10 QUESTIONS FROM ARCHAEOLOGY TO CHRISTIANITY

© Carlos Padilla – September 2023

1.- Is the Holy Sepulchre the place of Jesus’s tomb?

At Golgotha or Calvary (place of the skull, due to the shape of skull of the rock), where the Cross of our Lord stood, also near the place where the evangelists tell us that the tomb was, which we can describe as the most relevant place of archaeology and of history, for inside Jesus Christ rose. The tomb was a new sepulchre that had been excavated in the rock, in an orchard in the place where He had been crucified, where no one had been placed yet, and there they placed His body (Matthew 27:57-81; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42). The area of Golgotha, or Calvary had been a quarry between the eight and sixth century B.C. that had started to be used to excavate sepulchres. With all this data, and others that we will see further, archaeologists and historians knew where to search for.

Archaeology has provided us with much information during years of works of patient archaeologists, and the conclusions are the following: due to the fact that the place was known in times of Yahshua, but after the destruction of Jerusalem by the roman general Titus, and being that Jesus’s tomb was still a place of pilgrimage of Christians, with the aim of ending that veneration, the roman emperor Hadrian decided in his rebellion against God to build a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, just on top of the place of Jesus’s tomb. He commanded the place to be filled and make a platform where he placed the statue and changed the name of the city of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina.

When emperor Constantine converted the roman empire to Christianity and began to build holy places, his mother Helen identified the place of the tomb of Christ and, according to Eusebius, they gave order to demolish pagan temple and build the Church of Resurrection, later called, of the Holy Sepulchre, about the year 330 A.D. about three hundred years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, to commemorate His resurrection. They found the excavated tomb and built a structure known as “Edicule” around which built the church. The city was called Jerusalem again. Later, about the year 1.000 a Muslim leader, in his aim to eradicate Christianity destroyed the church. But the crusaders, who built a kingdom which capital was Jerusalem, in the XII century rebuilt it and renamed it as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Today, the place is custodied by three Christian communities: the Greek Orthodox, the Armenian, and the Franciscans.

The excavations in the Holy Sepulchre, at present with a project of the Franciscan Order “Custodia Terrae Sanctae” followed closely by the Israeli media, and by the Biblical Society of Archaeology, have found other tombs in tunnels which are intact, dated in the I century, a place known as the Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. These are much data, not only from tradition which take us to conclude that the Holy Sepulchre must be the place of the tomb of Christ, where He rose.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Way-Of-The-Cross.htm

 

2.- Where is the location of the Battle of Armageddon?

The name Armageddon comes from the Hebrew Har Megiddo “mount of Megiddo” but it has been related with the meaning of mount of the Slit (Bible Dictionary). The valle of Megiddo is a large valley, ideal as a battlefield, in fact, there have been many in history, and relevant. Located in the Esdraelon, north of Israel, between Nazareth and Jerusalem, of which Revelation 16:16 refers to as the place where all nations will make war against the Lord Jesus Christs, in the great day of God Almighty, and they will be defeated by God. Other passages which tell of this place in the Bible: (Judges 5:19 – 1 Kings 4:12 – 2 Kings 23:29-30).

Archaeology provides us with studies of the ruins of the city, which are easy to find from any map in internet, but also visiting the place. Archaeologists of the University of Tel Aviv have found inscriptions in ivory of messengers of Faroh Ramses III, as well as remains of a great temple dated in 3.000 B.C. We know that in ancient times, who controlled the valley of Megiddo, controlled the commercial rout between Egypt, Mesopotamia and Europe.

However, it is well known the alarming disinformation that people in general have about the place and about the event that will take place in it. Films with its name have nothing to do with this Biblical prophecy, which tells how the seven cups of the seven angels of God with the rath of God are poured during chapter 16 of Revelation. By the way, following the order of Creation, in which God creates in 6 days and on the seventh rests, the rath is poured by the 6 cups, and the seventh cup says “it is done” but in this occasion puts to an end to the events with a great earthquake so large as it has never been since men have been on earth, just after the battle of Armageddon, which is prepared by the sixth angel who dries the river Euphrates to prepare the way for the kings of the east.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Armageddon.htm

 

3.- Has the Garden of Eden been identified?

A river came out of Eden (delicious) which divided in four: The Pishon, in the land of Havilah, where there is gold, bdellium and onyx. The Ghion, which surrounds the land of Cush. The Tigris or Hiddekel, which goes to the east of Assyria. And the Euphrates. When God placed there the man that He had formed, He planted a garden eastward. (Genesis 2:8-14).

Archaeology yet has not managed to locate the exact place of Eden, mostly due to the change in the orography it is very difficult to identify the land due to the great flood in times of Noah. However, in deed two of the rivers can be identified, if they are the same: the Tigris and the Euphrates, whose description of location coincide with Genesis, but not the Pishon nor the Ghion. Some identify the land of Cush with Ethiopia, where there is a large Jewish community, and the river Nile in the area of Egypt as Havilah, but the majority of erudite identify more towards the east of Iran, precisely where there is a mine of onyx (Genesis 2:12) and Havilah with Saudi Arabia. Personally, I think the area of Ur of Chaldea, from where Abraham departed must be a close place to the route of the rivers of Eden, a possible place in the area of the valley of the Euphrates and the Tigris, in Mesopotamia, place or abundant water, although the pre-diluvian orography locates Eden where the river departs from and divides in four, more to the north of the valley. The layers of sediment found in the oil drilling in the Persian Golf reach more than 6 km deep, rich in asphalt with which Noah covered the Arch. With all these archaeologist data and of investigation we get close to the place, but we cannot identify it today, and maybe God does not want us to.

After the fall, or sin of Adam and Eve, God drove them out of paradise, of the Garden of Eden, and placed cherubim and a flaming sword, to guard it so they could not enter and eat of the tree of Life and Live forever, now that they knew good and evil like God. Some argue that this is the reason for God not to leave enough information to identify Eden, because the door is closed for the sinner. The personal relationship that they had with God they lost. But Jesus Christ has given His life for our sins, for our fall, for we all sin since Adam and Eve, to give us access to God’s paradise, not on earth as we know it now, but in a new creation, the Kingdom of God and for eternity. Yahshua, Jesus Christ is the door to eternal Eden, but is more than that, is the access to the personal relationship with the Father, and for that we do not have to wait.

The eschatological prophecy, the end of events, connects the Euphrates with Armageddon, as I mentioned in question 2, and foretells that this will be dried to leave the way to the armies of the battle against God.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Genesis.htm

 

4.- Where is Mount Moriah where God ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?

The faith of Abraham in God allowed him to obey Him to the point of taking his to sacrifice, which did not occur because the angel of Yahweh stopped him when he saw that he was fulfilling the test, (Genesis 22:2). Mount Moriah is a place or deep suffering for a father who had seen how God gave him his longed-for firstborn, the heir son, of his beloved wife Sarah of 90 years old, and now He was asking him to sacrifice him. Therefore, it is without a doubt a place of great relevance for the believer. Hebrews 11:9 where Paul gives an explanation that the faith of Abraham was that God would rise his son Isaac.

Archaeology from its part has identified the place of Mount Moriah centuries ago on Temple Mount. The exact location is under the Dome of the Rock, the famous golden dome on Temple Mount or the Esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem. In that place was where king David built an altar for God to stop a plague, and where king Solomon built the Temple (2 Chronicles 3). And where according to the Muslim tradition, the prophet ascended. Finally, it is indicated to be the place of the Temple of Herod, the place where the veil was torn, from top to bottom, when Christ died on the Cross, in that other mount from where the temple could be seen.

It would be another Father who indeed would take His only begotten Son to the cross to sacrifice Him for us in Golgotha, in front of Moriah. The suffering of God’s heart for His Son we cannot reach to feel, but by believing in His work for us and receiving Him in our heart as Lord and Saviour we bring joy to the Father, and if we preach that Gospel to our neighbour, we bring glory to God, and salvation to those who hear.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Passover-Abraham.htm

 

5.- Can Mount Sinai where Moses received the Law be visited today?

Tradition identifies two possible mountains in the area of the Peninsula of Sinai, about 2 km each side of the Monastery of Saint Catherine, both with a hight above 2.000 m height, called Jebel Musa and Serbal. At the foot of both, there are areas that could hold the entire nation of Israel in the desert, while Moses was receiving the Law, after the Exodus from Egypt, (Exodus 19 and 20). These places can be found in the maps in internet and visited today.

No doubt, archaeology has managed to locate in Sinai the area where Moses received God’s Law, even if there is more than one mount possible. However, there have been other archaeologists who think there are other areas of the Arabian Peninsula, a place called Har Karkom, used since the XIII B.C. as a pagan worship place, due to the archaeological remaining found. The truth is that the traditional location seems to be the ideal place to the composition of the rock in granite, base for the tablets of the Law, but it is also true that on the top of a granite mount it is viable to find archaeological remains of this event. But we have some date to study in the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians 5:21-31 in the allegory of Sarah and Agar, where Paul identifies Mount Sinai with Agar in Arabia, and says it corresponds to present Jerusalem, which together with its children are in slavery. It does not refer to the geographical location, but that the Law gives children of slavery, while the Spirit gives children of spiritual freedom.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/law.htm

 

6.- Where is the exact location of the Temple of Jerusalem? And of the future third Temple?

2 Chronicles 3:1 tells the moment in which king Solomon starts the construction of the Temple in the place where his father, king David had received by indication of God, and that he acquired from Ornan Jebusite for 600 gold shekels, although Ornan had offered it for free to David, but David acquired it in justice for God, (1 Chronicles 21:18-30). This place is Moriah, where Abraham took his son Isaac to be sacrificed, and where king David built the altar to God in search of His forgiveness.

Archaeology has provided the location of the place of Mount Moriah centuries ago identifying it with Temple Mount. The finding of remains of various temples leaves no room for doubt of the exact location, know as Temple Mount and Esplanade of the Mosques, in Jerusalem. After the Temple of king Solomon, demolished by Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, king of Persia instructed Israel to rebuild the Temple and the walls, known as of Zerubbabel in 537 B.C. Finally, the Temple of Herod, more majestic, according to Josephus narrative and of which its jewels can be seen represented as spoils of general Titus, who destroyed it in the year 70 A.D. in the Arch of Titus, in Rome, located in the Palatine, in front of the Coliseum, and the Arch of Constantine. The location of the Temple is also linked according to a Muslim tradition with the place of the Ascension of the Prophet, and which is located under the Dome of the Rock. Studies of Asher S. Kaufman are especially relevant regarding the location but are the unending archaeological remains which continue to provide more and more information on the Temple of Jerusalem, at Moriah. Finally, we must remember that it was the Temple of Herod where the High Priest found the veil torn from top to bottom, when Christ died on the Cross.

It is also of great relevance the campaign since years ago carried out by those who want to build the third Temple of Jerusalem, which would be prophetically, according to them, the one that would cause for the Messiah to come. The question is that according to the Word of Jesus Christ “no stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2), which some interpret that it cannot be built again. On the other hand, the Holy of Holies is under the Dome of the Rock and to demolish it would cause a great war. Many believe that the Messiah will be who will demolish the Dome in a providential way and will make the path for its construction, when the Esplanade, Temple Mount, will no longer be in hands of gentiles, but of Jews. Last, I would like to comment that the Temple of Ezekiel is pending, chapters 40 and 41. But the matter of the Temple belongs to the Old Covenant or Testament, and we have already lived 2.000 years under the New Covenant of Testament, where Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world of which benefits all those who believe in Him and obey. The Old Covenant practiced in the Temple has no more reason to be according to apostle Paul (Hebrews 8).

But today, the Temple of God is the Body of Christ (John 2:19), and this Body is the Church, and each Christian in particular (1 Corinthians 6:19), where the presence of God dwells by the Holy Spirit, that in times of the Temples was in the Holy of Holiest.

Read Bible Studies about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/The-Spirit-on-the-Cross.htm

https://www.yahshua.net/Inhabitants-of-Jerusalem.htm

 

7.- Is the Basilica of Saint Peter the place where Peter died? And of Saint Paul?

In the Bible, in the first letter of the apostle Peter 5:13 we find: “The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doeth Marcus my son.” We know that Babylon is a coded name of Rome, both here as well as in Revelation, for its comparison with the old city and the pagan way of life of excesses in both. Tradition and several historical evidence support that Peter suffered martyrdom in Roma under the persecution of Nero. The apostle John, in his Gospel (21:18-19) tells how Jesus tells Peter how he would die glorifying Him, what the Text may be telling that this corresponds with crucifixion, upside down according to various historical texts. We do not find in the Bible Biblical Texts that mention directly that Peter went to Rome, or that he established there a church, nor that he was the first bishop, or Pope as the Catholicism assures, nor that he died in Rome. Instead, it locates him in Jerusalem, together with James, as elders of the church there. However, it is relevant to investigate if there really is evidence that Peter went to Rome, and that he died there and was buried in the old cemetery, near the esplanade of what in those times was Nero’s circus. The tomb would be where latter Constantine built the first Basilica of Saint Peter. Writings of Ireneus, the Shepperd of Hermas, and others, as well as history do not provide certain evidence that Peter, a fisherman from Galilee, who did not speak Latin of Greek, went to Rome. Archaeology, in this case the one boosted by the Vatican, which recently found a tomb with bones, and an inscription that could point out to the place where Peter was buried, is the only thing on which it can find support. Tradition placed the tomb in the catacombs.

Paul, indeed, was in Rome, as he himself tells. Tradition and history provide vast information that indicate that he died there. I fact, in 2005 archaeologist of the Vatican, Giorgio Filippi informed the media of the discovery and disinterment of a sarcophagus under the marble stone that has the inscription “Paulo Apostolo Mart”, where his bones were believed to be. The commentators of the Baptist press believe this is a discovery of historical relevance, and to be respected, but we do not venerate relics like Catholics do. Anyway, it is impossible to assure that those are the bones of the apostle. They key in these cases is to believe that God provides us of so many historical and archaeological evidence, that correspond with the Bible and the writings of the first fathers, like Eusebius regarding Paul’s tomb, which are of great relevance for faith, so much for the believer as for who still isn’t.

Another historical place of tradition that may be visited today is the renowned Mamertine Prison, a small cave underground on two levels, a lugubrious place in the area of the Palatine, although beautified today with a marble façade. In that dark and humid place, according to indications of tradition, the apostles Peter and Paul were captive awaiting execution, as well as other Jewish rebels. Latter discoveries by Jewish archaeologists have revealed that the also known as Tullianum Prison, dates from near the VII B.C. and was a place of cult.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/People-of-Acts.htm

8.- Is the Areopagus of Athens the mount in front of the Acropolis, where Paul preached?

The slippery rock of Mars Hill at present, exact place of the Areopagus where the apostle Paul preached (Acts 17:22), is a sign of the amount of wear and polishing received by the steps of thousand of visitors each year. But the feeling over it, when imagining Paul preaching there, with the Acropolis and the temples just in front, the Stoa of Attalo, the area known as Agora or market, right under, is shivering.

Archaeology here does not need to provide much, because the place is easily identifiable, and the geography has not changed. Where it does provide dating, location and identification is at the Acropolis, the temples and the Dionisio’s Theatre, which are perfectly identified, and of which most part of their structures are preserved, which can be visited today, as well as the large Museum of the Acropolis at the foot of the mount of the Parthenon.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/People-of-Acts.htm

 

9.- Where is Patmos, the Isle where John received and wrote Revelation?

“I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 1:9.

The small isle of Patmos is part of the Dodecanese, the Greek archipelago in the Aegean Sea, in front of the cost of Turky, to the west, between Smyrna and Rhodes, in front of Miletus, easy to find in Google Maps. They say the isle was an isolated prison in times of Rome to exile prisoner in oblivion, but the agricultural life has been identified in the archaeological finding in the place. There, the Lord Jesus Christ revealed the Book of Revelation to John. Today, the place can be visited, a cave under the Monastery of Saint John, as the place of the Revelation.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/The-Isle-of-Patmos.htm

 

10.- Where was the place of Christ’s Ascension, and where will He return?

Acts 1:9 tells how Jesus was taken up before the eyes of the apostles, while a cloud received Him from their eyes, being at Bethany, in the Mount of Olives, just in front of the Temple, to the east. In times of king David, there was a sanctuary to Yahweh (2 Samuel 15:32). There Ezekiel (11:23) has a vision of the glory of God. And Zecharia (14:4) a prophetical vision about the return of the Lord with His saints to this mount. From there, the Lord Jesus descended to enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Luke 19:37-38). From there, the view of the Temple and of the Holy of Holies is privileged, and told the apostles about its destruction, which occurred in 70 A.D. Also, here Jesus went to pray and sweat like drops of blood, after the Holy Supper and be arrested to be crucified (Mark 14:26). The Orchard of Gethsemane is at the foot of this mount. The mount has four hills of similar height and four hillsides.

Archaeology provides relevant information about the Mount of Olives, like the 2.000-year-old olives, in the area around the Orchard of Gethsemane. The hill side called of Ascension is where Constantine commanded to build a basilica to the memory of the ascension of Christ, because since 315 A.D. was already revered as the place of the ascension, and that has been occupied by consecutive churches along the years (Bible Dictionary, Vila Escuain, pg. 837).

But the place of return of Christ at the end of time to take His Church and establish His Kingdom will have a scenery that every eye will see, and according to the angels that spoke to those who saw how Jesus – Yahshua was taken up to heaven before them, Jesus will return in the same way as they saw Him go, (Acts 1:11) and (Matthew 24:30) according to what Jesus tells of Himself. Also (Zechari 14:4) tells a prophecy of the Messiah placing His foot on the Mount of Olives, which will break in two creating a great valley, east to west and half of the mount will move north, and half will move south (that creates an enormous cross), and all the saints (the Church and those saved from the O.T.) will come with Him. Similar Texts to Revelation 22 on one hand, and the battle of Armageddon in 16:16 with Zechariah 14:2 on the other.

Read Bible Studies about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Bethany.htm

https://www.yahshua.net/The-Coming-of-Jesus-Christ-Thessalonians.htm

 

CONCLUSION

Biblical archaeology has provided great discoveries that confirm the veracity of the Bible for the unbelieving, of its history and of the lives of the people of God. But there is more work to do to clarify some of the more relevant places, like Eden, or Mount Sinai. Great discoveries like the Papyrus 52, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and all the places we have been visiting in this journey, to which we must add many more which are or great relevance that confirm all the story of the Bible, both of the Old as of the New Testament. But they also confirm historical events of Christianity till today.

For the believer, the Bible is true without the need to check data. But history and archaeological evidence confirm its veracity, the same way as the Biblical Canon confirms that the inspired books are those that form the Word of God, proving through textual criticism and the study of the oldest Texts and their translation.

Don’t stop studying the Bible, Christian history, archaeological and scientific discoveries, for all this information is for today more needed to convince those who oppose to the faith of Christ, something of which we are worn that would happen in end times before the return of Yahshua – Jesus Christ.

I would like to close with words of Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians 5: “Test all things; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil. ²³ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen.