# Some are thinking Nehemiah's Wall has been found



## BobVigneault (Nov 30, 2007)

Here is the story.

Israeli Says Elusive Biblical Wall Found  
Nov 30 12:11 AM US/Eastern
By REGAN E. DOHERTY
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - A wall mentioned in the Bible's Book of Nehemiah and long sought by archaeologists apparently has been found, an Israeli archaeologist says.

A team of archaeologists discovered the wall in Jerusalem's ancient City of David during a rescue attempt on a tower that was in danger of collapse, said Eilat Mazar, head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem-based research and educational institute, and leader of the dig.

Artifacts including pottery shards and arrowheads found under the tower suggested that both the tower and the nearby wall are from the 5th century B.C., the time of Nehemiah, Mazar said this week. Scholars previously thought the wall dated to the Hasmonean period from about 142 B.C. to 37 B.C.

The findings suggest that the structure was actually part of the same city wall the Bible says Nehemiah rebuilt, Mazar said. The Book of Nehemiah gives a detailed description of construction of the walls, destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.

"We were amazed," she said, noting that the discovery was made at a time when many scholars argued that the wall did not exist.

"This was a great surprise. It was something we didn't plan," Mazar said.

The first phase of the dig, completed in 2005, uncovered what Mazar believes to be the remains of King David's palace, built by King Hiram of Tyre, and also mentioned in the Bible.

Ephraim Stern, professor emeritus of archaeology at Hebrew University and chairman of the state of Israel archaeological council, offered support for Mazar's claim.

"The material she showed me is from the Persian period," the period of Nehemiah, he said. "I can sign on the date of the material she found."

However, another scholar disputed the significance of the discovery.

Israel Finkelstein, professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University, called the discovery "an interesting find," but said the pottery and other artifacts do not indicate that the wall was built in the time of Nehemiah. Because the debris was not connected to a floor or other structural part of the wall, the wall could have been built later, Finkelstein said.

"The wall could have been built, theoretically, in the Ottoman period," he said. "It's not later than the pottery—that's all we know."


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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## Gloria (Nov 30, 2007)

What do you think, Bob?


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## DMcFadden (Nov 30, 2007)

I put my money on Mazar. All of her family have done more good work in Israel than just about anyone in archaeology. Her grandfather was the justly famous pioneering archaeologist Benjamin Mazar who did much of the best work on the Temple Mount steps after the '67 war. Her cousin, Ami, was doing a dig and discovered an idol on top of BethShean on one of my trips to Israel. That delighted our group happy to actually see a discovery being made while we were touring the top of the tel. Pretty much the name Mazar is as close to dynastic royalty as you get in Israeli archaeology.


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## BobVigneault (Nov 30, 2007)

To be honest Gloria, whenever I see news like this coming out of Israel, my inner skeptic says, "Israel needs more money so they contacted the Ministry of Tourism and told them to publish a BIG archaeological find, real or imagined."

My inner evidentialist gets excited and says, "Ah ha, eureka, evidence that supports the historicity of Scripture."

My inner presuppositionalist says, "Calm down, Scripture doesn't need the justification of man or archaeology, Scripture is self-authenticating.

My inner rationalist says, "Bob, I'm getting nervous about your personality fracturing like this. Doesn't it concern you that you are speaking to yourself in the 3rd person?"

And on it goes.....


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