Historicity (Bible Studies)
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Historicity refers to the historical authenticity of a person, event, or place. Particularly in the field of Biblical studies, beginning in the 19th century with German academics, there has been a movement of scholars and academics who question the historical genuineness of such figures as Adam, Moses and even Jesus, and events such as the Flood. In fact, this critical attitude towards Biblical sources is an extension of historical criticism, which began, in the West during the Renaissance as scholars started to question and then reject the more fabulous reports contained in Classical histories.
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[edit] Famous Debates
Many of the greatest debates over the historicity of certain historical or mythical figures have been settled (or at least greatly altered) by archaeology. Most famously, the amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann dug up what he claimed were the ruins of Troy, the city which features in the Iliad and which many scholars contemporary to Schliemann had dismissed as nothing more than a myth. The site is now accepted as that of Troy, although archaeologists have bewailed Schliemann's careless destruction of the upper layers of the site in his haste to reveal the stone foundations beneath.
One of the great unresolved debates is the academic argument surrounding the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth. The historicity of Jesus was unquestioned for almost two millennia in Christendom. Starting in the 18th century historians have taken a variety of positions regarding the objectivity, authenticity, and interpretation of the primary and secondary sources used to confirm or deny his historicity. Few figures in Western culture have been fought over as ardently as Jesus, and each party in these battles has shaped Jesus according to their views; Thomas Jefferson, for example, promulgated a version of the New Testament from which the miracles had been expunged. Some of the earliest Christian sects (suppressed as heresies by the Church authorities), held that Jesus, though real, was a purely spiritual being who had never existed in human form. In the 18th century, scholarship began to develop which questioned the existence of Jesus entirely. Much attention has been directed towards Paul's statements about Christ, while others point to the late dates of Gospel texts and the lack of corroborating evidence.
[edit] Modern Historicity of previously unproven Biblical characters
Modern archeological finds have verified the existence of historical characters found in the Bible of whom there had been no physical proof or evidence for many centuries[citation needed]. The lack of physical evidence or proof of the existence of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate was used as an argument against the accuracy of the New Testament accounts of Jesus Christ.
[edit] Pontius Pilate
One famous example is that of Pontius Pilate who was the governor of Judea who sentenced Jesus Christ to death by crucifixion. Until 1961, there was no concrete physical evidence pointing to his existence.
![Limestone block discovered in 1961 with what is believed to be Pilate's tribute to Tiberius, written in Latin. The letters [...]TIVS PILATV[...] appear to be seen on the second line.](../../../../images/local/thumb/4/45/Pilate-inscription_03.jpg/160px-Pilate-inscription_03.jpg)
The first physical evidence relating to Pilate was discovered in 1961, when a block of black limestone was found in the Roman theatre at Caesarea Maritima, the capital of the province of Iudaea, bearing a damaged dedication by Pilate of a Tiberieum[citation needed].[1] This dedication states that he was [...]ECTVS IUDA[...] (usually read as praefectus iudaeae), that is, prefect/governor of Iudaea. The early governors of Iudaea were of prefect rank, the later were of procurator rank, beginning with Cuspius Fadus in 44.[citation needed]
The inscription is currently housed in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, where its Inventory number is AE 1963 no. 104. Dated to 26–37, it was discovered in Caesarea (Israel) by a group led by Antonio Frova[citation needed].
[edit] Nebuchadnezzar II's eunuch, Nabusharrussu-ukin
In July of 2007, Michael Jursa, a visiting professor in the British Museum, from Vienna, discovered physical evidence supporting the 39th Chapter of Jeremiah's account of made what has been called the most important find in biblical archaeology in the last 100 years, a discovery that supported the view that the Book of Jeremiah is based on fact.
Jursa was searching for Babylonian financial accounts among a collection of 130,000 ancient Assyrian cuneiform tablets and came across the name "Nabusharrussu-ukin", described there in 2,500-year-old writing as "the chief eunuch" of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon. Jursa, an Assyriologist, then checked Chapter 39 of the Book of Jeremiah, and found what he believed to be a different spelling of the same name, Nebo-Sarsekim[2]. According to the account in Jeremiah 39, Nebo-Sarsekim was Nebuchadnezzar II's "chief officer" and was with him at the siege of Jerusalem in the year 587 before the common era, when the Babylonians overran the city.
