6). This implies God shook the heavens in the past. If God shook the heavens, 'star dating' can be challenged. The Bible also says God shakes the earth from its place (Job 9:6). If the earth's orbit changed, dating by the rising Sirius may be invalid. Two stories in the Bible indicate a change in the stable progression of the earth in its orbit: Joshua's long day and Hezekiah's going back of the shadow of the sun.^{^[4]} God lengthened a day to twice its length c. 1400 B.C. God caused the shadow of the sun to reverse its normal direction for a time c. 700 B.C. These events challenge the assumption the rising of Sirius is a dateable event. Then Egyptian chronology could be wrong and therefore the archaeologist’s chronology of the Bible. For more details see Joshua's Long Day.^{^[5]}

This article will look at the periods before and after the MBI period to see if a chronological shift makes sense. Cohen and Anati's MBI people will be used as the reference for the Israelites when looking backwards and forwards in time.

The following chart summarizes the big picture during the archaeological periods and may aid the reader in understanding the standard view and the proposed view of each period. The proposed chronology used for the Biblical periods follows the dates normally used if archaeology is not used to amend the chronology of the Bible.

Archaeology		Egyptian	Date	Date	Brief Palestinian Archaeology	Standard	Proposed
Period		Period	Standard (length)	Proposed (length)	Description	Interpretation	Interpretation
Early	I	Pre-dynastic	3300 (250)	2450 (250)	Unfortified cities emerge with regional diversity.[1]		Before Abraham
Bronze Age	II	Archaic Period	3050 (350)	2200 (350)	Cities become fortified with pubic buildings, intensive urbanization.[2]	Before Abraham	Patriarchs to Canaan[3]
(EB)	III	Old Kingdom	2700 (400)	1850 (400)	Growth, very similar to EB II, with impressive formidable fortifications.[4]		Israel in Egypt
EB[5] OR MB	IV I	1st Inter-mediate	2300 (300)	1450 (50)[6]	Nomads destroy every city, but don't settle, mostly cemeteries.[7] No Egyptian presence.	Before Abraham[8]	Wandering & Conquest
Middle	IIA	Middle	2000 (200)	1400 (200)	"Mighty City-States," totally new urban population.[9]	Patriarchal Period	Israel Settles
Bronze Age	IIB	Kingdom	1800 (150)	1200 (100)	Increased settlement & urban growth. No cultural break. Hazor great.		Judges Rule
(MB)	IIC	2nd Inter-mediate	1650 (100)	1100 (100)	Increased settlement & urban growth. No cultural break. Prosperity zenith.[10]	Israel in Egypt	United Israel
Late	IA		1550 (80)	1000 (70)	No cultural break, Little Egyptian presence. International marine trade.[11]		United Israel
Bronze Age	IB		1470 (100)	930 (230)	Egypt conquers & influences[12] No walls or breaks, declining population/urbanization[13]	Exodus	Israel & Judah
(LB)	IIA	New	1400 (100)	700 (90)	Cities destroyed at various times & places, partial urban revival, Conquest in Canaan[14]	Wandering & Conquest	Judah; Assyrian Conquest
	IIB	Kingdom	1300 (100)	610 (20)	No cultural break, Hittites powerful. Bible is only record of public construction.[15]		Babylonian Conquest 1
	IA		1200 (50)	590 (10)	No-break. Strong Egyptian presence. Two waves of destruction. Turmoil.[16]	Judges Rule[17]	Babylonian Conquest 2-3
	IB		1150 (150)	580 (50)	Egyptian control ends. Subsistence pottery, no public buildings, small Population.[18]		Babylonian Captivity
Iron Age	IIA		1000 (75)	530 (200)	Sparse evidence. Urban culture begins. Poor unwalled villages. Dark age.[19]	United Israel	Persian
	IIB	Late Period	925 (195)	330 (160)	Jerusalem a metropolis[20] Well studied, but few remains until c. 800.	Israel & Judah	Greek
	IIC		720 (135)	170 (120)	Great prosperity in Judah. Hardly known outside Judah.[21]	Judah	Maccabean
Babylon Persian			585 (535)	50 (0)	Remains very rare. Until recently most obscure. Iron culture continues.[22]	Captivity to Herod	Roman

Bold text indicates the Biblical period clearly matches the archaeological of the period.

Italic text indicates the archaeology of the period does not match the Biblical account.

Many of the standard dates vary by up to one hundred years from one author to the next.

Footnotes for this page are on the last page.

THE PROBLEM

BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY CHALLENGED

EGYPT, BASIS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL CHRONOLOGY

THE SOLUTION

ABRAHAM