In our modern, scientific age, the Bible is often dismissed as a collection of legends; stories whose basis in truth has been completely obscured after generations of retelling. Critics laugh at Christians who believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, saying that while the Bible may have nice moral teachings and colorful stories, it is historically inaccurate and completely irrelevant to contemporary culture. 

But it is the critics who are being proven to be inaccurate by archaeological findings that confirm the Bible’s reliability. While archaeology cannot prove that God exists and that the Bible is His Word, it can—and does—confirm the Bible’s historical accuracy. And if the Bible is accurate when it refers to people, places, events, and customs, it is possible that the things it says about God are also accurate.

So let’s take a look at some of the archaeological discoveries confirming the Biblical account. (This is by no means an exhaustive list.)

The Flood of Noah

No story in the Bible has created as much controversy as the flood of Noah. Secular scientists scoff at the idea that the entire earth was once covered with water, although a lot of geological evidence points to such an event. But perhaps more intriguing than the scientific evidence is the number of ancient writings archaeologist have found that mention a worldwide flood. Cultures around the globe have worldwide flood myths, including the peoples of central Mexico and central Asia, who live far away from the ocean. 

Some have tried to explain this by saying that each culture’s flood story was based on a local flood. But that doesn’t explain why the stories have many details in common with the Biblical flood account. The most striking example of this is the flood story found in the 11th tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic, which includes the details of an ark, a pair of every type animal taken on the ark, birds sent out during the flood, the ark landing on a mountain, and a sacrifice offered after the ark landed. It is commonly assumed that the Biblical account is merely a simplified version of myths popular at the time. But that would violate the rule of the Ancient Near East: simple stories get turned into elaborate myths, not the other way around. It is much more likely that the Bible records the true history of the flood, which was mythologized by other cultures. At any rate, the universality of the flood story leaves little doubt that such an event did occur.

One of the results of the flood was the shortened life span. According to the Bible, people lived a lot longer before the flood than they do now. This same phenomenon is recorded in the Sumerian King List: kings reigned for long periods of time, until a great flood came, after which kings ruled for much shorter periods of time. Also, human skeletons have been found whose teeth have been worn completely down to their sockets. It would have taken hundreds of years for that to have happened; much longer than humans live now.

Samson

Everyone knows the story of Samson, the judge of Israel who lost his strength when Delilah cut his hair. The story ends when Samson destroys a Philistine temple by leaning against two pillars. Sounds far-fetched, doesn’t it? No matter how strong Samson supposedly was, he couldn’t topple a temple just by leaning against two pillars…could he? Yes, the archaeologists tell us, he could! They have uncovered two Philistine temples, and both temples’ roofs were supported by two wooden central pillars about six feet apart. It is entirely possible that Samson could have leaned against the two pillars and, with the incredible strength God gave him, dislodge them from their stone bases, bringing the entire roof crashing down. 

Lost Kings and Peoples

The Bible names many ancient peoples besides the nation of Israel; the Philistines, the Canaanites, the Moabites, the Midianites, the Hittites…the latter, in fact, are mentioned at least fifty times. For some time archaeologists pointed to this as evidence that the Bible was historically inaccurate because they could find no reference to the Hittites outside of the Bible. But then German archaeologists finally found the Hittite capitol in Boghazkoi, Turkey, along with thousands of clay tablets and artifacts dating back to 2000 B.C.

King David was thought by some to be just a legend, until archaeologists found a ninth century B.C. monument recording the king of Damascus’s victory over the king of Israel and the House of David. It was the first extra-Biblical reference to the Jewish royal family found by archaeologists. 

Along the same lines, the existence of 47 of the foreign kings named in the Bible was doubted—there were no known references to these kings outside of the Bible, so secular critics assumed they hadn’t existed. But as time went on and more discoveries were made, extra-Biblical references to each of the 47 kings were found, verifying their existence and the accuracy of the Bible. One such king was Sargon, the king of Assyria who captured Ashdod. His palace was discovered in Khorsabad, Iraq, with the capture of Ashdod recorded on its walls. 

Moses and the Pentateuch

Critics once claimed that the Pentateuch—the first five books in the Bible—couldn’t possibly have been written by Moses, since some of the words used and customs described in it weren’t developed until after his lifetime. But clay tablets dated years before Moses have since been discovered that describe the same customs and use the same words. 

The stories about the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—were thought to be just stories, until cunieform tablets containing the names of Abraham and his brothers were found. 
The unusual customs described in the Pentateuch are also evidence for its accuracy. For example, the idea of Sarah and Rachel offering their servants to their husbands to bear children is unthinkable in our modern minds, yet archaeologists have discovered that it was a common practice in the time. A few hundred years later, however, the custom had fallen into disuse and was largely forgotten, making it very unlikely that the story was just made up at a later time, as critics used to claim. 

Jesus’ Death and Burial

The story of Jesus’ death, burial, and certainly His resurrection, has always been questioned by skeptics. They argue that the Romans did not nail men to crosses, they tied them with rope, and after death, crucified men were always thrown into a mass grave, and were never allowed to be buried in a private tomb.

Then archaeologists found the remains of a man crucified in the first century buried in a private tomb. There was evidence that the man had been nailed through his palms to the cross, and a long spike was still in his ankles. The man’s shins were broken, just as the Bible records the Roman soldiers doing to hasten the deaths of the robbers that hung next to Jesus.

Other Religious Texts

These are just a few of the archaeological discoveries that have confirmed the Biblical account of history. Perhaps even more exciting than the discoveries confirming the Biblical account are the discoveries disproving the Biblical account: there aren’t any.

Contrast the Bible’s perfect record with that of other religious books. The Book of Mormon, for example, claims to tell the history of Jesus Christ’s visit to the American continent. Archaeologists have searched for evidence substantiating the claims of the Book of Mormon, but so far they have been unable to find any. According to the Book of Mormon, silk, horses, cement, steel, iron, coins, donkeys, cattle, cows, oxen, pigs, and wheat all existed in the Americas between 600 B.C. and 421 A.D, but archaeologists haven’t been able to find any evidence of this. Nor have they been able to find a trace of the “Houses of Cement” mentioned in Helaman, or of the battles recorded in the Book of Mormon in which millions of men, women and children were killed. While archaeology has found much that proves the historical accuracy of the Bible, it has been devastating for the Book of Mormon.

Studying the archaeological finds confirming the Bible’s accuracy is a fun and faith-building exercise, but we must remember to keep archaeology in its place. Archaeology can’t “prove” the Bible to be true; it can only verify its historical accuracy. We shouldn’t base our beliefs on the latest finds; archaeology’s understanding of the past is ever-changing, and if we base our beliefs upon that, they will be ever-changing as well. There are questions that will probably never be answered here on earth; things we will never fully understand. That is why our beliefs must be based on the never-changing record given to us by the One who knows everything.

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