Random Event And Individual In Bible We Have Physical Evidence Of (17 items)

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  (#6) James, Brother Of Jesus

  The Apostle James is named the brother of Jesus in the New Testament, and new physical evidence suggests that the two were, in fact, blood relatives. An Israeli collector purchased an ossuary, or a burial box used for bones, in the 1970s, and he noticed an Aramaic inscription. It read, "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."

  The ossuary started a lot of controversy; the Israel Antiquities Authority claimed the final three words were a forgery. But a Jerusalem court found the evidence inconclusive. 
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  (#10) Moses

  • Prophet

  According to the Old Testament, Moses parted the Red Sea during the Israelites' daring escape from Egypt. Recent scientific research supports the idea that the Biblical miracle may have been possible because of natural causes. 

  According to a peer-reviewed journal article by engineer Carl Drews, if the Red Sea was actually the Sea of Reeds, as other scholars suggested, a strong enough wind could have parted the waters. Winds of over 60 miles per hour can part coastal water, exposing the land beneath. As Drews explains, "wind setdown happens just as often as storm surge, but hardly ever hurts people, it just blows a harbor completely dry. So this water sloshes from one side of the body to the other and leaves a dry place."

  If Drews is correct, the Biblical story looks even more likely.
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  (#4) The Great Flood

  Scientists have proven that over 7,000 years ago, a massive flood swept the Black Sea, submerging 100,000 square miles of land. The sea level rose over 100 feet, and potentially thousands of people perished in the flood. 

  The timing of the flood (5600 BCE) and the magnitude of it likely indicate that it's the same Great Flood mentioned in the Bible. However, a number of ancient societies told stories, such as the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh and the Greek and Roman story of Deucalion and Pyrrha, that mention a catastrophic flood.

  It's possible that all these stories trace back to a common flood that devastated the ancient Near East. 
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  (#3) Jesus Christ

  • Notable Figure

  Many people claimed to discover physical evidence of Jesus Christ, like the Shroud of Turin and pieces of his crucifixion cross. However, in spite of centuries spent searching for physical proof that Jesus existed, the best evidence still comes from textual sources, such as the writings of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.

  Though the authenticity of Josephus' writing has been called into question in the centuries since his life, he wrote only decades after the death of Jesus, and his texts record that he was a real person. He mentioned:

  Now there was about this time Jesus... when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day.

  On top of that, professionals claimed to find the nails that impaled Jesus, his crown of thorns, and other physical evidence of his existence.
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  (#5) King David

  For years, scholars doubted whether King David really existed. According to the Bible, King David was one of three kings who ruled over a united Israel around the year 1000 BCE. As a boy, he single-handedly slayed Goliath, and as a man he ruled as king. But until 1993, there was no physical evidence to prove David was a real person. 

  A piece of inscribed statue, known as the Tel Dan Stele, was discovered during an archeological dig. It was used as scrap building material for another structure years and years ago. However, the small artifact had a small inscription carved into the basalt. It mentions the "house of David." While the Tel Dan Stele doesn't provide much information about David, it does confirm that his dynasty ruled 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus. 
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  (#2) Tower Of Babel

  According to the Book of Genesis, the Tower of Babel was built by Noah's descendants who survived the Great Flood. They shared a common language and settled in Babylonia. But soon they strayed from God and built a great tower, which became a symbol of their pride. They said: 

  Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth (Genesis 11:4).

  An angry God struck down the people and scattered them, confusing their language so they could no longer speak with each other.

  Due to the location and description of the tower, many argue that it may be one of the nearly thirty ziggurats discovered in ancient Babylonia. While there is not yet evidence linking the story with a specific ziggurat, physical proof may eventually connect Babel with Etemenanki, a true ziggurat in Babylon.

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