Archaeological finds that connect to the Bible

137 inscriptions, objects, manuscripts and sites, each with where it was found, where it is now, the passages it relates to, and its sources. Only finds with broad scholarly agreement are included.

Before the kings 10

• Code of Hammurabi c. 1792–1750 BC
• Gezer c. 1650–950 BC
• Shasu of Yhw inscription at Soleb 14th century BC
• Amarna letters c. 1360–1332 BC
• Tel Hazor 13th century BC
• Tel Beth-Shean c. 1294–1270 BC
• Merneptah Stele c. 1208 BC
• Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun) 12th–11th centuries BC
• Medinet Habu Sea Peoples reliefs early 12th century BC
• Gilgamesh flood tablet 7th century BC

Israel and Judah 20

• Tell es-Safi (Gath) 12th–9th centuries BC
• Gibeon: the great pool and inscribed jar handles Iron Age (c. 1200–600 BC)
• Gezer calendar 10th century BC (uncertain)
• Tel Megiddo 10th–8th centuries BC
• Bubastite Portal c. 925 BC
• Tel Dan: city gates and high place 9th–8th centuries BC
• Tel Jezreel 9th century BC
• Samaria: royal quarter and ivories c. 880–720 BC
• Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III c. 852 BC
• Mesha Stele c. 840 BC
• Tel Dan Stele late 9th century BC
• Deir Alla inscription late 9th–8th century BC
• Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III c. 827–824 BC
• Kuntillet Ajrud c. 800 BC
• Stele of Zakkur c. 800 BC
• Tell al-Rimah stela early 8th century BC
• Samaria Ostraca first half of the 8th century BC
• Seal of Shema, servant of Jeroboam 8th century BC (probably)
• Annals of Tiglath-pileser III c. 738–727 BC
• Nimrud Tablet K.3751 c. 729 BC

Assyria and Babylon 29

• Tel Arad fortress and shrine 9th–6th century BC
• Broad Wall 8th century BC
• Bulla of King Hezekiah c. 700 BC
• LMLK seal impressions late 8th century BC
• Siloam inscription c. 700 BC
• Siloam tunnel c. 700 BC
• Azekah Inscription c. 712–701 BC
• Nineveh Prism of Sargon II c. 711 BC
• Nimrud Prism of Sargon II c. 706 BC
• Nineveh c. 700–612 BC
• Tel Lachish 701 BC and 588/586 BC
• Lachish reliefs c. 700–681 BC
• Sennacherib’s prisms 691–689 BC
• Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription early 7th century BC
• Esarhaddon’s Nineveh prism 673–672 BC
• Ketef Hinnom scrolls c. 600 BC
• Ashurbanipal’s Prism C c. 647 BC
• Yavne-Yam ostracon late 7th century BC
• Babylon 626–539 BC
• Fall of Nineveh Chronicle 616–607 BC
• Bulla of Gemariah son of Shaphan late 7th–early 6th century BC
• Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle 605–594 BC
• Arad ostraca c. 600 BC
• Ishtar Gate early 6th century BC
• Bullae of Jehucal and Gedaliah early 6th century BC
• Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet 595/594 BC
• Jehoiachin’s ration tablets 592/591 BC
• Lachish letters c. 588 BC
• Nabonidus Cylinders from Ur c. 540 BC

Persian period 12

• Cyrus Cylinder c. 539–530 BC
• Nabonidus Chronicle late 6th or early 5th century BC
• Behistun inscription c. 520 BC
• Palace of Darius at Susa c. 520–358 BC
• Tattenai tablet 502 BC
• Persepolis and the inscriptions of Xerxes 486–465 BC
• Murashu archive c. 455–403 BC
• Geshem bowl c. 410 BC
• Elephantine Passover letter 419/418 BC
• Elephantine petition to Bagohi 407 BC
• Wadi Daliyeh papyri and Sanballat bulla 4th century BC
• Yehud coins 4th–3rd centuries BC

Time of Jesus 24

• Pool of Bethesda c. 200 BC – AD 70
• Shekel of Tyre 126 BC – 1st century AD
• Widow's mite (lepton) 103–76 BC
• Pool of Siloam 1st century BC – AD 70
• Theodotos inscription 1st century BC – AD 70
• Sea of Galilee boat 1st century BC – late 1st century AD
• Capernaum 1st century BC – 5th century AD
• Magdala stone before AD 70
• Coins of Herod the Great c. 40–4 BC
• Masada c. 35–15 BC
• Herodium and Herod's tomb c. 23–15 BC
• Temple Warning inscription c. 23 BC – AD 70
• Caesarea Maritima c. 22–10/9 BC
• Southern Steps and Huldah Gates c. 19 BC – 1st century AD
• Western Wall and Herod's Temple Mount c. 19 BC – 1st century AD
• Heel bone of Jehohanan 1st century AD, before AD 70
• Trumpeting Place inscription 1st century AD, before AD 70
• Caiaphas ossuary 1st century AD
• Tribute penny (denarius of Tiberius) AD 14–37
• Robinson's Arch after AD 17/18
• Coins of Herod Antipas AD 20/21 – 39/40
• Pilate Stone AD 26–36
• Coins of Pontius Pilate AD 29–31
• Burnt House AD 70

The early church 22

• Sardis 7th century BC – 6th century AD
• Areopagus c. 600 BC – AD 400
• Philippi 356 BC – 6th century AD
• Temple of Artemis at Ephesus rebuilt after 356 BC
• Agora of Smyrna Hellenistic; rebuilt after AD 178
• Theatre of Ephesus 3rd century BC; enlarged c. AD 40–260
• Thyatira c. 290 BC – Byzantine period
• Pergamum 3rd century BC – Roman period
• Laodicea on the Lycus c. 261–253 BC to the early 7th century AD
• Philadelphia (Alaşehir) 2nd century BC
• Politarch inscription from Thessalonica 1st or 2nd century AD
• Lystra inscription 1st century AD (after AD 14)
• Bema of Corinth mid-1st century AD
• Coins of Herod Agrippa I AD 41/42
• Gallio inscription AD 52
• Coins of Porcius Festus AD 58/59
• Judaea Capta coins AD 71 – c. 96
• Arch of Titus c. AD 81
• Alexamenos graffito c. AD 200
• Derbe inscription AD 157
• Megiddo church mosaic 3rd century AD
• Dura-Europos house church c. AD 232–256

Bible manuscripts 20

• Dead Sea Scrolls 3rd century BC – 1st century AD
• Papyrus Rylands 458 2nd century BC
• Great Isaiah Scroll c. 125 BC
• Nash Papyrus c. 150–100 BC
• Great Psalms Scroll c. AD 30–50
• En-Gedi Scroll 1st–4th century AD
• Rylands Papyrus P52 2nd century AD
• Papyrus 66 c. AD 200
• Papyrus 75 c. AD 175–225
• Papyrus 46 c. AD 200
• Papyrus 45 3rd century AD
• Papyrus 72 3rd–4th century AD
• Papyrus 115 3rd–4th century AD
• Codex Vaticanus c. AD 300–350
• Codex Washingtonianus 4th–5th century AD
• Codex Sinaiticus mid-4th century AD
• Codex Bezae c. AD 400
• Codex Alexandrinus c. AD 400–440
• Aleppo Codex c. AD 920–930
• Leningrad Codex c. AD 1008

Left out, and why

• James Ossuary forgery
  An Israel Antiquities Authority committee judged the words “brother of Jesus” to be a modern addition (2003). The later acquittal of its owner on forgery charges did not establish that the inscription is genuine.
• Jehoash Inscription forgery
  Judged a forgery by the Israel Antiquities Authority in 2003; it has no find-site.
• Ivory pomegranate forgery
  The pomegranate is ancient, but the inscription linking it to the Temple was declared forged in 2004.
• Museum of the Bible Dead Sea Scroll fragments forgery
  In 2020 independent investigators found that all sixteen fragments the museum had bought as Dead Sea Scrolls are modern forgeries.
• Shapira Scroll forgery
  Offered for sale in 1883 and rejected as a forgery; the strips are lost and the case remains a forgery case.
• Jordan Lead Codices forgery
  Specialists have shown them to be modern fakes.
• Baruch bulla unprovenanced
  Came from the antiquities market with no find-site, and its authenticity is disputed.
• Seal of Manasseh unprovenanced
  From the antiquities market, with no find-site.
• Bulla of Ahaz unprovenanced
  From the antiquities market, with no find-site.
• Miriam ossuary unprovenanced
  Confiscated from the antiquities market; its find-site is not documented.
• Al-Yahudu tablets unprovenanced
  Probably genuine records of Judean exiles in Babylonia, but they surfaced on the antiquities market without a find-site.
• Talpiot Tomb contested
  A real first-century tomb, but most scholars reject the claim that it belonged to Jesus’ family.
• Durupınar site contested
  Geologists identify it as a natural rock formation.
• Ron Wyatt's claims contested
  None of the claimed finds has been documented or published for scholarly review.
• Jabal al-Lawz as Mount Sinai contested
  There is no archaeological basis for the identification.
• Tall el-Hammam airburst contested
  The 2021 paper proposing a cosmic airburst destroyed the city (and suggesting a link to Sodom) was retracted by Scientific Reports on 24 April 2025.
• Shroud of Turin contested
  Radiocarbon dating in 1988 placed the linen between AD 1260 and 1390.
• Mount Ebal lead tablet contested
  Its reading as a curse text naming YHWH is disputed and awaits fuller publication.
• Jericho's walls and Joshua's conquest disputed-link
  Kathleen Kenyon dated the destruction of the walled city to about 1550 BC, before the usual dates for Joshua; an earlier proposed date is a minority view.
• Khirbet Qeiyafa ostracon disputed-link
  Genuinely excavated, but its language, reading and meaning are all debated.
• Beersheba horned altar disputed-link
  The altar is real; the claim that it was dismantled in Hezekiah’s reform is disputed.
• Pilate ring disputed-link
  The copper-alloy ring reads “of Pilate”, but it probably belonged to an official or servant, not to Pilate himself.
• Nazareth Inscription disputed-link
  Its origin and date are uncertain, and its link to the resurrection accounts is speculative.
• Sergius Paulus inscriptions disputed-link
  Linking these inscriptions to the proconsul of Acts 13 is, in one specialist’s words, at best a conjecture.
• Erastus inscription disputed-link
  Its date and its identification with the Erastus of Romans 16:23 are both debated.
• Isaiah bulla disputed-link
  Excavated in Jerusalem, but the damaged seal does not clearly read “Isaiah the prophet”.
• Large Stone Structure disputed-link
  Its date and its identification as King David’s palace are debated.