The Bible’s Buried Secrets

In 1896, Merneptah Stele, a triumph or a victory stele, was discovered. Triumph over Libya was stated
but more importantly it paved way for the entrance of Israel People to the world stage. To trace the
origin of the stele it was built 1208 BC. The Ancient Israelites and the stories of Abraham and Isaac,
Moses and the 10 commandments, David and Goliath and Ancient Israelites . 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?

There are tracing of connection between Science and the Bible. Earliest would be the Victory Stele which
place the Israelites in Canaan, which includes Modern Day Israel and Palestine.

The way to understand Israelites is to know their fragility as people. The Hebrew Bible is full of stories
and first would be Abraham’s. The covenant between Abraham and God that in exchange of a promise
land, they should worship only one God. Believing in one God is a radical idea in a world of polytheism.
The Abraham narrative is in Genesis, along with Noah and the Great flood and Adam and Eve. Although
they convey a powerful message, to date there is no evidence to corroborate them. 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. What was their objective? To uncover, scholars must know
who wrote the Bible and when.

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? Digging deeper in the texts, 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. This theory is called the Documentary Hypothesis.

But when do the process of writing the Bible begin? 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. 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. 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. 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.
But what does Archaeologist say? 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.

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.

Can Archeologists find the Israelites to be in this new People? Looking at potteries, in 412 BC, there were
approximately 25 settlements of about 3-5000 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. Then more
evidence of new culture was found. 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. 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.

The stories of Abraham, Exodus and the conquest serve another purpose. They celebrate the distinction
of Israelites and other people which is their God. In later Judaism, the name of God is considered so
sacred and can’t be spoken. He was named four letters YHWH, pronounced as Yahweh which is only
found in the Hebrew Bible. So where do the Israelites found their God? 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. These tantalizing
connections made scholars reevaluate the Exodus. 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. 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 Bible’s idea of one God would still have to wait.

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. 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).