Out of the world population, a certain percentage believe the Bible to be true. They don’t always need “proof” to come to this conclusion. They believe that there is a God who is present in the world today. He doesn’t control everything because evil also exists and there rages a spiritual war between the two.
Then there are those who believe nothing of the Bible. Generally, their life experiences encourage them in that direction—how could there be wars, disease, abusive coworkers or family members if there is a God?
And finally, another percentage doesn’t weigh in on such philosophical concerns, but could be persuaded toward faith if someone offered some proof of the Bible’s veracity or of God at work on Planet Earth, if not elsewhere in the solar system. Well, today’s your day!
Ancient bullae, or hardened seal impressions, have been turning up in archaeological excavations in Jerusalem. Over 50 bullae correspond to specific names and time periods found in the Bible. Yes, they refer to particular people who lived during exact eras and were found in loci that were matching.
In other words, when going to dig in a site, archaeologists do not just dig until they find gold! It’s a rather scientific endeavor, employing stratigraphy, or the understanding that layers on top of the ground are more recent than layers buried beneath. An item from the time of King David (approximately 1000 BC or 3000 years before present), for example, would be deeper in the earth than artifacts from the fairly-recent Ottoman Empire when the Turks ruled Jerusalem (1517-1917). Stratigraphy, along with the item itself helps us assign a date to a site.
A Coca-Cola bottle cap would not be found next to a Roman oil lamp…unless the ground had been seriously disturbed at some point in time—agricultural plowing, building construction, looting of antiquities. So 1) the artifact itself, 2) along with its location or depth in the ground and 3) surrounding objects found in the same area, allow us to accurately date the level.
Which brings us to bullae, some of which might be as small as your pinkie’s fingernail, up to a larger coin size, and are the impressions made in clay by a signet stamp. Ancient papyrus documents were tied with string, a piece of clay pressed over the knot in the string and then pressed with the “signature” which could be pictures (a bee, a beetle, a lion, etc.) and possibly someone’s name and/or title spelled out. When found “in situ”, in its original setting nearby artifacts that would most likely date from the same historical timeframe, you have a double-wow discovery!
What makes these bullae last through millennia is the fact that Jerusalem was often burned by invaders—during the Babylonian or Roman conquests, for example. That hardens the clay impressions even further, while destroying the documents to which they were attached. Often, the string impression on the back is still visible.
Dr. Lawrence Mykytiuk of Purdue University has extensively researched numerous bullae (plural form of bulla) from Jerusalem excavations. He found over 53 to be direct matches with Biblical persons…and the number appears to keep climbing. This information and high level of specificity flies in the face of Bible-denyers.
In today’s video, MB demonstrates how scribes would seal documents to protect them, just as God seals His people (Rev. 14:1). Groups traveling on her Israel tours work for a couple of exciting hours in archaeological settings where the bullae were found—what might you find?
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