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Tuesday January 13, 2026
“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing”. (God to Abraham)
– Genesis 12:1-3
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
Currently, there is no substantiated record or mention of Abraham during the period of his life outside of the Biblical and Islamic traditions. However, given the time and conditions of Abraham’s life that would not be unusual.
“It disturbs some people that, for the very early periods such as the so-called patriarchal period, we archeologists haven’t much to say…
For the earlier periods, we don’t have any texts. Abraham might have lived around 1800 B.C.E. This is the dawn of written history or prehistory, when the archeological evidence can’t easily be correlated with any external evidence, textual evidence—even if we did have it.
We do know a lot about pastoral nomads, we know about the Amorites’ migrations from Mesopotamia to Canaan, and it’s possible to see in that an Abraham-like figure somewhere around 1800 B.C.E.”
NOVA – Archaeology of the Hebrew Bible
However, for many scientists and archaeologists, this lack of empirical evidence became the foundation for immediately dismissing the historical validity of the Biblical record; despite the fact that no such textual evidence from that time period should be expected.
“The lack of archaeological evidence related directly to Abraham shouldn’t be a surprise since, according to the Bible, Abraham was a semi-nomadic, tent-dwelling shepherd; he never lived in a house with foundations, but travelled to different parts of Canaan during different times of the year 4,000 years ago according to Biblical chronology…
Consider that there is scant archaeological evidence that Napoleon and his army ever travelled from Egypt through the Holy Land in 1799 AD, because they, like Abraham, lived in tents...
The only reason we can know with certitude that Napoleon and his army did go through the Holy Land is that the written record of Napoleon’s historians testifies to the fact.”
– Sebastian Kettley (Archaeology News: 4,000–year ‘evidence’ could prove Abraham was real)
Although there are no written records of Abraham outside of Islamic and Judeo-Christian tradition, archeologists are beginning to find circumstantial evidence that the written record in the Bible testifying to Abraham’s existence, coexists well with our current understanding of the ancient world.
CONSIDERATION #223 – Did Abraham Really Exist?
More and more circumstantial evidence supporting the possibility of pre-historical subjects, such as Abraham, being “real” people is now coming to light. In Genesis 14:14 Abraham is recorded to have gone to a city named “Dan” in order to save his relative, his nephew Lot, who had been kidnapped and taken captive.
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”
Genesis 14:14
In 1979, the “Gate of Abraham” was uncovered in the ancient city of Laish, or Dan. The gate and other artifacts were dated to the time of Abraham, approximately 1,800 BCE. This is the city of Dan mentioned in Genesis.
“But why is it called Abraham’s Gate? Archaeologists refer to it by this name because it existed during the time when Abraham lived and is known to have visited the city. Genesis chapter 14 tells the story of a great battle among ancient kings that took place in the Dead Sea Valley. The victors carried off plunder and slaves, including Abraham’s nephew Lot. When he learned of his nephew’s capture, Abraham pursued him all the way to Dan (Laish). After successfully rescuing Lot, Abraham and his men chased the kidnappers all the way to Damascus.”
– Touchpoint Israel (Rewriting History: Abraham’s Gate – August 1, 2014)
Archaeologists now know that there actually was a city named Dan during the time of Abraham’s recorded life in the Bible. The city of Dan is no longer a myth. The city of Beersheba represents an even clearer example of newly found historical evidence reflecting Biblical and other pre-historic references.
The city of Beersheba is mentioned thirty-three times in the Bible and is significantly identified four times in relation to stories about Abraham. Abraham lived in Beersheba, entered an important covenant in Beersheba, planted a tree in Beersheba, and God spoke directly to Abraham’s son and grandson respectively, at Beersheba. The city of Beersheba was excavated by archaeologists in 1969.
“Located in the Negev desert in southern Israel, this site is thought to be the remains of the biblical town of Beersheba; it lies a few miles east of the modern city by that name. According to the Old Testament, the Hebrew patriarch Abraham negotiated a deal with the Philistine king Abimelech over a well here, and planted a tamarisk tree. The site’s well-preserved water system of cisterns dates to the Iron Age.”
– Sarah Pruitt (Explore 10 Biblical Sites)
A recent discovery that has added validity to the accuracy of the Abraham narrative is the discovery of the kingdom of Edom in 2019.
“Researchers have discovered evidence of the emergence of the biblical kingdom of Edom, which was previously considered more mythical than historical by secular scholars.”
– Michael Gryboski (Archaeology discovery: Evidence of biblical kingdom of Edom found)
Prior to this discovery, archaeologists believed the story of Edom did not fit in with the Biblical timeline of Abraham, but this new discovery alters their original time estimate by approximately 500 years; now putting it into the same time period as its Biblical reference.
“In the days before the Israelites ruled their ancient lands another mighty kingdom held power in its hands.
According to the Book of Genesis, Edom was the state that existed ‘before kings ruled the children of Israel’. Its people resisted and fought the Israelites, becoming their avowed foes.
But now, it is not just the Bible that tells us so. A remarkable piece of scientific detective work has found evidence of the state of Edom that flies in the face of many historians who have dismissed the idea as a myth.”
– Richard Spencer (Scientists Find State of Edom Which they Thought was a Bible Story)
However, many archaeologists are realizing that even without such major discoveries there is ample evidence of Biblical reality in the ancient historic records.
POSTSCRIPT
Much like the lost city of Troy, the kingdom of Edom was once considered a myth by most modern archeologists; until it was actually discovered by modern archeologists. Is it possible that because modern science dismissed the spiritual nature of the Bible they also dismissed any possible historical accuracy as well?
“First, there has always been good evidence for the existence of Edom. Not only is it mentioned over 80 times in the Bible there are ancient references to it from military campaigns of Pharaoh Seti I(c.1215 BC) and Rameses III (c.1155 BC). The name means “Red” and the Bible identifies the region with Esau, the brother of Isaac, who had red hair. In later history it was the location of Petra and then, in New Testament times, it is known by the related Greek name of Idumea. So there is no real reason to doubt the existence of the region of Edom.”
– Chris Sinkinson (Edom: How Archaeology is Confirming the Truth of Scripture)
One of the main arguments against Biblical accuracy is that over time the original text has been translated so many times that it has essentially lost any historical accuracy or value that it might once have contained. However, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls appears to counter this assumption. These ancient scrolls are more than a thousand years older than the Bible we read today; however, the sections found in the Dead Sea Scrolls are almost identical.
“Here we have one of the most important finds in biblical archaeology news.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are actually hundreds of scrolls and scraps that date between 300 BC and AD 70. The significance of this find cannot be overstated. Pictured below is the book of Isaiah, which was found very much intact.
The first of these scrolls was found in 1947 in caves in the Qumran area near the Dead Sea about 7 miles south of Jericho. About 1/3 of the scrolls contain copies of portions of Old Testament books (every Old Testament book except Esther).
These copies are over 1,000 years older than most of the manuscripts scholars previously had available for study and translation.
This find shows that the Old Testament was copied very accurately over the centuries. Our current Old Testament translation (that is for sale in stores today) is extremely close to this early copy, thousands of years old.”
– Welcome to the Truth (Amazing – 21 Greatest Old Testament Biblical Archaeology Discoveries Ever)
So, although there is no direct evidence of the man Abraham recorded outside of Biblical and Islamic sources, references made by Abraham, or regarding Abraham, are starting to move out of the “myth” category and into the “evidence likely to support” category. This holds true for many other Biblical references, especially as they move more into the future toward the New Testament.
Next week we will consider the historical and archaeological support for the Old Testament’s most revered prophet, Moses. Our consideration of Book IV, The Cosmic Symphony, begins next month…
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