Category Archives: Archaeology

Erastus of Corinth

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‘During the eighteen months he was in Corinth (Acts 18:11) Paul evidently converted a man named Erastus, who provides an interesting cross-cultural link in the Corinthian church. One of the most imposing structures in Corinth was the fourteen-thousand-seat theater, located northwest of the forum and renovated about five years before Paul arrived. About this time (c. 50, during the reign of Claudius) a large stone plaza was also laid at the northeast corner of the theater area.…

Where was Sodom?

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According to the Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, ‘all efforts to locate the site of Sodom have been fruitless.’  Areas both north and south of the Dead sea have been proposed, but without conviction.

A fictitious city?  The most sceptical regard it, and the biblical story associated with it, as entirely fictitious.

A lost city?  Others think that its remains must have been lost under the encroaching waters of the Dead Sea.

South of the Dead Sea?…

The Code of Hammurabi and the Law of Moses

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Hammurabi was a Babylonian king who reigned in the 18th century BC.  His code of law was discovered by French archaeologists in 1901-2.

Among the 300-odd laws are many that are similar to those of the Mosaic law.  For example, some of the laws deal with the concept of ‘an eye for an eye’, and these are quite closely parallel to those contained in the so-called ‘book of the covenant’ (Exodus 21-23).

The following examples are cited by Peter Enns (Inspiration and Incarnation):-

[ezcol_1half]If a son has struck his father, they shall cut off his hand.…

The Pilate inscription

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In 1961 an Italian archaeologist, Antonio Frova, discovered an inscription at Caesarea Maritima on a stone slab which at the time of the discovery was being used as a section of steps leading into the Caesarea theatre.  The inscription in Latin contained four lines, three of which are partially readable.  Roughly translated they are as follows:-

Tiberium
Pontius Pilate
Prefect of Judea

The inscribed stone was probably used originally in the foundation for a Tiberium (a temple for the worship of the emperor Tiberius) and then reused later in the discovered location. …