Archaeologists discovered in Jerusalem evidence of an earthquake that is.referred to in the Book of Amos

image courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority.

Joel Kontinen

Archaeological excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority Jerusalem’s City of David National Park revealed a mysterious layer of destruction that researchers believe was from an earthquake referred to in the Book of Amos.

Researchers found inside a collapsed building a layer of shattered bowls lamps, jars and other utensils.

The pattern of the destruction and the absence of any signs of fire indicates the destruction was caused by an earthquake which occurred in the eighth century BCE during the Kingdom of Judah — the same earthquake referred to in Amos,

This is no surprise. We would expect the Bible to describe real people and real historical events. 

Source:

 WATCH: Jerusalem Excavation Reveals Evidence of Biblical Earthquake United With Israel 4 August,  

Ancient earthquake in Syria

Petrified trees can be seen on many continents. Here’s one on the Greek island of Lesvos.





Joel Kontinen


The first settlers of Abu Hureyra were hunter-gatherers who lived off the land. A terrible drought drove the people to begin cultivating grains that they had previously collected from the wild, turning them into the first known farmers, previous research has revealed.

Then, about 13,000 years ago, something very bad seems to have occurred, leaving a layer of carbon suggesting dramatic fires. But for much of the last decade, scientists inspecting the remnants of the village have debated what happened, unable to decide whether the carbon formed during an airburst or during more mundane fires among the thatched

This could have happened during the flood of Noah’s days, but secularists don’t allow it to have happened that way.

The research was published March 6 in the journal Scientific Reports

Source:

Redd, Taylor Redd. 2020. Death from above? Fireball may have destroyed ancient Syrian village. Life Science 21 June

The Jerusalem Post: Evidence of Old Testament time earthquake found in Israel

The prophet Amos depicted in a Russian icon. Image courtesy of Wikipedia. Recently, archaeologists found evidence of a huge earthquake, probably the one that Amos mentioned in his book.




Joel Kontinen

The Old Testament book of Amos mentions an earthquake that obviously was so massive that the prophet counted the years from it instead of giving the year in the reign of the king, as was usual.

Recently, Israeli archaeologists found the remains of a Philistine temple near Kiryat Gat and signs of an Old Testament time earthquake of approximately eight on the Richter scale.

This is interesting since the book of Amos (1:1) begins with the words:

”The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa – what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.”

The same earthquake is also mentioned in the book of Zechariah (14:5):

”You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.”

Commenting on the discovery, professor Aren Maeir suggests that the temple confirms what the book of Judges says about Samson and the temple of Dagon and what the Old Testament reveals about a great earthquake that devastated Israel.

Once again, an archaeological discovery supports the history of the Bible.


Source:

Hartman, Ben. 2010. Temple found in Philistine home of Goliath. The Jerusalem Post. (29 July).