{"id":318,"date":"2011-08-25T10:57:44","date_gmt":"2011-08-25T14:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/?p=318"},"modified":"2011-08-23T12:02:56","modified_gmt":"2011-08-23T16:02:56","slug":"noted-archeologist-gets-her-tips-from-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/08\/noted-archeologist-gets-her-tips-from-the-bible.html","title":{"rendered":"Noted archeologist gets her tips from the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_324\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-324\" style=\"width: 398px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/218\/2011\/04\/Eilat-Mazar-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-324\" title=\"Eilat Mazar 3\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/218\/2011\/04\/Eilat-Mazar-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"398\" height=\"251\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-324\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor Mazar meets with reporters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She&#8217;s an archeologist who says she gets her tips from the Bible. University professor and third-generation archeologist Eilat Mazar recently unearthed a 3,000-year-old wall, an ancient fortification outside of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City walls that dates back to the time of King Solomon.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_333\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-333\" style=\"width: 187px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/218\/2011\/04\/Eilat-Mazar-solomon3178357_f4961.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-333\" title=\"Eilat Mazar solomon3178357_f496\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/218\/2011\/04\/Eilat-Mazar-solomon3178357_f4961.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"187\" height=\"320\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-333\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">King Solomon -- history, not myth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Her discovery caused consternation among politically correct historians who have declared that King David and his son, King Solomon, are myths, rather like Robin Hood or King Midas. Such theories are popular among academics who don\u2019t accept the authority of the Bible or have an agenda of disputing Israeli claims on the Holy Land.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mazar shrugs off such revisionist theories. \u201cI work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything,\u201d she says. Such a stance does not increase her popularity with historians who insist the Jerusalem area was inhabited by occasional wandering nomads during King David\u2019s era. Contrary to what the Bible says, they teach, there was no kingdom, no central government, no big cities, no impressive buildings.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_327\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-327\" style=\"width: 213px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/218\/2011\/04\/Eilat-Mazar.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-327\" title=\"Eilat Mazar\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/218\/2011\/04\/Eilat-Mazar.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"213\" height=\"250\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-327\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor Mazar at work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Speaking to reporters at the site, Mazar, who also teaches at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, called her find \u201cthe most significant construction we have from First Temple days in Israel. It means that at that time, the 10th century, in Jerusalem there was a regime capable of carrying out such construction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The fortifications included a large gatehouse and a 77-yard-long section of an ancient wall and are located next to the Temple Mount. Archaeologists have excavated the fortifications in the past, first in the 1860s and most recently in the 1980s. But Mazar\u2019s dig is the first complete excavation and the first to turn up strong evidence for the wall\u2019s age: a large number of pottery shards, which archaeologists often use to figure out the age of findings.<\/p>\n<p>Mazar is a third-generation Israeli archaeologist, specializing in Jerusalem and Phoenician archeology. A senior fellow at the Shalem Center, she has worked on the Temple Mount excavations, as well as excavations at Achzib.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_326\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-326\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/files\/2011\/04\/Eilat-Mazar_-Excavation-site-Photo-Dr_-Eilat-Mazar.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-326\" title=\"Eilat Mazar_-Excavation-site-Photo-Dr_-Eilat-Mazar\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/218\/2011\/04\/Eilat-Mazar_-Excavation-site-Photo-Dr_-Eilat-Mazar-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-326\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The evcavation worksite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Back in 2005, she discovered in Jerusalem what appears to have been the palace of King David. Amihai Mazar, a professor of archeology at Hebrew University, called the find \u201csomething of a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMazar\u2019s find is emerging at the nexus of history, religion and politics, volatile forces that have guided building, biblical scholarship and war in this city for millennia,\u201d wrote Scott Wilson of the <em>Washington Post <\/em>newspaper staff. \u201cEven before the findings have been assembled in a scientific paper, the discovery is prompting new thinking about when Jerusalem rose to prominence, the nature of the early Jewish kingdom, and whether the Bible can be used as a reliable map to archaeological discovery.<\/p>\n<p>In 2007 Mazar also uncovered a portion of Nehemiah\u2019s wall, also described in detail in the Bible. She is the granddaughter of pioneering Israeli archaeologist Benjamin Mazar, is a mother of four and resides in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<p>How does she utilize the Bible in her work? \u201cThe Bible tells us that Solomon built \u2013 with the assistance of the Phoenicians, who were outstanding builders \u2013 the Temple and his new palace and surrounded them with a city, most probably connected to the more ancient wall of the City of David,&#8221; she explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So, she followed the Bible&#8217;s directions, such as in the third chapter of the First Book of Kings where it tells that Solomon had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. She set about to find them.<\/p>\n<p>And did.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_329\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-329\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/218\/2011\/04\/eilat-mazar1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-329\" title=\"eilat-mazar\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/218\/2011\/04\/eilat-mazar1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"230\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-329\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mazar on site<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So much for the Bible just being mere mythology.<\/p>\n<p>Her discovery proves them wrong and the Bible right. While there is no cornerstone signed &#8220;King David&#8221; or any clay tablets with Solomon&#8217;s autograph, her findings prove that there was a sophisticated civilization at the site of Jerusalem at the time of David and Solomon &#8212; during the 10th century before Christ &#8212; and that whoever was in charge had the resources, manpower and technology to build massive fortifications.<\/p>\n<p>Such is not the work of wandering shepherds.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #008000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000;\">If you share Professor Mazar&#8217;s respect for the Bible,<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2011\/04\/enter-to-win-a-free-copy-of-the-book-that-changed-the-world-the-amazing-tale-of-the-the-king-james-bible.html#ixzz1IZmPvPbZ\">CLICK HERE <\/a><\/strong>to register for a free DVD of <em><strong>KJB: The Book That Changed the World,<\/strong><\/em> which tells the amazing\u00a0story of the the King James Bible\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/Faiths\/Christianity\/Search-the-Bible.aspx\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">CLICK HERE <\/span><\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">and compare different translations of the Bible &#8212; right here on Beliefnet!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/the-bible-theres-an-app-for-that.html\">CLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #008000;\"> to learn how to get a free\u00a0&#8220;app&#8221; of the Bible for your cell phone!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/atheists-offer-free-porn-to-students-who-will-turn-in-their-bibles.html\">CLICK HERE <\/a><\/strong>to learn about the atheist group that is offering kids pornography if they&#8217;ll trade in their Bibles?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>She&#8217;s an archeologist who says she gets her tips from the Bible. University professor and third-generation archeologist Eilat Mazar recently unearthed a 3,000-year-old wall, an ancient fortification outside of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City walls that dates back to the time of King Solomon. Her discovery caused consternation among politically correct historians who have declared that King&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,83],"tags":[392,375,18,391],"class_list":["post-318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-inspirational","tag-archeology","tag-bible","tag-inspiration","tag-king-david"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Noted archeologist gets her tips from the Bible - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/08\/noted-archeologist-gets-her-tips-from-the-bible.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Noted archeologist gets her tips from the Bible - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"She&#8217;s an archeologist who says she gets her tips from the Bible. University professor and third-generation archeologist Eilat Mazar recently unearthed a 3,000-year-old wall, an ancient fortification outside of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City walls that dates back to the time of King Solomon. Her discovery caused consternation among politically correct historians who have declared that King&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/08\/noted-archeologist-gets-her-tips-from-the-bible.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-25T14:57:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-08-23T16:02:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/files\/2011\/04\/Eilat-Mazar-3.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Noted archeologist gets her tips from the Bible - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/08\/noted-archeologist-gets-her-tips-from-the-bible.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Noted archeologist gets her tips from the Bible - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars","og_description":"She&#8217;s an archeologist who says she gets her tips from the Bible. 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