The location and the caves

This week I will be looking at some of the religious artifcats which have been found over the years prior to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Throughout my research I will be trying to find answers to the following questions:

Previous diggings at or nearby the site
Prior to the discovery which Bible locations received the most attention?
What were some of the biggest religious discovers prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Why were those discoveries so important? Why was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls so important?
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Again the answers above were quite easy to find because there are hundreds of websites on the subject. Over the years archeologists have found plenty of religious artificats which have caused quite a lot of excitement. The hardest part of this research was trying to decide which examples to use since there was so many to choose from.
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Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran the site had not recieved much attention from archeologists which explains why the scrolls were found by accident.

Biblical sites such as Jurusalem and Jericho generally recieved the most attention. Jurusalem has regularly been escavated over the years because not only is it Israel's capitol and one of the oldest cities in the world, it is also the location of many key religious sites. Jericho has also been regularly escavated over the years because it is home to one of the oldest known settlesments in the world.



Modern-day Jerusalem



Modern-day City of Jericho

The bible has always facinated archeologists and over the years there has been plenty of religious escavations. For example in 1929 archeologist Leonard Wolley found two layers of artifacts in the Sumeriun city of Ur. Wolley was able to use the layer of alluviam -a type of sidement formed by flowing water- to date the artifact back to 3500 bc, the time of the Great Flood. Some archeologists have even claimed that they have discovered bits of the ship itself. Some other religious artifacts which have been found include: an Egyption stone which celebrates the pharaoh's victory over his enemies -which Israel was included, and a stone which mentioned the 'House of David.'

As always religious escavations are important because they help to determine the realiability of the Bible.

Resources:

Aron, PD 2005, 'Chapter 1 origins and early civilisations, did Noah's ark really exist?' in Mysteries in history, from pre-history to the present, Santa Barbara, pp.15-18, viewed on April 9 2010.

Bolen, T 2010, BiblePlaces.com, viewed April 9 2010, http://www.bibleplaces.com/index.htm

Strachan, RA 2010, Jericho, viewed April 9 2010, http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/middle_east/jericho.html

Smith, MH 2008, Jericho, American Theological Library Association Selected Region Website, viewed April 9 2010, http://virtualreligion.net/iho/jericho.html