God, Science and the Bible: Nehemiah's Wall Discovered?
Until now, few remains from Nehemiah's time in Jerusalem (444-432 B.C.) have been uncovered. But now, Eilat Mazar, a Hebrew University archaeologist digging in the city, believes she has identified remnants of that famous wall that protected Jerusalem after the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity.
"So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God," wrote Nehemiah, a fifth-century-B.C. governor of Judea, as recorded in Nehemiah 6:15-16.
Until now, few remains from Nehemiah's time in Jerusalem (444-432 B.C.) have been uncovered. But now, Eilat Mazar, a Hebrew University archaeologist digging in the city, believes she has identified remnants of that famous wall that protected Jerusalem after the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity.
While the wall had been uncovered earlier, archaeologists had assumed it dated to the Hasmonean Period (141-37 B.C.), well after Nehemiah's time. But in stabilizing a tower that was part of the wall to prevent its collapse, excavators found immediately under it pottery and arrowheads dating to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and pottery and a seal impression dating to the Persian Period (6th to 5th centuries B.C.).
No later remains were found, which indicates that the tower and wall dated to the time of Nehemiah's building of defensive walls around the city as described in the biblical book that bears his name. Judah at that time was a province of the Persian Empire, which is why archaeological remains from this time are referred to as being from the Persian Period.
"This find opens a new chapter in the history of Jerusalem," Dr. Mazar said. "Until now, we have never had such an archaeological wealth of finds from Nehemiah's period" ("Nehemiah's Wall Uncovered," The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 28, 2007).
The Bible records that Nehemiah, cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes, received permission from the king to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians a century and a half earlier. He also repopulated Jerusalem and restored it as the capital of Judea. It was a bustling city by the time Jesus Christ arrived some four centuries later.
The tower in question lies at the back of the walls of a large stone structure that Dr. Mazar unearthed in 2005 and tentatively identified as the palace of King David (see "Remains of King David's Palace found in Jerusalem?" The Good News, September-October 2005). This indicates that the structure must have been built first and supports her claim that the site was King David's palace. While conclusions are still preliminary, these finds appear to further strengthen the historical accuracy of the biblical accounts.
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: March - April 2008
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
