Is the Bible fake news? Archaeologists still can’t find evidence for the stories

Published: 26 October 2017

Last updated: 5 March 2024

BEAUTY AND BIBLICAL evidence both lie in the eye of the beholder, it seems. No evidence of the events described in the Book of Genesis has ever been found. No city walls have been found at Jericho, from the appropriate era, that could have been toppled by Joshua or otherwise.

The stone palace uncovered at the foot of Temple Mount in Jerusalem could attest that King David had been there; or it might belong to another era entirely, depending who you ask.

Eighteen years ago Haaretz published an article by the Ze’ev Herzog of Tel Aviv University. The headline said: “The Bible: No evidence on the ground.”

Of what? No evidence that the children of Israel sojourned in Egypt, passed through a miraculously parted Red Sea, wandered the Sinai Desert for 40 years or indeed any years, and no evidence that they conquered the land of Israel and divided it up among 12 tribes of Israel.

The renowned archaeologist also shared his suspicion that David and Solomon’s "United Kingdom," described in the Bible as a regional power, was at most a minor tribal domain.

The general public was shocked. Today, 18 years on, armed with cutting-edge dating and molecular technologies, archaeologists increasingly agree with Herzog that generally, the Bible does not reflect historical truths. But the jury's out on several key issues.

Photo: The ancient copper mines at Timna (Yuval Gesser)

FULL STORY Is the Bible a True Story? (Haaretz)