37 Bible Characters Found Through Archaeology

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28 New Testament Characters in the Historical Record:

Pharaohs Mentioned in the Bible:

CREDITS:

Chart & Narration by Matt Baker
Animation by Syawish Rehman
Audio editing by Ali Shahwaiz

[DallasMay]

People who insist on believing biblical literalism are often shocked to learn how much the Bible gets wrong, historically. Meanwhile, people who reject biblical literalism are often shocked to find how much the Bible gets right, historically.

[BrianPurcell]

It's amazing how the verification of so many Iron age biblical characters is based on only one item. It shows that it is REALLY hard to get your name known outside of your timeline during this period.

[ogzm]

It’s important to note that although currently we don’t have archaeological proof the others existed, it does not necessarily mean that they did not exist

[BunsBooks]

This was actually super interesting, much of the archeology referenced I had no idea about. I’d definitely want to see a New Testament version too

[debraturner]

As a history buff, i'd love a part 2 with the NT.

[matthewmckever]

I remember reading Herodotus describing the pyramids and how even in his time Egyptian priests knew little of their origins. And the books of Kings are a biblical eye opener for its importance as a historical document when compared with other sources from the time. Fascinating stuff.

[thattimestampguy]

0:00 The Complete Family Tree of The Bible
0:17 "This is based on complete fiction"
0:33 "Well, here's the thing...."
1:13 37 Real People mentioned in The Bible, found in The Archaeological Record, outside The Bible.

*_Sponsored By_*
1:38 Dante Labs Genomes
3:11 Start of the video proper.

*The 3 Ages of Antiquity*
3:22 Bronze, Iron, Classical
3:47 Iron Age
3:58 Classical Antiquity
4:15 The Old Testament takes place during The Bronze and then The Iron Age.

*The Iron Age People are Archaeologically Recorded*
4:32 37 Bible Characters found in the archaeological record
5:24 Iron Age City Dwellers

*Some of The Major Civilizations of Antiquity*
5:54 Egyptians, Hittites, and Greeks
6:05 The Bronze Age Collapse, Around 1200.
6:20 Greek Dark Ages

*Old Testament people confirmed in the Archaeological Record*
7:56 Omri, King of Israel, Founder of Sumeria. ✅
8:54 Ahab and Jezebel ✅
9:25 Ben Hadad The II ✅ and his son, Hazael ✅
9:38 Jemhorah, son of Ahab ✅
11:09 King David

11:29 Jehu [There is a picture of him on a stone slab] ✅
12:09 Ben Hadad III ✅

*Assyrian Records*
12:22 Jenoash et. al. ✅
13:06 Assyrian King Tiglath- "pol" Pilesar II ✅
13:35 Assyrian King Sargon II✅

*More Israelites*
14:20 Hezekiah ✅
15:23 Isaiah The Prophet/Isaiah Navi
15:56 Manassah ✅

*The Egyptian Pharaohs* 17:30
17:43 The 5 Pharaohs
"Pharaoh"
18:05 Shawshank/Shishak✅
18:13 Osorkan IV✅
18:24 Necho II✅

*Babylonian Records*
18:35 Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon 👑✅
19:55 Belshazzar✅ The Crown Prince.

*Persian Records*
20:24 Cyrus The Great, The Achaemenid Persian King who conquered Babylon and let The Israelites return to Israel.
20:55 Cyrus Cylinder
*Greek Records*
21:30 Herodotus, The Father of History

[harrisonshone]

I think it’s important to point out that the Bronze Age, Iron Age and classical antiquity are useful categories for describing the history of the Middle East as far as Iran, the Mediterranean world, Northern Europe and North Africa, but aren’t all that useful when discussing anywhere else in the world. For example India, China and sub Saharan Africa all developed these tools on very different timescales.

[ninjason]

I just went through the Bible recently and noticed what you described as well. That the beginning books are very general narratives written then later in Samuel-kings-minor prophets there's so much detail it becomes difficult to keep up. I am a Christian and this knowledge doesn't diminish my faith, in fact it strengthens it. I appreciate the work you did compiling all this info!

[jackyex]

The quantity of artifacts stored in the British Museum is astonishing

[Kaspar]

The fact that David was mentioned so early already speaks volumes about how the very earliest Judaeans viewed themselves even if it can't confirm the concrete David and I think that connects us to these iron age people in such a beautiful way

[matthewmatis]

The Bronze Age charcters versus Iron Age characters blew my mind . What a good book list to really start to understand the Bible in such a scholarly way .

[mathmannix]

I think it's important to point out that, yes, while there is no archaeological record of (for example) the Israelite rulers prior to Ahab, including the "big three" of the Bible - Saul, David, and Solomon - there aren't that many records *period* which have survived (and been discovered) from back then, much less from the bronze age (for important Biblical characters like Abraham, Jacob, and Moses.) So it's not like those earlier Biblical characters are necessarily mythical - they just haven't been proven by the archaeological record. [Possibly "yet", but more likely won't ever be.]

[giordy]

Could not possibly get bored by this biblic series, I'm so in love with your job, keep it up

[yoshigottagun]

Some of these comments are really annoying. A lot of people misrepresenting different sides of an argument that isn't even being made here. Great video!

[MythVisionPodcast]

This was so well done Matt! I love seeing things in clear presentations like this. I do think it's probably fair to assume much, if not all, of these Bronze age characters are completely lost to history. They could be fiction or just mythologized figures lost to historical record.

I find so many internet skeptics who just axe-grind, wanting everything in the Bible to be fiction. I love seeing your sober take.

[bethmarriott]

Matt has the single most polite form of clapback on YouTube and I am here for it

[_ao]

I'm not even religious but this whole history regarding the bible interests me a lot

[Wi-Fi-El]

I'm not Christian or Jewish, but the Bible is a very valuable historical document, even if most of it isn't actual history. It may have embellishments and even fabrications, but there's also a lot of verified history in it, and it wouldn't surpise me if we find more evidence in the future for people like David or Solomon.
On top of the history held within, the Bible is also useful for understanding the mindsets of the people who were around when it was first written, and dismissing it as pointless or mere fiction is a great disservice to the historical community

[ChristianMolloseau-exsq]

Amazing stuff! I've watched several of these videos and I love each one of them! My 12-year-old niece who goes to a Christian school learns this stuff in her history class, yet it's amazing how it is basically scarce knowledge in the world we live in today. Looking forward to your videos in the future!