More Evidence of Nehemiah

An Israeli archaeologist mentioned here before has turned up even more concrete evidence in support of the reliability of the Bible's book of Nehemiah as a historical record. According to a story in the Jerusalem Post, she has uncovered a "2,500-year-old black stone seal." The rock is from ancient Babylon and features a carving of two Babylonian priests burning incense with hands raised in worship to the moon god Sin.

Under the image, a Jewish name is carved. Dr. Eilat Mazar claims that name is Temech.

The Temech family name is specifically mentioned in Nehemiah 7:55 (read in some translations as Temah) as temple servants who were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar and then released to return to Jerusalem. The stone was found just outside the old city walls. According to Dr. Mazar:

"The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archeology and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible," she said. "One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find."

That a Jewish family returned from Babylon would have as their seal a scene of the worship of a false Babylonian god is not surprising. One of the things Nehemiah and Ezra did was to lead the people in confession for their sins, including the sin of worshiping idols.

As we've said before, we don't wait for archeology to confirm our faith in God, but it's exciting when it does. Nehemiah and Ezra and the other "returners" were real people. They left behind evidence of their existence. What evidence in our lives might point people to the reality of the God we serve?

(HT: Between Two Worlds, Bible Places)