Jewish Archaeology

We live in a world of lies and misrepresentations. Nowhere is this more obvious than in regard to the long history of the Jews.

The resurgence of Holocaust denial is now twinned with the denial that Jews ever had a history in the land of Israel. It is as though the whole of our past has been eradicated.

It is common to hear even in some Jewish circles, that the Jewish tradition is based on fantasies, fairy tales and unlikely miracles. It is true that the amount of documentation that has survived over thousands of years is limited. Archaeology is a relatively modern science. Even so, it is important to note how much of the ancient Jewish tradition has been verified by archaeology, even though much more remains to be discovered. We have to rely on artefacts rather than documents.

Now here are examples that prove beyond doubt that the biblical, Jewish presence in the Land of Israel goes back over three thousand years and here are the most well-known.

The earliest record comes from The Merneptah Stele dated 1028 BCE which is housed in the new Cairo Museum. Merneptah was an Egyptian Pharaoh, and a stele (plural: stelae) was a vertical slab of stone or wood, usually rectangular with a rounded top, inscribed and an official monument. In it, Merneptah records he conquered “Israel laid it waste and bereft of seed.”

The next example is the Mesha Stele, 840 BCE. Discovered in 1868, now in the Louvre. Mesha was a Moabite king subject to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. There was constant friction between them. Mesha rebelled after years of subjugation, and he killed King Omri of the North. In the stele, Mesha also mentions taking a city from the Israelite tribe of Gad on the East Bank of the river Jordan. The Bible records Mesha differently (2 Kings 3:4). There, it says Mesha was defeated by the joint armies of Yehoshafat and Yehoram. Different names, perhaps different times! But in those days, apart from biblical narratives, only victories were recorded.

Assyria became the dominant power of the Middle East during the Iron Age. Many artefacts, inscriptions and records have been unearthed of the interactions between Assyria and the two kingdoms of Israel and Judea. Two monoliths, now in the British Museum, were found at Kurukh, now in the British Museum. The first by Ashurbanipal around 879 BCE, and then his son Shalmanezer, King from 825 BCE. They mention a battle against an alliance of local kings including Achav King of Israel who was defeated. And Shalmaneser is mentioned in the Bible (2 Kings 17:3) and later (2 Kings 18:9) for destroying Israel in 720 BCE. On his obelisk, there are processions of Israelite men and women being led into captivity. It also mentions the Israelite God YHV for the first time. There are records of the destruction of Lachish by the Assyrian Sancheriv (Sennacherib) in 701 BCE. He also besieged Jerusalem and excavations have produced seals with Hebrew lettering. He claimed that King Chizkiyahu capitulated. But we know Sancheriv was forced to abandon the siege because of political troubles at home and Hezekiah paid a tribute. Excavations in Jerusalem in 2025 discovered a fragment in Akkadian demanding tax from King Chizkiyahu.

The Tel Dan Stele was discovered in 1993 and is now in the Israel Museum. In it the Aram/Damascus King Hazael describes his victory against Ahab King of Israel and Yoram of the House of David. It is the earliest external evidence of the House of David.

After the Babylonian Exile of 586 BCE the Judeans were able to re-constitute their identity. The Persian king Cyrus conquered Babylon. The famous Cyrus Cylinder (also at the British Museum) tolerated all religions in the Persian Empire, including that of the Jews. He also allowed them to return and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. There was opposition from opponents of the Jews which delayed the work. But Ezra and Nechemia succeeded in the completion of the re-building, thanks to the intervention of Darius the Great. And we have documents from Darius the Second to the Jewish garrison in Elephantine about keeping the Passover and directing the pagan priests to stop harassing the Jews.

Once we get to the Greek and Roman period, the importance and presence of the Jewish communities in Judea and Rome are well documented by both Josephus and other Roman sources. Naturally, the opponents of a Jewish homeland like to deny any of this and claim it is all fake Zionist propaganda. Just as much of Islam claims we altered the Bible. Ironically and a sign of the times, the British Museum itself pulled an exhibition of Israelite artefacts because they did not want to upset the opponents of the Jewish State.

I always recommended Connor Cruise O Brien’s The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism (1986) ISBN 978-0-671-63310-3 as the best, popular book on the foundation of the Jewish State. How ironic that an Irishman wrote this given the hatred spewed out by Irish politicians today.
But this week I listened to a really impressive zoom presentation on the lockdownuniversity.org (where you can find it and listen to it) by the magnificent Natasha Hausdorff and Dr Roy K Altman a United States District Judge from Florida. He has published a book “Israel On Trial: Examining the History, the evidence, and the Law published by Advantage Books. I cannot recommend it enough. Particularly because of his legal arguments that absolutely demolish the false narratives flooding the social media and press. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Nothing we say will persuade those whose minds are made up or refute irrational hatred. An idea that is irrational cannot be changed by logic or facts. And I know full well that we ourselves are far from perfect and have plenty of our own irrationals. But we can at least show the evidence to those willing to listen. And above all, to ensure that the coming generations learn how to distinguish fact from indoctrination. And have the pride to fight for the right to a land of our own, regardless of how many seek to deny it.

Rabbi Jeremy Rosen lives in New York. He was born in Manchester. His writings are concerned with religion, culture, history and current affairs – anything he finds interesting or relevant. They are designed to entertain and to stimulate. Disagreement is always welcome.