The Bible’s Buried Secrets

PART I

INTRODUCTION

It is the Ancient Israelites who wrote the Bible. Through writing the Hebrew Bible, the beliefs of the
Ancient Israelites survived to become Judaism. Judaism, one of oldest religion, and who gave the world
an astounding legacy of the belief in one God. The belief was the foundation of other monotheistic
religion: Christianity and Islam.

How did the Ancient Israelites had the belief in one God? What happens when texts and artifacts point
in the same direction?

THE OLD TESTAMENT

GENESIS

A. The Story of Abraham- The covenant between Abraham and God that in exchange of a promise
land, they should worship only one God.
B. Genesis is a compilation of myths and creation stories. The absence of historical evidences leads
scholars to take a different approach in reading the Bible. They look beyond our modern notion
of fact or fiction to ask why the Bible is written in the first place.
C. The traditional belief is that Moses wrote the five first books. It was unchallenged until 17 th
Century. There were questions raised like in book of Deuteronomy which states the burial and
death of Moses. How could he write his own death and burial?
D. Documentary Hypothesis- there were several discrepancies which suggests that the Bible has
more than one writer. In fact, in the first five books, scholars have identified four different
handwritings.

EXODUS

A. A stone where the full alphabet of the Hebrews was written was dated 950 BC. It could have
been possible that the Bible was first written in such date. Scholars examine the Bile in their
original Hebrew in search for the most archaic language and therefore the oldest passages
which they found in Exodus.
B. The climax of Exodus, The Song of the Sea, could have been written on 1000 BC but it was
probably recited as a poem before the writing of the Hebrew Bible. The only item in Exodus that
we can’t connect with non-biblical material is the city that the Hebrews build and it was named
Pithom and Ramesses. Tracing the date of the presence of the Isrealites, it could not have
happened before Ramesses became King on 1275 BC and not after the Meneptah Stele was built
on 1208 BC.
C. The Bible states that the Israelites left Egypt in a mass migration and wander in the dessert in 40
years. How ever archaeologist found no evidence of migration that could be linked in the
Exodus. Yet scholars have discovered that all four groups of biblical writers contributed to some
part of the Exodus Story. Perhaps, it is for the same reason its message remains powerful to this
day.
 D. It’s inspiring theme of Freedom. Following the Exodus, the Bible says that God delivered the
Israelites to the promise land Canaan. The Bible describes how a new leader Joshua takes the
Israelites to a Canaan in a blitzkrieg military campaign.

LOOKING FOR PROOF OF THE SAID MILITARY CAMPAIGN

1. In 1930 Jericho was excavated, and have evidences of massive destructions. Several cities like
Haztor and Ai were looked upon to verify the existence of the Kingdom. Destruction of Ai,
Jericho and Haztor was dated 2200 BC, 1500 BC and 1250 BC respectively. There were no
evidences of war as contrast to a sweeping victory of Joshua in conquering Canaan. However
the destruction of Haztor coincide with the Meneptah Stele.
2. So who destroyed Haztor? One archaeologist believed that it was the Israelites. However, his
co-director stated that there were no signs of war. Haztor was believed to have a lower city
comprising of commoners, serfs and slaves and an upper city with the King and wealthy elites.
There must be a possibility of internal revolt. Archaeology and ancient texts clearly show that it
is the result of long period of decline and upheaval that sweep through Mesopotamia, the
Aegean region and the Egyptian region around 1200 BC. With the dissolution of the great State
System, a number of new peoples is created.

ISRAELITES AS THE NEW PEOPLE

1. Looking at potteries, in 412 BC, there were approximately 25 settlements of about 3000-5000
inhabitants. But just 200 later, there was a boom of population. It was dramatic and cannot be a
natural growth and impossible at ancients. If not natural, perhaps these are the was of
dispersed people following the collapse of the great states.
2. A new type of simple dwelling was discovered which was said to be called Israelite House.
Therefore it was not an invasion of people but more of a movement of people. In search of a
better way of life, those who were oppressed left the great City States and head for the hills and
emerged in a new place as a new people the Israelites. Archaeology state that the rise of early
Israel is because of the collapse of the City States and they were not the reason for such
collapse.
3. The Israelites developed an ideology of simplicity which distinguished them from the
Canaanites. To distinguish them, what better way than to create a story about destroying them.

PURPOSE OF THE STORIES IN THE BIBLE

A. They celebrate the distinction of Israelites and other people which is their God.
a. In later Judaism, the name of God is considered so sacred and can’t be spoken.
b. He was named four letters YHWH, pronounced as Yahweh which is only found in the
Hebrew Bible.
c. ORIGIN: People of Shasu live in Southern Canaan as around the same time when the
Israelites emerged live in one of the places called YHW which is strangely similar to
YHWH. In the Bible, the place where the Shasu live is called the Midian. It is here before
the Exodus where Moses first encountered YHWH in a form of a burning bush.
d. While there is no evidence of a mass migration, a small group did escape from Egypt
however they were not Israelites but Canaanites slaves and in their journey to Canaan,
they passed through Midian and inspired by the Shasu’s Gods YHW. They attributed
 their freedom to the God they met at Midian and called Yahweh. They spread the Idea
of a God who represented Freedom. A message that was so powerful that gave them a
new identity, Israelites.
e. They are combination of distant Canaanites, runaway slaves from Egypt and even
Nomads settling down. The chosen people are the people who have chosen to be free.
So is this the birth of monotheism? Even the Israelites still worship other Gods, as
evidenced by other statues or figurines. Maybe they weren’t allowed to but still some
believe in them.

THE KINGDOM OF DAVID

A. Scripture says that David built a Kingdom that stretches from Egypt to Mesopotamia. In a new
covenant, it was stated that he and his descendants will rule forever. His son Solomon build a
temple where Yahweh will dwell forever. The Kingdom of David and Solomon, one nation united
with one God according to the Bible.
B. They argued that there was no such nation and David is inexistent. However a new discovery
shed a new light about the Bible’s greatest King. A fragment of a victory stele was discovered
which stated “House of David”. Could the scribes have been in court of King David and
Solomon. Could they have been the earliest Biblical writers. In 18 th century, German scholars
uncovered a clue on who wrote the Bible hidden in two different names for God,
Jahweh(Intimate) and Elohim (Common).