My recent archaeology – and dramatic new finds

Archaeological excavations rely heavily on volunteers and students who must often travel significant distances to join a dig of interest to them.

Inevitably, this means the last 18 months of the pandemic have suspended or greatly reduced the number of excavations. For many of us it has meant turning closer to home and made access to the Bible Lands practically impossible.

But this state of affairs does not mean archaeological work has halted. Various excavations have continued, though often on a smaller scale. During 2021 I have had an opportunity to be involved in a couple of digs. One, a lost Romano-British settlement in the New Forest; another, a British Museum-sponsored recovery of a hoard of gold coins at a confidential location. At least to me, that’s exciting stuff! But archaeology anywhere in the world can also reveal things about the past that help us understand the Bible and confirm its reliability.

No room in a tomb

A recent British dig has discovered bones that have captured the interest of scholars worldwide and was picked up at the end of the year by the Biblical Archaeology Society. To see their importance we need to note a common sceptical assumption made by a previous generation of liberal theologians.

Doubters

Philosopher John Hick came to doubt not only the resurrection of Jesus, but even the burial of his crucified body. Hick suggested that as a criminal the remains of Jesus would have been discarded with the refuse and burned. Marianne Sawicki imagines that the body would have been buried in a ‘limed pit.’ Peter Kirby in The Case Against the Empty Tomb (2002) argues that a proper burial for Jesus was unlikely because the Romans discarded those executed and the Jews would have considered his corpse unclean. In 1994, Time magazine noted that theologian John Dominic Crossan believed that the body of Jesus would have been buried in a shallow grave and eaten by wild dogs.

It is clearly a neat way to dismiss the resurrection. There is no ‘empty tomb’ if there is no tomb burial in the first place! But these arguments rely on the assumption that crucifixion excluded anyone from a proper burial. Archaeology shows this is not the case.

A grave matter

Archaeologists in Cambridgeshire recovered bones in 2017 that have recently been shown to be those of a 25-year-old man crucified by the Romans in the Second Century. The bones were from one of 40 graves, laid to rest with dignity and care. A long iron nail has been hammered through the heel bone. Other marks on the skeleton are consistent with crucifixion.

This new discovery casts light on the practice of crucifixion in the Roman world and is now one of four victims of such execution retrieved by archaeology – from Italy, Egypt and Jerusalem.

New light on old practices

The remains from Jerusalem were discovered in 1968 and not only include a nail embedded in a heel bone, but were found in a traditional form of first-century Jewish burial. His bones had been placed in an ‘ossuary’ (bone box) and his name, Yehohanan, carved on its exterior.

Not only did some victims of crucifixion at the hands of the Romans receive a proper burial, but even Jews, who might otherwise consider the remains unclean, would go to all this trouble if it were someone they sufficiently cared about.

Objections to Jesus receiving a proper burial in a tomb can be dismissed in the light of global archaeology. And that means the real question remains to be answered, why was the tomb found empty three days later? Archaeology may not prove the resurrection, but even British archaeology can help demonstrate the reliability of the Gospel accounts.