Biblical archaeology

Biblical archaeology involves the recovery and scientific investigation of the material remains of past cultures that can illuminate the periods and descriptions in the Bible. As with the historical records from any other civilization, the manuscripts must be compared to other accounts from contemporary societies in Europe, Mesopotamia, and Africa; additionally, records from neighbors must be compared with them. The scientific techniques employed are those of archaeology in general including excavations as well as chance discoveries.

Artifacts with unknown, disputed, or disproved provenance

Items in this list mostly come from private collections via the antiquities market, but also from chance finds prior to the establishment of antiquities laws. Their authenticity is highly controversial and in some cases has been demonstrated to be fraudulent.

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• Ark of the Covenant
• The Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Axum, Ethiopia claims to possess it; local tradition maintains that it was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I following a visit to his father King Solomon.
• Artifacts originating from the antiquities dealer, Oded Golan. In December 2004 he was indicted by the Israeli police, together with several accomplices, for forging the following artifacts:
• The James Ossuary inscribed James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus suspected of being forged on a genuine ancient ossuary.
• The Joash (Jehoash) tablet recording repairs to the Temple in Jerusalem suspected of being forged on a genuine ancient stone panel.
• Various ostraca mentioning the Temple or place names from the Bible.
• A seven-nozzle stone lamp, bearing decorations of a Temple menorah and the seven species
• A stone seal with gold rim, attributed to King Manasseh of Judah.
• A quartz bowl bearing an inscription in ancient Egyptian, indicating that the Minister of the Army of King Shishek conquered the ancient city of Meggido.
• An ivory pomegranate inscribed Property of the priests of the temple… forged on a genuine ancient piece of ivory.
• A pottery jug bearing an inscription claiming that it was given as a contribution to the Temple.
• Numerous bullae including ones which mention Biblical figures including King Hezekiah of Judah, the scribe Baruch and the prophet Isaiah.
• Nazareth Inscription
• Marble tablet with "Edict of Caesar" proscribing capital punishment for tomb-breakers, datable to the first century A.D., and allegedly acquired by the Frohner Collection in 1878 from Nazareth.
• The remains of Noah's Ark have been allegedly located by a number of archaeological groups and individuals. Most academics discount their findings as pseudoarchaeology.
• Archaeologist Ron Wyatt claimed to have possibly located the Ark's final resting place. Since his death he has been acclaimed by many Bible believers. A plethora of internet sites concerning him have come into existence, and some have fabricated information about him and his discoveries.
• An Italian archaeological group named La Narkas is the most recent of numerous groups claiming to have pinpointed the location of Noah's Ark close to the top of Mount Ararat, which straddles the border of Turkey and Armenia. Photographs of this alleged discovery are available on their website http://www.narkas.org/.
• In 2004, yet another expedition went to Mount Ararat in Turkey to try to locate the Ark. Samples from Turkey tested by Geological and Nuclear Sciences, a New Zealand government research institute, were found to be volcanic rock rather than petrified wood. http://www.newsisfree.com/iclick/i,60081010,1037,f/
• Shroud of Turin
• Critics claim it contains a painted image of Jesus forged in the Middle Ages; others maintain the image was formed by some energetic process that darkened the fibers (such as a flash of light the instant the resurrection occurred). Radiocarbon dating seemed to limit its origin to the Middle Ages, but some analysts suggest the tests were erroneously performed using samples taken from patches sewn onto the ancient cloth during the Middle Ages, or contaminated from fires it was exposed to. Other analysts suggest that the dating results are skewed by limestone residue which is present on the shroud.
• Stone of Scone, also known as Jacob's Pillar
• For centuries, this rock has been an integral compenent of coronation ceremonies for kings in the British isles. It is believed to be the rock upon which Jacob (later renamed Israel) received a vision, and a crack in it may have resulted from Moses striking it to bring forth water. None of this can be proven, and attempts to link it to Palestine via Jeremiah lack foundation.