The following is a list of inscribed artifacts, items made or given shape by humans, that are significant to biblical archaeology.
Selected artifacts significant to biblical chronology This table lists inscriptions which are of particular significance to the study of biblical chronology. References are from ANETANET: Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Third Edition with Supplement. Ed. James B. Pritchard. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1969 and COSCOS: The Context of Scripture. 3 volumes. Eds. William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger. Leiden: Brill, 1997–2002 and link to editio princeps (EP), if known.
Egyptian Name Image Current location Discovered Date Writing Significance Refs Autobiography of Weni Cairo Museum 1880, Abydos Egyptian hieroglyphs Records the earliest known Egyptian military campaigns in Sinai and the Levant.ANET 227–228 Sebek-khu Stele Manchester Museum 1901, Abydos Egyptian hieroglyphs Records the earliest known Egyptian military campaign in Retjenu, including Sekmem (s-k-m-m, thought to be Shechem).ANET 230 Merneptah Stele Cairo Museum 1896, Thebes Egyptian hieroglyphs The text is largely an account of a military campaign against the ancient Libyans, but the last three of the 28 lines deal with a separate campaign in Canaan, including the first documented instance of the name Israel in the historical record, and the only documented record in Ancient Egypt.COS 2.6 / ANET 376–378 / EP Bubastite Portal Original location 1828, Karnak Egyptian hieroglyphs Records the conquests and military campaigns in c.925 BC of Shoshenq I, of the Twenty-second Dynasty, identified with the biblical Shishaq. Towns identified include Rafah (rph), Megiddo (mkdi) and Ajalon (iywrn)ANET 242–243
Other significant Egyptian artifacts Execration texts – earliest references to many Biblical locations Papyrus Brooklyn 35.1446 – A document that lists the names of 45 individuals, including a Canaanite woman named "Šp-ra." Scholars assume that this is a hieroglyphic transliteration of the Hebrew name "Shiphrah," which also appears in Exodus 1:15–21. However, while the name may be related, the document dates to c. 1833–1743 BCE (centuries before the biblical Shiphra would have lived). Ipuwer Papyrus – poem describing Egypt as afflicted by natural disasters and in a state of chaos. The document is dated to around 1250 BC but the content is thought to be earlier, dated back to the Middle Kingdom, though no earlier than the late Twelfth Dynasty. Once thought to describe the biblical Exodus, it is now considered the world's earliest known treatise on political ethics, suggesting that a good king is one who controls unjust officials, thus carrying out the will of the gods. Berlin pedestal relief – considered by many modern scholars to contain the earliest historic reference to ancient Israel. Experts remain divided on this hypothesis.Canaan and Israel in Antiquity: A Textbook on History and Religion, Second By K. L. Noll, P:138
Cuneiform Name Image Current location Discovered Date Writing Significance Refs Statue of Idrimi British Museum 1939, Alalakh Akkadian cuneiform Records the earliest certain cuneiform reference to CanaanANET 557 Kurkh Monoliths British Museum 1861, Üçtepe, Bismil Assyrian cuneiformThe Shalmaneser III monolith contains a description of the Battle of Qarqar at the end. This description contains the name "A-ha-ab-bu Sir-ila-a-a" which is generally accepted to be a reference to Ahab king of Israel,The Hebrew Bible: New Insights and Scholarship, edited by Frederick E. Greenspahn, NYU Press, 2008 p. 11Ancient Canaan and Israel: New Perspectives, by Jonathan Michael Golden, ABC-CLIO, 2004, p. 275 although it is the only known reference to the term "Israel" in Assyrian and Babylonian records, a fact brought up by some scholars who dispute the proposed translation.COS 2.113A / ANET 277–278 Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III British Museum 1846, Nimrud Assyrian cuneiform Contains what is thought to be the earliest known picture of a biblical figure: possibly Jehu son Omri (mIa-ú-a mar mHu-um-ri-i), or Jehu's ambassador, kneeling at the feet of Shalmaneser III. COS 2.113F / ANET 278–281 Saba'a Stele Istanbul Archaeology Museums 1905, Saba'a Assyrian cuneiform Records Adad-nirari III's Assyrian campaign to Pa-la-áš-tu (Philistia)COS 2.114E / ANET 282 / EP Nimrud Slab Unknown 1854, Nimrud Akkadian cuneiform Describes Adad-nirari III's early Assyrian conquests in Palastu (Phillistia), Tyre, Sidon, Edom and Humri (the latter understood as the Kingdom of Israel). COS 2.114GThe Philistines in Transition: A History from Ca. 1000–730 B.C.E. By Carl S. Ehrlich P:171 Nimrud Tablet K.3751 British Museum , Nimrud Akkadian cuneiform Describes Tiglath-Pileser III's (745 to 727 BC) campaigns to the region, including the first known archeological reference to Judah (Yaudaya or KUR.ia-ú-da-a-a). COS 2.117 / ANET 282–284 Sargon II's Prism A British Museum , Library of Ashurbanipal Akkadian cuneiform Describes Sargon II's (722 to 705 BC) campaigns to Palastu, Judah, Edom and Moab. COS 2.118i / ANET 287 Lachish relief British Museum 1845, Nineveh Assyrian cuneiform Portion of the Sennacherib relief, which depicts captives from Judah being led into captivity after the Siege of Lachish in 701 BC.COS 2.119C / EP Azekah Inscription British Museum , Library of Ashurbanipal Akkadian cuneiform Describes an Assyrian campaign by Sennacherib against Hezekiah, King of Judah, including the conquest of Azekah. COS 2.119D Sennacherib's Annals British Museum, Oriental Institute of Chicago, and the Israel Museum 1830, likely Nineveh, unprovenanced Assyrian cuneiform Describes the Assyrian king Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC during the reign of king Hezekiah. COS 2.119B / ANET 287–288 Esarhaddon's Treaty with Ba'al of Tyre British Museum c.1850, Library of Ashurbanipal Akkadian cuneiform Describes a treaty between Esarhaddon (reigned 681 to 669 BC) and Ba'al of Tyre with respect to pi-lis-te COS 2.120 / ANET 533 Cylinders of Nabonidus British Museum and Pergamon Museum 1854, Ur Akkadian cuneiform Describes Belshazzar (Balthazar) as Nabonidus' eldest son COS 2.123A Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle British Museum 1896 (acquired), unprovenanced Akkadian cuneiform Describes Nebuchadnezzar's first siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC, the Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC) COS 1.137 / ANET 301–307 Cylinder of Cyrus British Museum 1879, Babylon Akkadian cuneiform King Cyrus's treatment of religion, which is significant to the books of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah.COS 2.124 / ANET 315–316 Nabonidus Chronicle British Museum 1879 (acquired), Sippar, unprovenanced Akkadian cuneiform Describes the conquest of Babylon by the Persian king Cyrus the Great COS 1.137 / ANET 301–307 / EPSidney Smith, 1924
Other significant cuneiform artifacts Creation myths and flood myths – recorded on the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Atra-Hasis tablets, the Enûma Eliš, the Eridu Genesis and the Barton Cylinder Law tablets – ancient Near East legal tablets: Code of Hammurabi, Laws of Eshnunna, the Code of Ur-Nammu, king of Ur (c. 2050 BC), the Laws of Eshnunna (c. 1930 BC) and the Code of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (c. 1870 BC). Later codes than Hammurabi's include the Code of the Nesilim. Hittite laws, the Assyrian laws, and Mosaic Law / Ten Commandments. (see cuneiform law). Tell al-Rimah stela (c. 780 BC) – tells of the exploits of Adad-nirari III, mentioning "Joash King of Samaria"Text and History: Historiography and the Study of the Biblical Text , page 168 Annals of Tiglath-Pileser III (740–730 BC): Layard 45b+ III R 9,1 possibly refers to [KUR sa-me-ri-i-na-a-a] as ["land of Samaria"] The Iran Stela refers to KUR sa-m[e]-ri-i-na-a-[a] "land of Samaria" Layard 50a + 50b + 67a refers to URU sa-me-ri-na-a-a "city of Samaria" Layard 66 refers to URU Sa-me-ri-na "city of Samaria" III R 9.3 50, refers to "Menahem the Samarian" Nimrud Tablet III R 10.2 28–29, refers to the overthrown of Pekah by Hoshea. one fragment refers to "Azriau" and another it has been joined to refers to "Yaudi". Some scholars have interpreted this as Ahaziah / Uzziah, although this is disputed and has not gained scholarly consensus.Bible.org , Quote: "For a defense of the idea that Azariah of Judah headed up an anti-Assyrian coalition, see Tadmor, 'Azarijau of Yaudi' Scripta Hierosolymitana 8 (1961): 232–271. However, Israelite and Judaean History, Old Testament Library. Edited by John H. Hayes and J. Maxwell Miller. London: SCM Press, 1977 says, 'Recently, Na'aman [Nadav Na'aman. "Sennacherib's 'Letter to God' on His Campaign to Judah", BASOR CCXIV (1974) 25–39] has shown conclusively that the fragment presumably mentioning Azriau king of Yaudi actually belongs to the time of Sennacherib and refers not to Azariah but to Hezekiah. In Tiglath-Pileser's annals there are two references to an Azariah (in line 123 as Az-ri-a-[u] and in line 131 as Az-r-ja-a-í) but neither of these make any reference to his country. Thus the Azriau of Tiglath-pileser's annals and Azariah of the Bible should be regarded as two different individuals. Azriau's country cannot, at the present, be determined.' Na'aman separates the country (Yaudi) from the name Azriau (p. 36). Also p. 28 on line 5 where the original transcription was '[I]zri-ja-u mat Ja-u-di' he reads 'ina birit misrija u mat Jaudi'. However, Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (OROT), p. 18, is less dogmatic. He says 'Hence we cannot certainly assert that this Azriau (without a named territory!) is Azariah of Judah; the matter remains open and undecided for the present and probably unlikely.' See Also CAH, 3:35–36." III R 10,2 refers to KUR E Hu-um-ri-a "land of Bit-Humri" ND 4301 + 4305 refers to KUR E Hu-um-ri-a "land of Bit-Humri" Babylonian Chronicle ABC1 (725 BC) – Shalmaneser V refers to URU Sa-ma/ba-ra-'-in "city of Samar(i)a" Annals of Sargon II (720 BC): Nimrud Prism, Great Summary Inscription refers to URU Sa-me-ri-na "city of Samerina" Palace Door, Small Summary Inscription, Cylinder Inscription, Bull Inscription refers to KUR Bit-Hu-um-ri-a "land of Bit-Humri" Victory stele of Esarhaddon – a doleriteVerzeichnis der in der Formerei der Königl. Museen käuflichen Gipsabgüsse (1902) page 20 stele commemorating the return of Esarhaddon after his army's second battle and victory over Pharaoh Taharqa in northern ancient Egypt in 671 BC, discovered in 1888 in Zincirli Höyük (Sam'al, or Yadiya) by Felix von Luschan and Robert Koldewey. It is now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty (written around 675 BCE) – Some scholars think that this treaty served as a literary model for the curses in Deuteronomy 28:15–64, as well as content in Deuteronomy 13, due to strong textual similarities. Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet (circa 595 BC) – a clay cuneiform inscription referring to an official at the court of Nebuchadrezzar II, king of Babylon, possibly the same official named in the Biblical Jeremiah. Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets (6th century BC) – Describe the rations set aside for a royal captive identified with Jehoiachin, king of Judah (Cf. 2 Kings ,; ; 2 Chronicles ; Jeremiah ; 29:2; ; Ezekiel ).Thomas, D. Winton (1958) Documents from Old Testament Times; 1961 ed. Edinburgh and London: Thomas Nelson and Sons; p. 84.
Canaanite, Aramaic and Hebrew