Bible Stuff

[TGHusker]

I found this interesting.  I've never heard of this before - the use of the magnetic field to 'date' historical events.  

 

 

https://studyfinds.org/biblical-stories-israel-judah/

 

 

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Biblical stories of military events in kingdoms of Israel, Judah really did happen, archaeologists show

Biblical stories of military campaigns against the kingdoms of Israel and Judah appear to be more than just legendary stories, according to the latest scientific research. Researchers in Israel say ancient Egyptians, Arameans, Assyrians, and Babylonians really waged these battles. The team found evidence of these historical events in burnt remnants from 21 archaeological sites.

Study authors were able to connect them with Earth’s geomagnetic field at the time. The analysis shows the army of Hazael, King of Aram-Damascus, was responsible for the destruction of several cities. They include Tel Rehov, Tel Zayit, Horvat Tevet, and Gath — one of the five Philistine states.  Findings also indicate the Edomites razed parts of Southern Judah to the ground after taking advantage of the fall of Jerusalem.

 

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also refutes the theory that Hazael conquered Tel Beth-Shean.

“Based on the similarity or difference in intensity and direction of the magnetic field, we can either corroborate or disprove hypotheses claiming that specific sites were burned during the same military campaign. Moreover, we have constructed a variation curve of field intensity over time which can serve as a scientific dating tool, similar to the radiocarbon dating method,” says lead author Yoav Vaknin, a student at the Hebrew University, in a media release.

 

 

 

 

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How did Earth’s unique fields reveal these events?

Earth’s ever-changing geomagnetic field is generated by the motion of liquid iron in the outer core of the planet. It shields the planet from dangerous radiation and enables technology to function, from satellites to phone lines.

Various dating methods have placed the destruction of Gath in the Judean foothills at around 830 BC. However, researchers were unable to verify that Hazael was also responsible for the destruction of Tel Rehov, Tel Zayit, and Horvat Tevet.

Vaknin and colleagues synchronized the magnetic fields recorded at all four sites, making a very strong case for them occurring during the same campaign, but they recorded a totally different magnetic field at Tel Beth-Shean — suggesting it wasn’t attacked by Hazael.

Instead, the magnetic data suggests this city, along with two other sites in northern Israel, were probably destroyed nearly a century earlier. This would correspond with the military campaign by the Egyptian Pharaoh Shoshenq, described in the Hebrew Bible. An inscription on a wall of the Temple of Amun in Karnak, Egypt, mentions Beth-Shean as one of his conquests.

The groundbreaking investigation also provides new insights regarding the end of the Kingdom of Judah.

“The last days of the Kingdom of Judah are widely debated. Some researchers, relying on archaeological evidence, argue that Judah was not completely destroyed by the Babylonians. While Jerusalem and frontier cities in the Judean foothills ceased to exist, other towns in the Negev, the southern Judean Mountains and the southern Judean foothills remained almost unaffected,” says Prof. Erez Ben Yosef.  “Now, the magnetic results support this hypothesis, indicating that the Babylonians were not solely responsible for Judah’s ultimate demise. Several decades after they had destroyed Jerusalem and the First Temple, sites in the Negev, which had survived the Babylonian campaign, were destroyed – probably by the Edomites who took advantage of the fall of Jerusalem. This betrayal and participation in the destruction of the surviving cities may explain why the Hebrew Bible expresses so much hatred for the Edomites – for example, in the prophecy of Obadiah.”

 

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Residual magnetism in ancient burnt-down buildings is also helping biblical experts to date other finds in the area.

“The new dating tool is unique because it is based on geomagnetic data from sites, whose exact destruction dates are known from historical sources. By combining precise historical information with advanced, comprehensive archaeological research, we were able to base the magnetic method on reliably anchored chronology,” adds Prof. Oded Lipschits of Tel Aviv University.

 

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The study adds to a growing body of evidence that the Bible is a true, accurate, and a historical text.

“Earth’s magnetic field is critical to our existence. Most people don’t realize that without it there could be no life on earth – since it shields us from cosmic radiation and the solar wind. In addition, both humans and animals use it to navigate,” explains Prof. Ron Shaar, who led the geophysical aspects of the study.

“The geomagnetic field is generated by earth’s outer core, at a depth of 2,900 km, by currents of liquid iron. Due to the chaotic motion of this iron, the magnetic field changes over time. Until recently scientists believed that it remains quite stable for decades, but archaeomagnetic research has contradicted this assumption by revealing some extreme and unpredictable changes in antiquity,” Prof. Shaar continues.

“Our location here in Israel is uniquely conducive to archaeomagnetic research, due to an abundance of well-dated archaeological findings. Over the past decade we have reconstructed magnetic fields recorded by hundreds of archaeological items. By combining this dataset with the data from Yoav’s investigation of historical destruction layers we were able to form a continuous variation curve showing rapid, sharp changes in the geomagnetic field. This is wonderful news, both for archaeologists who can now use geomagnetic data to determine the age of ancient materials and for geophysicists studying the earth’s core.”

 

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Last year, scientists found “sin cities” Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by a meteor “cloudburst” that incinerated all 8,000 inhabitants. God was said to have been enraged by their wickedness, raining “fire and brimstone” upon them. The giant space rock created a fireball. It may also have led to Jericho’s walls “tumbling down,” just 20 miles away.

 

 

More about StudyFinds - where the study was posted:

 

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Launched in December 2016, StudyFinds.org has quickly jumped onto the daily news scene with coverage of high-interest studies for the general population. Each day we seek out recently-conducted research released by universities, peer-reviewed journals, or established companies, with sources vetted by our experienced editorial team.

If you have published research and you would like to see your study featured here, please contact us with details by emailing editor (at) studyfinds (dot) org.

Editor’s Note: StudyFinds.org is not affiliated nor supports any of the studies we post on this site. Our goal is to provide you with the latest results of professional studies and leave it to our readers to debate and explain their positions on these findings. There is no agenda here other than to find new data that will elicit a healthy dose of conversation for topics that speak to large segments of the population.

We strongly encourage our readers to leave their opinions about the studies in the corresponding “Comments” section of each article and give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to the research. Creating a civil conversation among people with differing beliefs or experiences relevant to each study is always welcome here.

 

 

[knapplc]

12 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

The study adds to a growing body of evidence that the Bible is a true, accurate, and a historical text.

“Earth’s magnetic field is critical to our existence. Most people don’t realize that without it there could be no life on earth

 

 

Uhh...

[funhusker]

3 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

 

Uhh...

C'mon Knapp.  The city of Bethlehem is really a city.  Therefore the Virgin Birth happened!

[TGHusker]

4 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

 

Uhh...

Yes, I knew that would draw a response.  Thanks for being # 1.   The writer was taking some 'liberty' with that statement.  If he were to state that, he should provide more evidence to support the statement at the time or point to a source document for the same.   

[knapplc]

1 minute ago, TGHusker said:

Yes, I knew that would draw a response.  Thanks for being # 1.   The writer was taking some 'liberty' with that statement.  If he were to state that, he should provide more evidence to support the statement at the time or point to a source document for the same.   

 

It's fair to point out that huge leap in logic.

 

Let's say, 1,000 years from now, there's a religious text stating that the Flying Spaghetti Monster did all these miraculous things, including smiting Earth with a plague in 2020. Archeologists look back into ancient records and discover there was, indeed, a pandemic that year. That would not validate the other claims in that text, nor would it mean the Flying Spaghetti Monster was a real deity. 

 

That there was a battle of Jericho is not really up for debate anymore. The archeological record pretty much proves it, within a comfortable margin of error of the Bible-era story. That does not mean the Bible is a historic text, nor does it mean the god described in that Bible is real. 

[TGHusker]

33 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

It's fair to point out that huge leap in logic.

 

Let's say, 1,000 years from now, there's a religious text stating that the Flying Spaghetti Monster did all these miraculous things, including smiting Earth with a plague in 2020. Archeologists look back into ancient records and discover there was, indeed, a pandemic that year. That would not validate the other claims in that text, nor would it mean the Flying Spaghetti Monster was a real deity. 

 

That there was a battle of Jericho is not really up for debate anymore. The archeological record pretty much proves it, within a comfortable margin of error of the Bible-era story. That does not mean the Bible is a historic text, nor does it mean the god described in that Bible is real. 

Yes it is fair to point it out.  Let's say the writer was 100% accurate wt his statement - he still needed to support it and back it up so it doesn't fall into one of the traps of logic.   The purpose of my post and the thread wasn't to debate the existence of God as that is an endless debate being had by people much smarter than I.  I just thought the whole concept of dating based on the magnetic force was interesting.  How it rivaled/ supported carbon dating. 

Besides what does the Flying Spaghetti Monster like to eat when he isn't eating spaghetti?

[Lorewarn]

Comments like that in a "news" article should be huge red flags. Another big red flag is that the article does not have an author, the author is listed as the website itself.

 

If people are interested they should go straight to the source which is the paper cited, and honestly just ignore the commentary from the article because in one sentence it revealed itself as being an untrustworthy source.

[knapplc]

34 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

Yes it is fair to point it out.  Let's say the writer was 100% accurate wt his statement - he still needed to support it and back it up so it doesn't fall into one of the traps of logic.   The purpose of my post and the thread wasn't to debate the existence of God as that is an endless debate being had by people much smarter than I.  I just thought the whole concept of dating based on the magnetic force was interesting.  How it rivaled/ supported carbon dating. 

Besides what does the Flying Spaghetti Monster like to eat when he isn't eating spaghetti?

 

I agree. The Bible as a historical text is likely flawed, but not entirely fabricated. I find it very interesting when archeologists are able to link up stuff from the Bible with real artifacts, like Hittite chariots or the actual factual walls of Jericho. 

 

Maybe the FSM eats itself, like Groot. Ick.

 

 

[TGHusker]

9 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

I agree. The Bible as a historical text is likely flawed, but not entirely fabricated. I find it very interesting when archeologists are able to link up stuff from the Bible with real artifacts, like Hittite chariots or the actual factual walls of Jericho. 

 

Maybe the FSM eats itself, like Groot. Ick.

 

 

Yes, there are many types of literature in the Bible and we have to remember what is what when reading.  Some is factual, historical, some is allegory  etc.  We get in trouble when we think all of it should be taken literally.  

 

Groot is a discussing figure.  I wonder if he was one of those 'pre-flood' creatures. 

[ZRod]

3 hours ago, knapplc said:

 

I agree. The Bible as a historical text is likely flawed, but not entirely fabricated. I find it very interesting when archeologists are able to link up stuff from the Bible with real artifacts, like Hittite chariots or the actual factual walls of Jericho. 

So like Homer's stories?

[commando]

holy sh@t....Jesus called Andre the Giant daddy?

 

 

[nic]

Interesting post @TGHusker.Thanks.

[knapplc]

3 hours ago, ZRod said:

So like Homer's stories?

 

Yes. Just so.

 

We don't have a religion based around Greek myths today just because archeology has shown us what the labyrinth was. Zeus isn't real because we know Troy was a real city.

 

But it's all still pretty cool that we can, through science and archeology, figure out what Scylla and Charybdis were.

[TGHusker]

1 hour ago, commando said:

holy sh@t....Jesus called Andre the Giant daddy?

 

 

Well Isaiah 53 : 2 copied below notes that he (prophecy of Jesus) would have no form or beauty that we should desire him. He would come as a baby and look like an ordinary Jewish man. So Andre the giant look could be possible for Joseph among a 1000 other ordinary options.   But I wonder how they came up wt the Andre look. It could have been worse — the Gieco (sp) Neanderthal guy

 

 

 

53 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lordrevealed?

² For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

³ He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

⁸ He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

⁹ And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

¹¹ He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

¹² Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

 

[ZRod]

19 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

Yes. Just so.

 

We don't have a religion based around Greek myths today just because archeology has shown us what the labyrinth was. Zeus isn't real because we know Troy was a real city.

 

But it's all still pretty cool that we can, through science and archeology, figure out what Scylla and Charybdis were.

I honestly didn't know the true story behind the labyrinth and minotaur until I ended up there on a tour when in Greece. You see the ruins, hear the background of the civilization there and then immediately understand how the mythology evolved from there like a game of telephone. It's an amazing place to see and had many modern conveniences over 3000 years ago. Bath tubs that would look normal in a modern home, toilets, pipes that carried water from the mountains through the palace, wooden chairs, massive clay jugs for storing food, a small theater in a pit, symbols for street signs. Incredible!

 

 

Sort of on topic; magnetic dating isn't really a new concept it's been around for quite awhile. You can tell the rough date of an area by the orientation of ferris material in the substrate (earth around it) and where historically the poles would have been at the time. At least that's how I think I remember it working. Not too sure why they think this is such a novel concept now.