– Ha’aretz Magazine, October, 1999
Supposedly, an Israelite empire flourished in the 10th century BC, during a time of temporary weakness of both Assyria and Egypt. Yet the fabled empire of David and Solomon remains just that: a fable, unsupported by any evidence – and empires normally leave a great deal of evidence. The ’empire’ has no monuments, no inscriptions and no artifacts.
In reality, separate and distinctive chiefdoms developed in Samaria and Judah in the 9th century. They were never a ‘united monarchy.’ The north was larger, richer and more developed – and soon succumbed to the Assyrians.
Judah, in reaction, produced its pious, biblical fraud, castigating the apostate kings of the 8th – 9th century northern kingdom of ‘Israel’ and elevated its own importance in an earlier, fantasised empire – ruled from an imperial capital of Jerusalem. – Kenneth Humphreys
“… in Jerusalem nothing has as yet been brought to light which can be ascribed to Solomon with certainty.”– Isserlin, p81.
“Solomon … in the eyes of Israelite historians, marked the apex of Israelite achievement. Curiously, no reference to him or his father David, or their empire in a non-Israelite source is known … – Isserlin, The Israelites, p72.
“The archaeological evidence in Jerusalem for the famous building projects of Solomon is nonexistent. 19th and early 20th century excavations around the Temple Mount in Jerusalem failed to identify even a trace of Solomon’s fabled Temple or palace complex.” – Finkelstein, Silberman, p128. The Bible Unearthed (Simon & Schuster, 2001)
“Jehoash Tablet” “First confirmation” of Solomon’s Jerusalem Temple? Only one problem – manufactured in Jerusalem in 2003! Forger arrested
The Jews write in the Bible of splendid palaces, temples and an empire. Herodotus (484-425 BC) went through the region after the return of the Babylonian Exile. He is called the father of history. He was the Greek author of the first great narrative history produced in the ancient world, the History of the Greco-Persian Wars.
Herodotus was a wide traveler. His longer wandering covered a large part of the Persian Empire: he went to Egypt, at least as far south as Elephantine (Aswān), and he also visited Libya, Syria, Babylonia, Susa in Elam, Lydia, and Phrygia. He journeyed up the Hellespont (now Dardanelles) to Byzantium, went to Thrace and Macedonia, and traveled northward to beyond the Danube and to Scythia eastward along the northern shores of the Black Sea as far as the Don River and some way inland. These travels would have taken many years.
But according the Virtual Jewish World and other sources–
“The only classical writings extant referring to the Jews are *Herodotus ‘ Histories, but his acquaintance with them is at best highly superficial, and he considers them to be Syrians who practiced circumcision, which custom they had acquired from the Egyptians.
Aristotle does mention a lake in Palestine, but without connecting it in any way with the Jewish people. Thus, although the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Babylon, and Persia were familiar to the Greek men of letters and philosophers – they were apparently completely ignorant of the specific religion and culture of Palestine.
In Book of Kings the size of Jerusalem fitments to the Royal Palace included three kilometers of carvings, over hundred massive bulls and sphinxes and vast quantities of Lebanese Cedar carried over 500 miles and decorated with gold and silver. The throne had six steps and two lions stood beside the stage. Twelve lions stood on one side and on the other upon the six steps. King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold , none were of silver.
“Solomon … began to build the house of the LORD … And the whole house he overlaid with gold … And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high … And he overlaid the cherubims with gold … And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers.” – 1 Kings 6.
Where did all this come from? Apparently an imaginative individual went to Damascus, capital of the Assyrian Empire and saw a real palace,
“And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.” – 2 Kings 16.10,11.
From Wikipedia: “Those for what is customarily called Solomon’s Temple are indirect and some are challenged. There is limited physical evidence of Solomon’s Temple, although it is still widely accepted to have existed.” – (my takeaway)- don’t need proof apparently.
other sources: Bible History Daily–
But is there evidence that such a prosperous time existed for ancient Israel and Judah? If so, can these achievements be attributed to Solomon? Although no direct textual or archaeological evidence of Solomon has been discovered, archaeologists continue to look for clues that can substantiate key aspects of his reign as described in the Bible, including his legendary wealth, trade connections, and building projects.
The extraordinary thing about this ‘history’ – complete with dialogue between man and god – is that it was not written until more than a thousand years after the supposed events.
The Gog-Magog Situation
Tracing the Jews (the people of Judah), back through Hebrews in Canaan and Israelites in Egypt, to a noble ancestor called Abraham and the whole melodramatic story of the Exodus, was concocted at a much later date, after the tribal leadership of these Judaean tribesmen had been taken into exile and had learned the rudiments of civilization from the Babylonians. This is dated at 598-538 BC.
At that point a Persian-sponsored priesthood settled in Judaea and wrote a sacred history, known to the Jews as the Torah (or Pentateuch ) and to the Christians as the first ‘five books’ of the Old Testament. Together with the ‘Prophets’ and ‘Wisdom’ literature this voluminous text purports to be an account of the trials and tribulations of the Jews through the previous two millennia.
Curiously and inexplicably in the span of history after the return from the Babylon Exile no biblical text gives the conquest of Palestine by Alexander the Great (in 323 BC) a mention. Ptolemaic Egypt’s loss of her Palestinian provinces to Syria in 198 BC is unrecorded. Personages like Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great are overlooked. And the books of Maccabees – which should tell us the ‘recent’ story of the successful Jewish rebellion against Greek rule in the second century BC – are blatantly filled with error and incoherence.
No. Again do not lean on man’s understanding and Satan who would have you believe anything but in the existence of Yahweh.
This isn’t about God per se, it is about tall tales made up by so called Chosen People around God.
I have studied the Bible seriously since 1986 and have been through the gauntlet regarding all of these twists and turns. The best way to understand the Bible is to realize that it is speaking about the lawful justification of the unmoved mover’s (Jehovah – he is causing to become) intervening and remediating the genetic tampering of his creation. The main theme of the bible isn’t about anyone’s salvation. It concerns the vindication of Yahweh’s (Jehovah’s) name and right to rule based on his law by means of the Kingdom (heavenly ruled) arrangement. How many ‘religions’ or ‘scholars’ have communicated this to anyone?
I think there is a higher power, I just reject the idea that it is kind and benevolent, because there isn’t a shred of evidence to suggest that. If Yahweh is so kind and caring why does he create a world run by trillionaire psychopaths that dominate humanity while billions of other people on Earth struggle to survive? You Christians can never give a coherent answer to that question, which is why I reject your faith. Christians also cannot explain why we live in a world that REWARD sociopathic behavior rather than punish it. The only answer you guys can give is that these evil men will get theirs in the afterlife, which cannot be scientifically proven. What can be proven is that they do not face punishment on this Earth.
The creator, obviously, is a piece of shit just like the people he keeps in power. You do not achieve the power and wealth of Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos without some sort of divine backing, for all you know Yahweh and Satan are the same being. I have a Christian friend that tries to convert me but I poke so many wholes in his arguments that there is little he can do, he sent me the Bible and I tossed it in the trash.
I do not know what is the truth of life on this Earth but I do not believe it is what Christians or Muslims say it is. If there is a God he could have created a world where GOOD MEN rise to the top most of the time instead of evil men but I suspect the world is the way it is to keep mankind in check because if we had good people in charge we would not need a creator in the first place and might ultimately rise to his level. I suspect what Christians call God or Yahweh is probably some sort of Type 7 extremely advanced alien civilization that created us as some sort of experiment. This is hinted at in the Alien films by director Ridley Scott, who seems to know than he lets on and hides truth in fiction.
Well put except to say the backing the Crime Syndicate gets is not from God. One thing Christianity gets is there are demons and monsters.
The creation story addresses your question. Humanity was gifted free will by the Creator and the first of us used it to choose sin. After, we are all kicked out of The Garden of Eden and made to play the game of life where we choose to follow the fallen angels (devil, demons) or God. If we win the game (follow God) we can end in heaven with Him. If we lose the game, we are damned. It’s a generational curse (I think. Hopefully theologians can correct me if wrong.) where we have been banished and now must prove our worth. It actually can nearly be scientifically proven that the evil doers get theirs. There are plenty of testimonies online from those who were sent into hell during near-death experiences. While not scientific, it cannot be ignored. Add to that, Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism, CAN in fact be proven “scientifically” to be true through a combination of scientifically impossible documented miracles (many for which evidence is still available) and accurately fulfilled prophecy. When this evidence is examined together, it does in fact constitute scientific proof. As for your contention that God could have created a world where good man rise to the top: He did! but it’s not that simple. We are in world of spiritual collectivism. If humanity collectively was holy enough God would not allow the satanists to dominate. It’s collective punishment and collective rewards. We are punished for sin by getting what we deserve for rulers. We all have to work to sanctify each other or we will be punished by evil oppressors ruling over us even in this life. A part of scripture that addresses this is when satan tempts Christ. Worship me and all these kingdoms will be yours. Yeah unfortunately that’s real. The rulers of the world are satan worshipers. During the middle ages in the holy Roman empire, some of the rulers were saints, and society wasn’t evil and oppressive like now.
Google also hates the Bible. It’s incredible to see the results. As for haaretz, not so much. Especially since it’s a spiritual journey and we test all things. Where we don’t know we have faith. Whenever I question the Bible I go back and read it and it always turns out that I’ve internalized something someone else said. For example, I had it in the back of my mind that Jesus said, I will kiss you with the kisses of my mouth and I was a little uncomfortable till I looked it up and was it was Solomon lol. So yeah, AI hates the Bible and antibible bias is universal and we get Russel brand and the other UN new age celeb clique pretending to be one “Christians”. None of this matters in the least, it’s so much chaff blowing in the wind along with the “rudiments of Babylonian civilization”
The Exodus story was the spun story on the second expulsion of the Hyksos Tribe from Egypt. Hyksos were precursors to the Hebrews. Just like today, Jews twist and spin the truth for their own benefit, this includes outright lies as their Talmud sanctifies lying to Gentiles. The “experts” say the timeline from the bible do not match the two, historically documented, Hyksos Expulsions but at this point, we know most of the “experts” are liars.
Exodus 12:35-36 :”The Israelites did as Moses instructed and “asked” the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord “had made” the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they “gave them” what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.”
They set Egypt on fire too as the fled. The Jews were never slaves in Egypt, but they did try and enslave the Egyptian people. They were not “allowed to leave” their behinds were kicked out. Even Abraham himself was a scoundrel. He pimped out his own half-sister-wife, Sarah, unbeknownst to the Egyptians, to get his thieving foot in the door of Egypt. All of the bible characters we are supposed to emulate are smarmy.
“Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.” Psalms 137:9
1 minute https://www.bitchute.com/video/Vq6BfcxMtOXc/
A god that takes joy in murdering children is psychopathic.
There is no context in which this remotely resembles wisdom or love. This historian, bible scholar, published author and former minister, goes into much detail on his channel, to explain the truth about the not so holy book. https://odysee.com/@truthhertzradio:b/The-Hyksos-Occupation-of-Egypt-Part-1:0
Most of what you and I know as “history” is very fake. Herodotus himself was a Phoenician writer of phony history, lies, and promoted fake events like Alex the great (phony), the Persian/Greek wars (also fake) , and kept well hidden the Phoenicians. You wont find any truthful history of the Jews unless you view them as who they truly were and are : Phoenicians. Even the word “Jew” is phony, just a made up name the Phoenicians would invent for themselves, along with fake Jewish history of themselves just to make it appear legit. Of course those old baddies (the Persians) , brought in the Torah because they were Phoenicians as well.
Sorry. But not falling on this antichristian propaganda
Jesus Christ is God
He rose from the dead
Is now sitting at the right hand of YHWH
Muslim’s to the left & Christian’s to the right of GOD , all devouring grapes ?
Quoting cryptojews like (((Isserlin))) and (((Finklestein))) who don’t believe in or follow the Old Testament tradition — to debunk both the Old and the New. Classic blunder. Bravo.
Is there archeological or historical evidence for these tall tales claimed in the Old Testament or not? The answer is no. The blunder is going totally with unfounded faith alone.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Hebrews 11:1-6 NKJV
So spoke a Jewish book named Hebrews. You can’t make this stuff up.
Russ, these people are hopeless. No matter how much evidence you show them that the Bible is false, all they can do is regurgitate what they have been taught. Notice that all they do is quote scripture, they never provide any evidence to counter what you are saying.
A lot of these people are conspiracy believers, but still they have been duped and cannot see it. A lot of them will vote for Trump in November and then as soon as he gets into office he will betray them again, break all his campaign promises and turn the USA into a Zionist police state just like you predicted.
The difference between me and Christians/Muslims is that I recognize that my beliefs may be wrong. I am always willing to change my beliefs when new evidence comes in showing it. But these people will never change their beliefs no matter how much evidence shows they are wrong, and this is one of the many reasons I reject all organized religion.
Fatima 1917: a miracle was promised for October 13, several months in advance. 70,000 people gathered in Portugal to witness the scientifically impossible, Miracle of the Sun. Miracle and prophecy put together: how do you explain it, except God is real and it’s all true? Science can still not reproduce the miracle that occurred that day. again, 70,000 people attested to it. No one is denying it.
I believe you on that and you’re making a good point. Definitely curious on what’s up with the lack of evidence for these old testament stories, but there’s too much evidence for more recent Christian history to change my mind about the truth of Christianity. Would like to understand though what’s going on with those sections of the OT.
https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.5155/page/n5/mode/2up
Here is a very scholarly book that goes into great detail all the archeological discoveries made about the Holy Bible. It’s a fascinating subject. The Bible is FAR from MYTH.
‘Let God be true and all men liars.’ – Paul
First Hyksosian Occupation: Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.’ Genesis 45:17-18
Yet the bible would have us believe the Hebrews were the victims of the Egyptians.
Genesis 45: 17-18
Isn’t that how they always work it? Worm their way into the seat of power and then bring in their fellow tribe members to take completely over?
Everyone of us has a spiritual connection to the creator. I suggest try using it and stop believing the thousands of years of “its safe and effective” characters. These are the same perpetrators that now spell your name 10 different ways in capital letters, stole all of grandpa’s gold in the 1930’s. You want a connection with God, make it yourself and stop putting your faith in horseshit.
And if you really feel brave, try this.
https://archive.urantiabook.org/newbook/papers/p012.htm
Wait, are you trying to tell me that the jews wrote a book, and in the book they also just happen to be the chosen ones by God to rule over the rest of mankind?
….Amazin’
Now you know why some of the best writers in Hollywood are jewish…always good at spinning a tall tale.
Some nice study:Isaac Asimov’s Guide to the Bible: A Witty, Erudite Atheist’s Guide to the World’s Most Famous Book
https://www.openculture.com/2019/03/isaac-asimovs-guide-to-the-bible.html
I’m glad that you point out that no biblical texts ever gives those fake “historical” events a mention. The stories of Alex the great , Caesar maybe, and other fantasies , including the personality Jesus C were all written years and years, centuries later. Written by paid historians and propagandists, like Herodotus. It’s no different than it is today, where lies upon lies and distortions are laid on you from everywhere. Such things are not mentioned by biblical texts because those were made up.
There is the Arch of Titus, built by the brother of Titus, showing the Romans carrying off the spoils of war from Jerusalem in 70 A.D. There is definitely an account given in history books about the actual destruction of Jerusalem: thus there was something great there to be destroyed. I do acknowledge that you are referring to the first temple but that was destroyed by Babylon and Assyria.
The point that you can’t find anything extra Biblical alluding to it that wasn’t written by Jews is unlikely. Many Greeks were followers of Judaism at the time and made trips to Jerusalem. Regarding ancient Israel you have an Assyrian account of Sennacheribs siege of Jerusalem. It’s a great read.
If Alexander the Great wasn’t real then who spread Koine Greek to the furthest regions of the middle east? Traders I suppose you would say…
What about all of the little things that are extra biblical that corroborate the Bible? Jordan’s Petra, fossils in locations that can only be a world flood, the Egyptian civilization, etc.
The reality is this. I have talked to many agnostics amd atheists and it always comes down to good vs evil and Satan vs. God. Satan has crafted a parallel narrative that tries confuse people in every scenario. The flood has non biblical flood accounts in folk lore for example, but God gave us His rainbow!!! (Beat that Satan!) God tells us what happened in Egypt and Satan confuses with the Hyksos. Maybe the Egyptians by law required a false narrative to make their kingdom look powerful in the aftermath of defeat? I can also add that the Bible is extremely congruent. The best writer in the world today could not write a book that size and it be so well constructed. Itis God’s words to mankind.
Straw man argument – The only thing I can say is “English MF do you speak it?
I specifically addressed the issue of Solomon’s Temple (so called First Temple) and that period (800-900 BC). I made no further claims other than to note many key historical figures don’t turn up in the OT. Titus was post OT. Greeks showed up in Jerusalem in numbers well after the Captivity.
Even the Sennacherib account in the OT is bogus. Yes the Assyrians invaded Judah about 700 BC. Though the biblical narrative holds that divine intervention by an angel ended the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem by destroying the Assyrian army, an outright defeat is unlikely as Hezekiah submitted to Sennacherib at the end of the campaign. Contemporary records, even those written by Assyria’s enemies, do not mention the Assyrians being defeated at Jerusalem
Of course there is archeological evidence for some aspects of the later period of OT, just not for what I addressed or the period I addressed.
Straw man Fallacy:
This fallacy occurs when your opponent over-simplifies or misrepresents your argument (i.e., setting up a “straw man”) to make it easier to attack or refute. Instead of fully addressing your actual argument, speakers relying on this fallacy present a superficially similar — but ultimately not equal — version of your real stance.
I don’t think you can claim straw man here Russ 😆. Your title says: is the Old Testament a myth or made up. I am addressing several of your points spot on.
The account of Sennacherib’s siege that I was referring to was an Assyrian account. You can go find it. It’s also in the scriptures as you talked about but there is an Assyrian account.
Is there another book of “fiction” that has caused the world to be this upset? I have never seen debates, textual critics, and councils set up to debate any other book of “fiction.” Is it so obviously fiction or does man’s sin harden his heart to truth? Paul said the scriptures are folly to the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews.
1 Corinthians
20.Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
One last point, in my opinion denying the Bible as reputable causes problems of logic when exposing international organized Jewry. The Bible is an invaluable source on why the Jews do what they do. If you don’t examine their lifestyles through the Bible then why not come to the conclusions that most people do? That is the conclusion that Jews are just very smart and successful. I am driven to expose Jewry because of many principles in the Bible like Paul says they are against humanity and are trying to keep the Gentiles from hearing the Gospel. (they never stopped doing this!)
Again I ask, “English do you speak it?”
The title of the post was posed as a question with a clear question mark. It was not a declarative statement. The post itself did probe into specific elements of the OT that demonstrate mythical aspects. I made declarative statements about those aspects but not necessarily the OT in it’s entirety.
Proper debate style without fallacious arguments would ask that you address those aspects.
Your comment about Sennacherib and the Assyrians is fair game and of interest. I responded that the biblical account of this historical event was bogus as well in that it claimed more miracle Hebrew victories that were unconfirmed by actual history. I don’t see that you refuted my rebuttal.