There are those who insist that the Bible is merely a collection of myths or, at best, allegories to teach its readers helpful moral lessons.
The fact that the Bible is thousands of years old and has been the impetus for countless conversions and healings does nothing to sway people who claim that the Good Book is more fiction than fact.
Perhaps, then, these skeptics will be swayed by science. More specifically, archaeologists have made numerous discoveries to date that substantiate biblical accounts. Below are three of the most recent findings.
1. Physical Evidence of Roman Crucifixions
The Bible and other ancient sources attest to the Roman Empire’s crucifixion of tens of thousands of people.
The Roman practice of crucifixion was an extreme form of capital punishment, reserved as a shameful death for slaves, Christians, political activists, and disgraced soldiers.
Despite the number of victims of this cruel execution method, only a handful of physical traces of crucifixions have ever been found.
Reasons for this include the fact that those who were crucified usually weren’t given formal burials, which would have preserved the victims’ damaged bones to some degree. Moreover, crucifixions more commonly used rope — not nails — to bind the accused to a cross.
Those ropes would’ve disintegrated over time. When nails were used in crucifixions, Roman authorities often recovered the nails after the victims were taken down from the crosses.
In 2021, however, archaeologists announced their findings of the most compelling physical evidence of a Roman crucifixion to date.
In particular, archaeologists had unearthed the skeletal remains of a third-to-fourth-century man buried in a wooden structure in an ancient Roman-era grave in what is today Cambridgeshire, England. That region during that time period was part of the Roman Empire.
The skeletal remains discovered were of a man between 25 to 35 years old who had suffered a thick iron nail being hammered through his heel bone. The intact nail in the heel bone and other evidence found at the site led experts to believe that the man had been crucified.
The man’s body was also surrounded by 12 other nails that experts believe had been removed after the man had been taken down from the cross.
After exhaustive analyses, experts from the University of Cambridge determined that the discovery was the best physical evidence of a crucifixion ever discovered within a Roman Empire-controlled territory.
This remarkable find is only the fourth Roman crucifixion victim ever discovered in the world and only the second with an actual nail still embedded in the bone.
The first crucifixion archaeological find with a nail still intact in the skeletal remains was made in a burial cave in Jerusalem in 1968. There, remains dated to the first century were found in an ossuary.
Similar to the 2021 discovery in England, the Jerusalem remains were of a young adult male who had had a thick iron nail hammered into his heel bone.
Traces of olive wood were found on that nail, determined to be remnants of the cross from which the victim had hung.
2. A‘Royal Purple’ Fabric from King David’s Time
In ancient times, fabric that was dyed “royal purple” was more valuable than gold because the dye did not fade and because of how difficult the purple dye was to obtain. In particular, purple dye was obtained by harvesting certain marine snails.
In light of how labor-intensive it was to produce this animal-based purple dye, purple apparel in antiquity was very expensive and only worn by kings and other high-ranking officials. The color purple thus became known as a mark of nobility.
It comes as no surprise, thus, that the Bible mentions the color purple in association with kings (Esther 1; Song of Solomon 3:9-10; Daniel 5:29) and with the Tabernacle that housed the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 26:1).
Even the Roman soldiers who tortured Jesus during His Passion were well-aware of the imperial symbolism behind the color purple.
We know this because, when they mocked Jesus before the crucifixion, the soldiers dressed Him in a purple robe, put a crown of thorns on His head, and yelled, “Hail, king of the Jews!” (John 19:1-3).
Despite its numerous mentions in the Bible, archaeologists had never been able to find purple fabric in Israel from the time of King David. That is, until 2021.
Significantly, in early 2021, archaeologists in the Timna Valley of Israel discovered several pieces of purple fabric dating to about 1,000 BC, when the Bible tells us that King David and King Solomon ruled in Jerusalem.
When these fibers were tested, the purple dye was confirmed to have come from marine snails, an important indication that the “royal purple” wearer would have been of high economic and social status.
This discovery marked the first time that pieces of purple-dyed cloth as described in the Bible were found from the Davidic era in Israel.
3. Second 2,000-Year-Old Synagogue in Galilee
We know from Scripture that Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in different synagogues during His earthly ministry (Matthew 4:23). However, physical evidence of the existence of synagogues from the time of Jesus was scant.
This caused some experts to believe that local synagogues flourished only after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (and after Jesus’s crucifixion), contrary to the Bible’s assertions that Jewish worshippers gathered in local synagogues while the Temple still stood.
That thinking changed in 2009 when a first-century synagogue was discovered in the ancient town of Magdala.
That synagogue dated from the time of Jesus and existed in the same area where Jesus preached, the town of Magdala being on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Interestingly, Magdala is also believed to be the birthplace of Mary Magdala, whom we know to have been one of Jesus’ followers during His lifetime.
More recently, in late 2021, archaeologists unearthed another first-century synagogue in the same town of Magdala. That discovery marked the first time that two synagogues dating from the first century were found in the same town.
Artifacts found at both Magdala sites showed that the two synagogues were in use before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and during the earthly life of Jesus.
This discovery led experts to believe that Jews in the time of Jesus were, in fact, gathering at local houses of worship other than in the Temple, as the Bible had told us all along.
For believers worldwide, no physical evidence is necessary to confirm the faith they have in the Holy Bible. Yet physical findings that verify biblical accounts are bringing people to the faith who otherwise wouldn’t have embraced God’s Word as truth.
For these people, if the Bible is shown to be historically trustworthy, then they’re willing to believe that the Bible is spiritually trustworthy as well.
The above and other archaeological findings that support the history set forth in the Bible bring home Jesus’ proclamation that even if His followers kept silent about the Good News, the stones themselves would cry out in praise of Christ (Luke 9:40).
For further reading:
Is the Bible Considered a Historical Text?
Why Is Reading the Bible in Context Important?
How Can We Read the Bible as Culture Changes?
Is the Bible Reliable? The Evidence We Know So Far
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/gorodenkoff
Dolores Smyth is a nationally published faith and parenting writer. She draws inspiration for her writing from everyday life. Connect with her over Twitter @byDoloresSmyth.
