Artifacts and Archaeological Sites from the Time to Jesus | Middle East And North Africa

EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE TIME OF JESUS

Madaba map

Archaeologists have reconstructed the world of Jesus’s time based on a handful of written documents and from millions of “small finds”, according to Smithsonian magazine, gathered over decades of painstaking excavation: pottery shards, coins, glassware, animal bones, fishing hooks, cobbled streets, courtyard houses and other simple structures. [Source: Ariel Sabar, Smithsonian magazine, January-February 2016]

Discovered in a church in Madaba, Jordan, in 1884, the Madaba Map is the oldest surviving cartographic depiction of the Holy Land. Created in the form of a mosaic it dates to somewhere between A.D. 560-565 and originally showed an area that stretched from southern Syria to central Egypt. By the time it was discovered much of the map was already gone, however its remains include a detailed depiction of Jerusalem. "The bird's-eye view shows an oval-shaped walled city in the very center of the map with six gates and twenty-one towers, the colonnaded main thoroughfare … and thirty-six other identifiable public buildings, churches and monasteries," writes Jerome Mandel in an article published in the book "Trade, Travel and Exploration in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia" (Routledge, 2000). At the time it was created the Byzantine Empire ruled the Holy Land. [Source: Owen Jarus, Live Science, September 30, 2013]

Websites and Resources: Jesus and the Historical Jesus Britannica on Jesus britannica.com Jesus-Christ ; Historical Jesus Theories earlychristianwritings.com ; PBS Frontline From Jesus to Christ pbs.org ; Christianity BBC on Christianity bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity ; Christian Classics Ethereal Library www.ccel.org ; Candida Moss at the Daily Beast Daily Beast Christian Answers christiananswers.net ; Biblical History: Bible History Online bible-history.com ; Biblical Archaeology Society biblicalarchaeology.org

Warehouse in Israel Full of Stuff From Jesus' Time

Reporting from Beit Shemesh, Israel, Daniel Estrin of Associated Press wrote In a cavernous warehouse where Israel stores its archaeological treasures, an ancient burial box is inscribed with the name of Jesus. Not THAT Jesus. Archaeologists in Israel say Jesus was a common name in the Holy Land 2,000 years ago, and that they have found about 30 ancient burial boxes inscribed with it. [Source: Daniel Estrin, Associated Press, March 19, 2017 ]

“Ahead of Easter, Israel's antiquities authority opened up its vast storeroom to reporters for a peek at unearthed artifacts from the time of Jesus. Experts say they have yet to find direct archaeological evidence of Jesus Christ, but in recent years have found a wealth of material that helps fill out historians' understanding of how Jesus may have lived and died. "There's good news," said Gideon Avni, head of the archaeological division of the Israel Antiquities Authority. "Today we can reconstruct very accurately many, many aspects of the daily life of the time of Christ."

“Israel is one of the most excavated places on the planet. Some 300 digs take place each year, including about 50 foreign expeditions from as far away as the United States and Japan, the Antiquities Authority said. About 40,000 artifacts are dug up in Israel each year. A third of all the antiquities found attest to the ancient Christian presence in the Holy Land, Avni said. Historians now know how long it took to travel between cities and villages where Jesus preached, and what those places looked like at the time. In a brightly-lit, 5,000-square meter (54,000-sq. feet) warehouse crammed with stacks of ancient jugs and pottery sherds — what the Antiquities Authority calls its "Ali Baba cave" of ancient treasures — officials set up a simple white table with finds from the time of Jesus.

It has helped archaeologists reconstruct how the man was crucified — with his feet nailed to the sides of the cross. Avni said Jesus may have been crucified in the same manner, unlike the way the crucifixion is depicted in traditional Christian art.

Avni said there is no reason to believe Jesus did not exist just because archaeologists haven't found physical evidence of him. "You have to remember that Christ was one among more than a million people living during this time in the Holy Land," he said.

Yisca Harani, an Israeli scholar of Christianity, said the lack of physical evidence of Jesus is a "trivial mystery." "Why do we expect in antiquity that there would be some evidence of his existence?" Harani said. "It's the reality of human life. It's either rulers or military men who had their memory inscribed in stone and artifacts." She said what remained of Jesus "are his words."

Artifacts from Age of Jesus

wall painting from Herodium in the Israel Museum dated to the time of Jesus

Inside the Israel Museum warehouse, Daniel Estrin of Associated Press reported: “There were well-preserved limestone drinking cups and dishes, widely used by Jews in the Holy Land at the time as part of their strict practice to ensure the ritual purity of their food. There was an intricately decorated limestone burial box belonging to a scion of the high priest Caiaphas, known in the New Testament for his involvement in delivering Jesus to the Roman authorities who crucified him. In ancient times, families would gather the bones of the deceased and place them into boxes known as ossuaries. [Source: Daniel Estrin, Associated Press, March 19, 2017 ]

“They also showed off a replica of a major artifact located in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem — a heel bone pierced by an iron nail with wood fragments on each end, discovered in a Jewish burial box in northern Jerusalem dating to the 1st century AD. To date, it's the only evidence found of a victim of Roman crucifixion buried according to Jewish custom.

“Across from cardboard boxes marked "bones" from Bethsaida of the New Testament, a massive stone block sat on a wooden crate on the warehouse floor. The stone bears an apparent carved depiction of the Second Jewish Temple, and was discovered in 2009 at the site of an ancient synagogue on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Archaeologists have suggested Jesus may have preached in the synagogue.”

Jesus-Era Perfume Vials found in Mary Magdalene’s Home Town

In 2008. Franciscan archeologists working in Israel announced that they had found found vials of perfume that that may have been similar to that used by Mary Magdalene to wash Jesus' feet Reuters reported: “A team of Franciscan archaeologists digging in the biblical town of Magdala in what is now Israel say they have unearthed vials of perfume similar to those that may have been used by the woman said to have washed Jesus' feet. [Source: Reuters, November 12, 2008 /:]

“The perfumed ointments were found intact at the bottom of a mud-filled swimming pool, alongside hair and make-up objects, the director of the dig conducted by the group Studium Biblicum Franciscanum told the Terrasanta.net religious website. "If chemical analyses confirm it, these could be perfumes and creams similar to those that Mary Magdalene or the sinner cited in the Gospel used to anoint Christ's feet," Father Stefano de Luca, the lead archaeologist, told the website. /:\

“Mary Magdalene is cited in the New Testament as a steadfast disciple of Christ from whom seven demons were cast out. She is often considered the sinner who anointed Jesus' feet. "The discovery of the ointments in Magdala at any rate is of great importance. Even if Mary Magdalene was not the woman who washed Christ's feet, we have in our hands 'cosmetic products' from Christ's time," De Luca said. /:\

“Magdala was the name of an ancient town near the shores of the Sea of Galilee in what is now northern Israel. A Palestinian Arab village stood near the site until the war at Israel's establishment in 1948, and an Israeli town called Migdal now occupies the area. "It's very likely that the woman who anointed Christ's feet used these ointments, or products that were similar in composition and quality," De Luca said. Studium Biblicum Franciscanum supports research in biblical studies but focuses on archaeological excavation of sites linked to the New Testament and early Christianity in the Middle East.” /:\

2,000-year-old Stone Receipt Discovered in Jerusalem

Two thousand years paper as we know hadn’t been invented and important financial record were recorded on stones and pieces of pottery. In 2023, Live Science reported: Archaeologists found the inscribed proof-of-purchase at the archaeological site of the City of David in Jerusalem. The hand-size rock — the fragmented lid of an ossuary, or burial chest — has seven lines of partially preserved text that mention people's names and sums of money. These letters and numbers are likely the record of financial activity, perhaps of payment for workers or people who owe money, according to a new study published in the journal 'Atiqot. [Source: Laura Geggel, Live Science, May 24, 2023]

"At first glance, the list of names and numbers may not seem exciting, but to think that, just like today, receipts were also used in the past for commercial purposes, and that such a receipt has reached us, is a rare and gratifying find that allows a glimpse into everyday life in the holy city of Jerusalem," the study authors, archaeologists Esther Eshel, a professor at Bar-Ilan University, and Nahshon Szanton, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement.

The legible parts of the receipt's text include names with numbers written next to them. For instance, one line has Shimon, a popular biblical male name during the early Roman period (37 B.C. to A.D. 70), the researchers said. Following the name is the Hebrew letter mem, an abbreviation of ma'ot — Hebrew for "money."

The stone was found in a debris pile during a 2016 salvage excavation on Pilgrimage Road, a main thoroughfare frequently traveled at the time. Around the turn of the first millennium, when Jerusalem and the surrounding region were a province of the Roman Empire, this road was likely a commercial hub, according to previous finds of stone weights and measuring tables that were likely part of ancient commerce. The road extended about a third of a mile (600 meters), connecting Jerusalem's city gate to the gates of the Temple Mount and the Second Temple, which the Romans destroyed in A.D. 70.

Four other Hebrew inscriptions written on stone, similar for having names followed by numbers, have been found in the region, but this is the first of its kind from Jerusalem, the researchers said. The type of script and stone, as well as its similarities to the other stones, helped the archaeologists date it to between the first century B.C. and the A.D. first century A.D. It's likely that whoever crafted the Hebrew cursive carving used a sharp tool on the chalkstone lid, the researchers added.

Pagan Temple in Bethsaida

The ruins of Bethsaida lie atop an oval-shaped, 20-acre mound of volcanic earth. It is srrounded by the hills of the Golan, which drop through eucalyptus trees and across plains of mango and palm groves to the Sea of Galilee. Ariel Sabar wrote in Smithsonian magazine:“Bethsaida was home to as many as five apostles — far more than any other New Testament town. It was where Jesus is said to have healed the blind man and multiplied the loaves and fishes.[Source: Ariel Sabar, Smithsonian magazine, January-February 2016]

At the apex of the mound, not long after he’d begun digging, Arav unearthed the basalt walls of a rectangular building. “Was it a synagogue? To judge by other finds, Bethsaida was a majority Jewish town. But the rudimentary structure had no benches or other hallmarks of early synagogue architecture. “Instead, the archaeologists discovered evidence of pagan worship: bronze incense shovels similar to those found in Roman temples; palm-size votive objects in the shape of boat anchors and grape clusters; terra-cotta figurines of a woman who resembled Livia (sometimes known as Julia), the wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus and mother of Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus in the year A.D. 14.

“At first, it didn’t make sense. Arav knew the Romans regarded their rulers as both human and divine, worshiping them as deities. But Herod the Great and his sons, who ruled the Land of Israel as Rome’s client kings, had been sensitive to the region’s Jews. They built no pagan structures in Galilee and kept the faces of rulers off local coins. But Bethsaida, Arav realized, lay a hair over the Galilee border, in the Golan, a region just to the northeast that was home to gentile villages and was ruled by Herod’s son Philip, the only Jew at the time to put his face on a coin. (Galilee was ruled by Philip’s brother Antipas.) In the year 30, according to Josephus, Philip dedicated Bethsaida to Livia, who had died the year before. In his eagerness to endear himself to his Roman masters, might Philip have built a pagan temple to the emperor’s mother? Might he have done so in precisely the period when Jesus was visiting Bethsaida?

“On a sweltering morning, amid the buzz of cicadas, Arav led me past the fisherman’s house to the temple site. It doesn’t look like much now. Its waist-high walls enclose a 20- by 65-foot area, with small porches on either end. Strewn among the weeds inside were fragments of a limestone column that may have graced the temple’s entrance.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Christian Origins sourcebooks.fordham.edu “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File); “ Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions” edited by R.C. Zaehner (Barnes & Noble Books, 1959); King James Version of the Bible, gutenberg.org; New International Version (NIV) of The Bible, biblegateway.com; Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ccel.org , Frontline, PBS, “Encyclopedia of the World Cultures” edited by David Levinson (G.K. Hall & Company, 1994); Wikipedia, BBC, National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Live Science, Encyclopedia.com, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, Business Insider, AFP, Library of Congress, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated March 2024